Game 1: Nidhogg


Played this to ring in the new year. Turned out to be more of a divekick simulator than swordfighting. Frantic and hilarious. Every level that isn't the castle are all garbage.

I pretty much have to do this. I've been buying more games in recent years but completing less of them. This will hopefully spark me in completing my major backlog.

First game I'll start with.


Completed



Game 1: Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4) - January 14

Pretty darn ok, but nothing keeping me from not wanting to platinum it.


Game 2: The Wolf Among Us (PS4) - January 11

Great stuff. The world is so interesting I might have to get the comics.


Game 3: Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4) - February 4

Game 2: The Walking Dead: Season Two (PC) - 8h 12min
I've been playing Telltale games since Sam & Max and this might be the first one I didn't like. Story wasn't really even trying to go anywhere and most of the characters were poorly written. I really liked playing as Clementine but it felt like other characters were still treating me just like Lee which was really stupid.



Game 3: Mario Kart 8 - 11h 16m
Won every cup so I consider it as completed. However I love playing online races so I will probably keep playing it.

I don't really know what to say about it, it's Mario Kart. I didn't play 3DS one so I guess kart part system is new for me, but it doesn't really matter because I end up playing with the same kart every time unless I get some new parts that are actually good for me.

I really like all the new tracks in the game, Electrodrome and Bone-Dry Dunes might be the only new tracks I don't like so much and even those aren't that bad. Retro tracks are horrible though, it's almost like they chose worst possible tracks from older Mario Karts.

Original post

Completed:

GAME #1: Monument Valley & Forgotten Shores DLC (iOS) - 2 Hours 17 Minutes (Jan 7th - Jan 10th)



This wasn't what I expected my first completed game of 2015 to be but I have to say, I enjoyed every moment I played. Monument Valley and its DLC, are both such a charming and delightful experiences. It wasn't a game I found challenging, but each level had me both thinking, and in awe of the beautiful world created by developer Ustwo. It was quite relaxing to play, which was good because I purchased it after wanting to enjoy something during a stressful week of work. After reading this topic in particular, I finally bought it and I would suggest others do the same!

GAME #2: Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (PC) - 100 Hours 56 Minutes (Dec 22nd - Feb 1st)



The game I originally anticipated to beat first in 2015, Dark Souls has been a great experience I won't soon forget. I was slow to warm to the game initially which I blame mostly on the over hyping by friends, that claimed it to be both extremely tough, and completely unfair. I'll definitely admit it has a steep learning curve but the game never frustrated me. Instead I was given a fantastic world to explore, with beautiful landscapes, unique creature design and delightful characters, each with their own unique tale and twist. It isn't my favourite game, but I definitely enjoyed my time with Dark Souls and I look forward to playing more of the series in the future!

GAME #3: Night in the Woods: Lost Constellation (PC) - 1 Hour 1 Minute (Feb 2nd - Feb 2nd)



I have yet to back a Kickstarter, the only one which I felt tempted to was Night in the Woods and after playing Lost Constellation, I'm sorry I didn't. There isn't much to it, and yet for each piece of dialogue I had the biggest grin on my face. I adore the humor and characters as well as the rudimentary snow man mini game (I should not be allowed to build a snow man). It was simple, creative, relaxing and an experience that has guaranteed my purchase of Night in the Woods once it releases.

GAME #4: New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U) - 21 Hours 29 Minutes (Dec 25th - Feb 9th)



As a long time Nintendo fan, I've always gotten their new consoles at launch. The Wii U was the exception, this was mainly due to the lack of interest in any of the launch titles. Ironically when I do eventually get one, my first game ends up being one of the launch titles. I had fun though but it wasn't a game that left me wanting more. Mario games tend to be like that for me. It was a good experience, it has me excited to try out other Wii U games, and maybe at some point I'll buy the expansion, but right now I'm not eager to play more of it.

GAME #5: Super Star Wars (SNES) - 3 Hours 11 Minutes (Feb 21st - Feb 21st)



Despite this being the first game I ever owned, I've never actually beat it until now. In fact, it's been over 10 years since my last attempt, regardless though I still have a huge fondness for the game, mostly for nostalgic reasons. Playing again has given me a smile, I've come a long way in terms of the games I play, and adaptable I've become to the challenges thrown at me. While yes, there are a few moments that I look and think of how big an idiot I used to be, there are far more that demonstrate just how much my skill has improved.

Current Games In Progress:

• N/A

Maxim726X said:

I couldn't believe how short that game was... So short, in fact, that any impact the ending should have had didn't even register. Not sure why it was hyped to the moon and back.

Click to expand...

Yar, it's well paced and gorgeous at times. And there's no kind a drama that could appeal to everyone, but I imagine the last segment could be very powerful when the gamer is in the right state of mind.

In any case, my third game is Borderlands. This is a bit of a cheat entry because my co-op partner and I actually started this quite a while ago, around the time when Borderlands 2 was coming out. We actually got into the middle of the last DLC and just lost steam. And so this year we only played three hours or so to finish it.

All in all I don't like it very much. The humor is hit-and-miss, there is hardly any character development and the plot has little pull. Yes, I realize that this is probably the wrong type of game for my taste. A shame, too, because I quite like the setting.

Viridian6 - 17/52 games beaten

Game 1: Crimzon Clover World Ignition (PC) - 0.5h, 4 Jan ★★★
Completed Original Novice with plenty of continues. Creative and challenging bullet hell game.

Game 2: Valkyria Chronicles (PC) - 49.5h, 10 Jan ★★★★
Played the bulk of this last year really. Unique strategy JRPG. Story and characters were good. Battle system is really fun and innovative, combining turn-based and third-person action elements. Reward system overprioritises speed. Some missions were too cheap and there were bugs playing at 60 FPS.

Game 3: The Walking Dead: 400 Days (PC) - 2h, 14 Mar ★★★
Reasonably engaging, but nothing special.

Game 4: To the Moon (PC) - 3.75h, 19 Mar ★★★★
Good story told very well. Wasn't too happy with the ending.

Game 5: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PC) - 12.5h, 23 Mar ★★★
More of the same of Diablo III. Campaign wasn't very interesting.

Game 6: Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut (PC) - 46h, 17 June ★★★★
Completed all missions on Very Hard. A step above Shadowrun Returns. Very good story, and a greater sense of roleplaying, with choices having consequences. Permanent party members were welcome. Missions were generally well crafted. Combat remains decent.

Game 7: Saints Row IV (PC) - 19.25h, 10 Aug ★★★½
Played in co-op. Good fun, but gets repetitive. Main campaign was really funny.

Game 8: Life Is Strange - Episode 1: Chrysalis (PC) - 3.25h, 11 Aug ★★★½
Adventure game with a really good gimmick and good setup for future episodes.

Game 9: Life Is Strange - Episode 2: Out of Time (PC) - 3.75h, 15 Aug ★★★½
Still entertaining. Strong finish.

Game 10: Celestian Tales: Old North (PC) - 10.5h, 19 Aug ★★★½
Classic JRPG. Generally good gameplay and graphics. Story is promising but disjointed and incomplete (though future episodes are planned).

Game 11: Life Is Strange - Episode 3: Chaos Theory (PC) - 3.25h, 20 Aug ★★★½
Decent with a wham ending.

Game 12: Life Is Strange - Episode 4: Dark Room (PC) - 4.25h, 10 Sep ★★★★
Really strong until the ending, which is awkward.

Game 13: The Beginner's Guide (PC) - 2h, 9 Oct ★★
Started out well, but ultimately became self-indulgent and tedious.

Game 14: FTL: Faster Than Light (PC) - 6h, 14 Oct ★★★★★
Replay on Easy mode with Lanius Cruiser A to unlock the Lanius Cruiser B. Cruised through the game, maxed out my ship like never before and got a new high score, though I nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Flagship Phase 3 due to stupidity. Now to beat Hard mode.

Game 15: Life Is Strange - Episode 5: Polarized (PC) - 3.25h, 21 Oct ★★½
Disappointed by the ending. Also some parts dragged on too long.

Game 16: FTL: Faster Than Light (PC) - 6.5h, 22 Oct ★★★★★
Beat Hard mode with Lanius Cruiser B for my first FTL Hard win!!! Oh my god that was intense. I had some rough moments throughout the game but managed to arrive at the Flagship with a ship that I was pretty sure would win... and my god it just did. One more volley and I would have been toast. I've seen people kick the Flagship's ass on Hard, so obviously my play can still improve, but for now I'm just going to bask in the afterglow of victory. Oh and new high score.

Game 17: Shadowrun: Hong Kong (PC) - 43.5h, 17 Dec ★★★½
Completed all missions on Hard. Story and gameplay were about as good as Dragonfall but some annoying bugs and mistakes were encountered.

First game done, was an interesting one and quite good for being a star wars game. Just wondering why this little gem didn't get any sequel now

Red Faction Armageddon coming up next at an attempt to work through my backlog.

First game done.


Game 1 - Another World + 100% Trophies (PS4)
They don't make them like this anymore, and probably for good reason because nobody would ever complete them. This is basically the truest remaster ever, even going so far to include the original graphics and sound, which was pretty great. Beautiful new art though.

OP

Definitely want to give this a shot this year, gives me a place to keep track of things too.

Game 1 - Hexcells - 2 hours (Steam)

Made a last minute Steam Winter sale purchase of this (bundled with Plus) and played it clean through to 100% in two play sessions. Really looking forward to going on with Plus and eventually Infinite. Definitely the phenomenal minesweeper evolution everyone says it is.

Game 2 - Transistor - 7 hours (Steam)

Finally picked this up over the winter sale after several years of anticipation. Glad I didn't buy it immediately on release or I would have been really disappointed with the length. Still, a brilliant game and I look forward to playing through it again and getting all of the achievements, which I'm sure will increase the length considerably. Update - Played through the game again and got 100% achievements. Took about 15 hours total. Definitely has hints of brilliance but still feels unsatisfactory in some ways. I think I would have preferred if the game had been designed for entirely real time combat as Bastion was.

Game 3 - Clockwork Tales - Of Glass and Ink - 5-6 hours (Android Tablet)

I had messed around some with the Artifex Mundi hidden object adventure games in the past, but this is the first one I've completed. Turns out they are ideal tablet games. Beat this across three nightly sessions in bed before going to sleep. As a huge steampunk fan I enjoyed the atmosphere of this game a lot, though the writing was pretty poor to be honest. Some of the objects and steps to follow were a bit oblique, but it was never nearly as frustrating as most "typical" adventure games tend to be. Will definitely be playing some of their other games in the future.

Game 4 - Hexcells Plus - 7 hours (Steam)

These games are so good. Really makes me wish I had bought the full bundle and not just the first two, but I'll definitely be picking up Infinite when it is on sale again. Just mentally working through the puzzles as they get more and more complex is such a rewarding experience.

Game 5 - Super Panda Adventures - 10 hours (Steam)

On first glance it may look like bundle trash, but the graphics are charming in a way and the gameplay is actually pretty great. I hate the term "metroidvania" so I'll say it was the best game like Dust I've played since Dust, and at times was much more challenging than Dust. If you've got this sitting around from a random bundle, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

Game 6 - Puzzle Agent - 3.4 hours (Steam)

Been in a bit of a puzzle mood so I decided to give this one a go. Played it through in one sitting. It's... unique. Some of the puzzles are fun brain teasers, some are really simple, and a couple threw me for a loop, but nothing is super challenging and there's not a huge penalty for mistakes. The game has a unique sense of humor and is apparently based on a series I have no awareness of. Probably worth a go if it sounds interesting to you, you should know within the first 10-15 minutes if it is a game for you or not.

Game 7 - Thomas Was Alone - 2 hours (Steam)

"Puzzle-platformer" gets thrown around a lot these days, but all to often the platforming itself really isn't part of the puzzles. Here is a game where it absolutely is throughout. And yes, the writing is great as well. It's never really challenging, but it is an experience well worth it for anyone. My girlfriend had already beaten in previously so all of the in-level pickups were gone, so I just played through the base levels. I'm sure I would have taken a bit longer than I did if those had still been there for me to grab.

Game 8 - Spoiler Alert - ~45 minutes (Steam)

This game is perfect for people just wanting games to beat, because beating all of the game's regular levels and getting the "beat the game" achievement hardly takes any time at all. As for the game itself, the gimmick is interesting, but the level design isn't really internally consistent with the logic of the gimmick. It's pretty easy, though getting through each level in one try to get the perfect achievement might take some effort. Not something I'd recommend except to people looking for an easy +1 game beaten. It didn't even track my time played while I played so I'll still end up having to idle for the trading cards.

Game 9 - Abyss: The Wraiths of Eden - Unsure, probably 7-8 hours (Android Tablet)

After enjoying Clockwork Tales, my girlfriend and I worked our way though this one in a similar fashion. Unlike Clockwork Tales, this game isn't as clearly subdivided into sections, so it involves a lot more backtracking and wondering where exactly the next thing to find is. As a result, it felt like it dragged on a lot longer and didn't flow nearly as well. The environments are cool, and while there's definitely some Bioshock inspiration the story goes in a much different direction. The play itself remains solid and fun and clearly ideal for a tablet format. I'm sure I'll be playing more of these as the year goes on.

Game 10 - Injustice: Gods Among Us - 4 hours (Steam, beat Story mode on Medium)

I was a huge fan of the newest Mortal Kombat so I picked this up a little while back. Just like with MK9, the story mode is what shines, more fighters need to have strong single player components. As a casual comics fan the story was just cheesy enough to justify the action and quite entertaining, even if the various QTEs mixed in between the fighting just seemed to disrupt the flow. Can't imagine I'll end up putting as many hours into this as I did MK9, but there's still a lot of unlockable content and things to do. Was very enjoyable. I will say this was the first time I felt compelled to use SweetFX on a game, I don't know who came up with the murky, awful look that it has by default, but with a fairly simply process it becomes a very good looking game. One of the great advantages of being a PC gamer (that and I only paid $5 for the game).

Game 11 - The Shopkeeper - An hour (Steam)

I'll admit I only tried this because the reviews said it was short and awful, and I was curious after having picked it up in a bundle. It's certainly odd, not really much of a game at all really. It's basically like a higher quality version of a flash game. I poked at it for a little while and got three of the endings and a few of the achievements before using a walkthrough to get the remaining achievements. Good way to add another 100% complete game on Steam pretty quickly if you're into that, otherwise it really isn't worth messing with.

Game 12 - Saints Row - Gat out of Hell - 7 hours (Steam)

As a huge Saints Row fan I was torn about picking this up at launch, but luckily I got in on the Gamestop deal and for $5 it was well worth it. Bite sized open-world is a bit of an odd combination, but the writing was sharp as ever and flying around the city was a blast. I'm sure I'll easily put another few hours into the game just wandering around doing random events. I do think it might have been a better game with a more focused structure that emphasized the writing, but without a lot of open world elements people would have complained it wasn't really Saints Row. Each new game in the series has had less and less customization options with this one finally doing away with customization altogether, but I didn't really miss it much (though I'll admit playing dress-up with Kinzie and Gat would have been hilarious). Highly recommended if you are a fan of the series. Try not to watch too many previews though because they do spoil a lot.

Game 13 - Gone Home - 2 hours (Steam)

The storytelling is a brilliant use of the medium, something not done nearly enough. For all the talk of "it's not a game," you always feel agency and control over where you're going, and the game would have in no way been improved by trivial puzzles like finding the missing bell or putting a duck in the right place. As someone who graduated high school in 1994, the references were great to see and definitely enhanced my enjoyment. Well worth playing through for anyone with an open mind looking for a great experience.

Game 14 - Cat Goes Fishing - 14 hours (100% achievements) (Steam)

How did I spend 14 hours on this game in a week without really trying? I have no idea. Yes, it's basically just an addictive one button mobile game, but it is oh so addictive and great to play for a few minutes here and there. Sometimes simple systems just work well and this is definitely a case of that. Highly worth trying out and it will probably hook you faster than you'd expect.

Game 15 - Lume - 34 minutes (Steam)

Cute graphical presentation, basically serves as a demo/intro to a longer sequel that I don't have. Somehow in thirty minutes though it manages to fall into multiple bad adventure game tropes, from hot spot pixel hunting to a combination lock "puzzle" so obscure even with the walkthrough I don't understand the solution. Guess it's worth playing if you're looking for a quick game to completion or if you really love the genre. If you have it sitting around, it's worth starting up just to see the hand-crafted art style for a minute.

Game 16 - Gunman Clive - 45 minutes (Steam)

A love letter to NES platformers, especially Megaman. Gorgeous style, decent gameplay. I always hated the "scroll off the screen and enemies respawn" of NES era games, and it shows up here. Never gets too frustrating though and I played through it in one sitting. Has some options for replayability but I doubt I'll go back to it. Worth your time if you enjoy the genre.

Game 17 - Stranded - 47 minutes (Steam)

It's pretty clear in the process of doing this challenge I'm going to end up playing through a lot of random weird bundle games just because they are short. That is certainly the case here. The pixel art is nice, and it is very atmospheric. But it is very short, very sparse, and there's really hardly anything to it in terms of game play, just move from place to place. Not going to say it was a complete waste of time, but in many ways it feels a lot more like an art project than a game.

Game 18 - Hotline Miami - 7 hours (Steam)

As with most people, I have a lot of games that I played partially through and never finished, this was one of them. I left off a while back at Chapter 14 and I was surprised that I was able to pick it back up at that point and still proceed, a lot of the time I try going back to a game after a while off and I just can't get anywhere at all. Played it all the way through the "end" and then finished the epilogue, took about 2 more hours. I'm not really good enough to go for any of the hard achievements or the true ending, though I may play it through again at some point to pick up the secrets I missed. It's quite a trippy game and definitely an experience. Brilliantly made though.

Game 19 - Kick-ass 2 - 6 hours (Steam)

Even as a huge fan of the movies and comics, I'm not going to pretend this was in any way a good game. The voice acting is horrible, the gameplay is simplistic, and it really has very little to offer. However, sometimes a mindless beat-em-up where you don't have to worry about evolving abilities and precise parrying and anything more complex than smashing faces in can be mindlessly engrossing, and this game played that role very well for me in one long sitting. Entertaining enough for what it was and very reminiscent of crappy licensed games of days gone by.

Game 20 - SickBrick - 1.5 hours (Steam)

The biggest complaint about this game on the user reviews was that it was short, but if it had the prospect of being longer I just can't see that I would have played it more than 10 minutes. It feels like a game from about 15 years ago, and looks like it too. It has elements of trying to imitate Portal, and if Portal had been made in 2001 by a studio that insisted it become a traditional shooter, it probably would have been this. It isn't a bad game persay, and if you like shooters and want something somewhat fast to beat, go for it. Otherwise, there's a million better options.

Game 21 - Boo Bunny Plague - 3 hours (Steam)

It's a musical about a robot bunny that goes around killing Gods. That's right, a musical.

Game 22 - Hexcells Infinite - 14 hours (Steam)

Funnily enough, the actual crafted puzzles part of Infinite took me less time than Plus did. I decided to do the 60 random puzzles first, which took about 7.5 hours. They are much more relaxing to do, typically with only one or two (if any) tricky parts. As for the actual puzzles, only a few really take some hard time and thought, 6-5 took me at least an hour by itself, but finishing it was oh so satisfying. These games are amazing and I highly recommend them to anyone even slightly interested in logic puzzles.

Game 23 - Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure - 17 hours (Steam)

Very enjoyable action game, other than some exceptionally annoying platforming parts that were thankfully brief and infrequent. Never gets super hard and the combat isn't particularly complex, but the game oozes charm and is good for playing in 15-30 minute spans, which is probably the only reason I could find time to play it. Highly recommended and well worth the time. I was fairly thorough but still didn't get every single max ranking and there is a super hard optional boss I haven't beaten yet. Unfortunately the last 10 or so achievements are tied to playing it through over and over which I can't imagine ever doing.

Game 24 - Rollers of the Realm - 3.5 hours (Steam)

Now that I've finally graduated I should have some time to play games again. My most played game on Steam and my tablet is Pinball FX2, so I've grown pretty fond of computer pinball games, and I've always been a fan of hybrid RPG concepts. This game didn't disappoint, bringing some very unique and fun concepts to the table. The main campaign is a bit short, but it definitely will have a lot of replayability like any pinball game, as well as plenty of score modes. Definitely recommended for anyone who is a pinball fan, very fun.

Game 25 - bit Dungeon II - 3 hours (Steam)

The world needs more SNES style Zelda clones. In terms of combat and feel, this game really hit the right buttons, and added some loot to the mix as well. It has some weird quirks, but I picked it up and didn't stop until I had played all the way through. It's semi-random as well, so it definitely has some replayability. I liked it much more than Anodyne, and the combat/looting are better than Ittle Dew (though that game has much better puzzling). Worth trying if you like the genre.

Game 26 - Ninja Guy - 1 hour (Steam)

Half way! The worst part about this game is that knowing somewhere, someone made this and is probably proud of it. And that they made some money off of the bundle I bought. Seriously, this game is horridly bad. Everything about it, from the controls to the "writing" to the level design is bad. The only challenge comes from the bad game mechanics. However, it is mercifully short and will get you 100% achievements in at most an hour (would have been less if not for the obnoxious final boss fight). If that sort of thing matters to you, pick it up and suffer through the hour and tally your finished game. Otherwise, avoid this monstrosity at all costs.

Game 27 - Monument Valley - 50 minutes (Android Phone)

Like Fez without the platforming (or weird languages), this was fun to look at and had a couple great "ah-ha" moments of understanding, but otherwise was pretty simple. It stayed consistently enjoyable enough for me to beat it in one sitting though, and I'll definitely pick up the expansion at some point and play through it.

Game 28 - Guild Wars 2 - 74 Hours (PC)

Okay, I know you can't ever really "beat" an MMO. But I've been playing this more than anything else for the last month and a half or so, and finally got my character to the current max level (80) which feels like an accomplishment worth noting. I really like a lot of the mechanics of this, from the way group questing happens automatically to the level scaling (which I'll admit I hated in the beginning, but over time being able to level and play effectively anywhere I was proved to be a great feature). I can't imagine I'll sink a ton of "endgame" time into this, but I may level another character and I've enjoyed what I've played. I also love being able to change the colors of every piece of gear, something I always wanted to do in WoW. Not having a subscription means I'll always be able to dabble, but I really should delete my install at this point and play something else, seeing that I've spent 74 hours on it is rather disturbing in many ways.

Game 29 - HuniePop - 15 Hours (Steam)

Yeah, yeah, don't judge. It's surprisingly fun, especially if you aren't playing it alone. It's really not all that graphic either. The mechanics would work great in almost any type of game, but it's amusing to have the sex angle thrown in and it's a shame more companies don't put effort into making decent games with these themes. Well worth the money if it seems appealing to you.

Game 30 - Evoland - 5.5 Hours (Steam)

Well I fell back into the vacuum of World of Warcraft, so getting to 52 this year is seeming less likely. But I did manage to pick this up and finish it off in a couple of sessions. I got 100% of the achievements, so I'm sure it could be easily beaten in much less time. When it first was announced, I was really excited as this of course hits all of my gaming nostalgia buttons. But from what I heard it was short and not great, so I held out until I picked it up in a bundle. As a bundle game, it's definitely worth a play through, it's got some fun and funny touches. Yes, it's short, but I don't think I would have wanted it to be much longer. From what I understand the sequel is much better, but I'll probably wait on a bundle for that too. It's well worth your time if you're a classic RPG lover. As with all games that both mock and idealize the tropes of a genre, it has plenty of pitfalls, but overall, it's a good experience.

Game 31 - Port of Call - 36 Minutes (Steam)

Played all the way through twice to get all of the achievements. An interesting experience, though not really as deep as it is trying to be. Something about walking simulators and themes of death go well together I guess. An easy 100% achievements if you're looking for that sort of thing. Would be worthwhile as a bundle game and since it's free, hard to have any complaints.

Game 32 - The Wolf Among Us - 8 Hours (Steam)

An outstanding experience and bit of story telling. Biggest complaint was that it was just too short, all the episodes after the first barely hit an hour and a half. Unlike with the Walking Dead episodes, these actually felt like making different choices would at least make things feel different, since they were more about how situations were handled than just "who lives or dies" type of binary choices. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys Telltale games or thinks the subject matter sounds interesting.

Game 33 - The Stanley Parable - 3.3 Hours (Steam)

Eh. I was really looking forward to this, having heard it was great and really enjoying the demo. It has some great moments. And it does do a good job of deconstructing the medium. But it never really clicked with me and I just didn't find it very satisfying.

Game 34 - Back to Bed - 2 Hours (Android Phone) 2.5 Hours (Steam)

I wish I had played this on PC instead, as most of the issues I had were dealing with finicky controls and trying to be precise and fast (that and terrible load times that seemed like a bug). That said, I think if I had played it on PC I would have found it overly simplistic, but I only beat normal mode and lost my taste for it. Can't say I'd recommend it, certainly not on a phone. Having to basically do escort missions as puzzles makes the primary challenge timing, not puzzle solving. I feel like there's a base of something here that could be good, but as is there's a lot of better options. Update: played through the entire normal mode on PC, took 45 minutes. Yeah, it's basically a joke with easy controls, and is clearly held back by the escorting mechanics. Because it's essentially a "twitch puzzle" game, the puzzles are never complex (even the nightmare mode ones which just add more maneuvering, not complexity) they are just a matter of precise timing of dropping apples. It's a fundamental flaw that holds the entire game back. Final update: Played through all of nightmare mode on the PC. Guess I didn't really feel like I could call the game "beaten" until I did. Nightmare mode just exacerbates the issues, turning the game into one of apple drop timing.

Game 35 - South Park: The Stick of Truth - 17 Hours (Steam)

Probably the best use of a licensed property I've ever played. The integration with the characters, inside jokes, and just general tone were perfect. It wasn't like playing an episode, it was an experience an episode could never provide. A must play if you're even a casual fan of the show, and a decent RPG in its own right.

Game 36 - Monument Valley: Forgotten Shores - 2ish Hours (Android Phone)

This game is everything Back to Bed wishes it was. Brilliant, easy controls, with intuitive yet sometimes devious puzzles. The expansion takes everything the base game was and adds even more twists. I really hope they make more of these.

Game 37 - Divide by Sheep - Unknown, at least 4-5 hours (Android Phone)

Beat every level with at least one star. Getting three stars on each level is well beyond my ability or level of interest. Devious puzzle game with an amusing aesthetic. I thought it would be more "mathy," like Hexcells, which to a certain extent it is, but most levels are much more about manipulating the different abilities and options available to you. As such, some levels end up being simple and obvious, and some end up being incredibly tricky. Good game to play in small doses, and there's a free ad supported version now, which is what I played.

Game 38 - Red Faction: Guerrilla - 24 Hours (Steam)

My in-game time played only says 16 hours, which should give you an idea of how much time I lost or wasted having to reload or redo things. I really wanted to love this game. And it had enough great moments to keep pulling me back in, when it hands you a loader you can just shred things and feel like a god. But every single mission where you are on foot sucks, because your character is even more fragile than the crumbly environment everything is made of. Not in a "requires strategic methods" sort of way, but in a "walk around the corner and die because two people with guns are standing there and now you have to redo the entire mission you were mostly finished with" sort of way. And yes, the environment destruction is amusing. But it isn't even close to resembling anything realistic, don't get that delusion. It's a fun game, but it isn't Saints Row on Mars, and the world isn't in dire need of a direct sequel. In fact, the only reason I'll give the sequel a try is because it's different.

Hit character limit, continued here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=184638293&postcount=2406

Went through the following games over the past few days. One new, the others were replays...

Game 2: Pink Hour - less than an hour - PC

Decided to give the game that's considered the set-up/demo to Kero Blaster a shot. I don't even know if this should be considered a real game, but it's got a start screen and a credits roll, so I'll include it, haha! I still have no idea what's going on in these games, but I love it. There is a Hard mode to unlock and I cleared that as well for good measure. It's an interesting way to try and sell people on the real game.

Game 3: Kero Blaster - a couple hours - PC - REPLAY

Finished off a replay of this game. Finally cleared the new game+ mode and completed the boss rush. Such a fucking cool game. I like it more than Cave Story, in fact. I will need to do 2 more runs though as I missed an upgrade I believe for the secret weapon only found in the second run of the game.

Game 4: Shovel Knight - a couple hours - Wii U - REPLAY

Finished off a replay of this game as well on new game+. Got a few more Feats accomplished on my last run too. I think I need to replay the game at least two more times to knock out the rest of the in-game achievements. Good times.

Original Post

Game 3: Manos: The Hands of Fate (iOS) - 41 minutes 30 seconds according to the game but I know I've sunk in at least 3 to 4 hours playing the game on and off
This was a really fun game! I love the subject matter and how they pay tribute to Z movies and NES games. I had to play this because I like the cult movie it's based on, which was made in my home town of El Paso! The retro aesthetics are just icing on the cake.

Unfortunately though, the controls are simple but horrible. This game is my "Exhibit A" to show that touch controls suck ass. And the game doesn't work with iCade or ipega controller devices. Still, I don't regret playing this game. When it wasn't frustrating, it was damn fun. I'm missing one of the crystal hands, so I might replay to get all and see how it changes the ending or whatever.

I want to do a big update each month with currently playing status, next games, and more so I will not be updating my main post just yet but just wanted to post updates on the first two games I did beat:

Games Beaten:
1: Ikachan (1PT)
Started playing Thursday January 1st 2015 12:38 AM
Finished playing Thursday January 1st 2015 2:57 PM
Play Time: 1:21
A short but very fun game. It ma be short, but its full on gameplay and its worth it if you can get it on sale for $2-$3 like I did.

2: Yoshi's Island (GBA) (3PT) (100%)
Started playing Friday December 16th 2011
Finished playing Sunday January 4th 2015 1:38 AM
Total Play Time: 22:49
Play Time in 2015: 6:04
Play Time in 2014: 10:26
Play Time in 2013: 2:07
Play Time in 2012 & 2011: Not in Top 30 so unavailable.
Yoshi's Island was my favorite game when  was young and ts still one of my favorites. Going back to its charming world with the best graphics style a 2D platformer can have was great. I always 100% this game but never the secret/extra levels. Those levels and a few of the base levels pushed at my insanity and lessened the fun haha. When I replay it I gotta cut those extra levels out. I also guess that I died 285 times if thats what it meant at the end. O_O *ahem* Now I must 100% Yoshi's New Island and Yoshi's Wooly World this year...oh noes.

*And yes, I now realize I can goto December 2011 on the Activity Log and see 2011's playtime. Already in another game so can't atm lol.

I also just discovered that Final Fantasy IX, IV/After Years, Tactics, Patapon, and Patchwork Heroes weren't actually apart of PS+ (its expired now...yeah I know I'm dumb.) so thats a few more games I can choose to start later. But too many RPGs so who knows if I'll get a chance + Patapon and Patchwork Heroes seems like they'd be too hard for me (I tried Patapon and always died alot a few years ago) but may try them out later in the year.

I really don't remember buying these. This is not good. I have a little backlog but always remember if I bought a game. D:

Also its off topic, but I just wanna say that yesterday I hooked up my tv and PS3 in a room that doesn't have enough room for them, unplugging other stuff, having to download firmware AND Store updates just so I could

Game 1: Phoenix Wright 1 (3DS download ver.) - completed Jan 1st

Really, really loved this game, heard it was great for aaages but one of those things I never got round to. Was better than I ever imagined, the cartoony looks bely the fact that it goes into really deep and heavy stuff - the later episodes in particular were amazing.

Game 2: Phoenix Wright 2 (3DS download ver.) - completed Jan 4th

Again, was surprised that they took the story to another level in the last episode of this one. A bit more random backtracking and less checkpoints in this which made it unneccessarly difficult but still loved it. I highly recommend both games so far. Onto the third one...

Game 3: Infamous First Light (PS4 - PSN) - completed Jan 10th

I had already beaten Second Son and I found this much better - a really pleasant surprise. Better story, better/faster ways of getting around the city and the new powers were really fun to use - going into the arena was fun and I did not think I'd be saying that after getting tired of clearing out the map in SS. Would've happily paid full price for this if I knew it was going to be this good, getting it for free is just a great bonus!

Game 4: Captain Toad (WiiU) - completed Jan 24th

This was a struggle to get the motivation to complete. Game looks gorgeous but was not really enough game for me. I knew what I was getting into - about 70 little dioramas but each one is finished so quick it feels like a lot less. There are certainly a lot of varied ideas implemented to stop the stages from feeling too samey (the trains in particular were good) but I guess I'm just not as interested in this type of game as much as I thought I would be after playing 3D world, oh well.

(in between here, finished Thomas was alone and Hotline Miami again for the umpteenth time, they don't count for this but they are still amazing)

Game 5: Life is Strange Episode 1 (PS4 - PSN) - completed Feb 1st

Loving this so far, perfect play through with girlfriend game. Graphics are surprisingly good at times, music is really good and I like the gameplay even though it's basically the Walking Dead (which I have only played 1 episode of). Great job Dontnod and I look forward to the rest of the season, waiting until March is a bit of a long time though, at this rate it's going to be 6 months plus before we see the end which is far too long for an episodic game IMO.

Game 6: Framed (iOS) - completed Feb 1st

For what this game is going for, it is basically perfect. I did get it when it was free but I can heartily recommend it to anyone. The music is perfect, totally achieves the right secret agent vibe throughout. A game that actually controls best using a touch screen so it has a reason to be on iOS, too. Animations are a stand out, reminds me of the old Flashback, Another World rotoscoping. It introduces new ideas when just moving panels around on its own is getting boring and ends right as it begins to wear out its welcome. Excellent little game and probably one of the best I've played on iOS (except for Simogos games and Super Hexagon).

Game 7: Final Horizon (PSVita - PSN) - completed Feb 10th

This is exactly the sort of "I'd only play this if it was free" game that is perfect for PS Plus. If you do play it I urge you to play until at least mid way through Act 2. The first entire act is bad (only two choices of tower per tiny map!) and you can extrapolate that to say that the whole game is bad because you shouldn't have to wade through so much but once you get through that you have 6 towers each of three levels to choose from and a couple of actually interesting enemies to fight. It's a crying shame that this part of the game is over before you get to use many tactics because it is actually fun, especially for free. I'm surprised how much I enjoyed this because I am a veteran of defense grid (which is a much better game) and if anything this has made me want to buy Defense Grid 2 once it goes down in price as it has got me back to tower defense after a hiatus. In summary, do not buy this, but if you have it for free, try it, in fact it'd probably be a good 'my first tower defense' come to think of it.

Game 8: Element4l (PC - Steam) - completed Feb 10th

Not a lot to say about this game, brilliant original idea but can get utterly frustrating with long sections where a slight physics based hitch can screw you. The addition of the 'press H for help' system makes this game, the difference between getting stuck and seeing that each puzzle is actually possible is enormously motivating, would've probably given up had that not existed. Nothing special but fun whilst it lasted.

Game 9: Pix the Cat (PS4 - PSN) - completed Feb 15th

What a surprise this turned out to be, one of the very best free PSN games I ever received! Main mode alone is really well designed with the best visual and sound feedback, I just found myself trying to get into the zone more and more and 'wasted' hours playing it. Still a couple of score trophies to get though - grrrr. On top of that, you get 100 tough levels of puzzling (started on release and just literally finished today) and 100 'nostalgia' levels of a fantastic old timey black and white atmosphere, It's amazing how much this game gets right, I have no trouble recommending it at all. The only blip is that the 4 player mode is a terrible mess that shouldn't even exist really but when you get so much other good stuff it's hard to complain.

Game 10: Gunman Clive 2 (3DS - eshop) - completed Feb 15th

Holy crap, biggest surprise of the year so far, I went in getting this because it was cheap and it would support a Gaffer but it's actually amazing! Way more levels than I thought, and it goes back to the 'correct' way to make games IMO - even though there are a lot of levels, each one adds something new and/or interesting to the mix, theres no wasted space retreading things or just walking along shooting a couple of baddies. I really love the fact that reason is utterly thrown in the bin for the sake of making a fun game. I laughed when riding a mine cart on the back of a dinosaur then burst out laughing when transitioning from that to riding vertically up a wall on the minecart - the game it totally insane and all the better for it. I want this guy designing new Mario or Rayman levels!

Game 11: The Order 1886 (PS4) - completed Feb 27th

Wow! Completely blown away by this and I went in with quite high expectations, only to have them totally surpassed. The best graphics and sound I have ever seen in a game, fantastic voice acting, great story and such an atmospheric world in an original setting that I love. The only let down is the ending, especially since I just wanted to stay in that world as long as possible. This is the first 'next gen' leap in graphics, the game to show your friends and family.

Game 12: Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (PS4) - completed March 1st

I consider this 'completed' since I beat story mode, beat up to champ on Arcade and completed most of command training. What a great fighting game! They've come a long way since I played DoA4 ages ago. There's just so much of everything. Crazy number of characters and stages, feels like double DoA4s roster, comprehensive training mode stuff, a million costumes and I love the throwdown idea of challenging whilst playing single player. The story mode is unbelievably bad however, and the online population seemed very small but for the £25 I paid, it's totally worth it. The number one best thing about this game for me, which makes me realise how much I value this feature, is the music select function. I absolutely loved the music from DoA3 and being able to pick and choose which part of the game gets what music is just the best, same reason why Sonic Generations was so good. More developers do this please!

Game 13: OlliOlli2 (PS4 - PSN) - completed March 13th

Can't believe this was free! Hasn't hooked me like the vita one did originally but really a good addition to the series. Level design is as good as ever but the music is a real disappointment this time round. Finished all the amateur objectives but can't be bothered to do all the pro missions, just too ludicrously hard. Probably wouldn't have bought this but fantastic for free.

Game 14: Resident Evil HD (PS4 - PSN) - completed March 15th

Phenomenal, cannot believe how well this holds up. It's sad in a way that this is still better than the majority of games released since. Has an utter blast playing it and I don't know how much they changed for the remake but couldn't remember anything past the initial mansion so it was like playing it for the first time. Feel weird saying this but this is in running for my game of the year. Good trophies too - is it really possible to finish it in 3 hours?! (took us 12)

Game 15: Resident Evil Revelations 2 Episode 1(PS4 - PSN) - completed March 15th

TBD

Game 16: Hotline Miami 2 (PC - Steam) - completed March 18th

Holy shit what an amazing game, had a couple of average levels early on but picks up more and more and the last level is absolutely stunning! Was so sad when it was finished but new game plus is already excellent from the very first level. Can't wait to go through it over and over like the first one and piece everything together (if that's even possible!)
Music is better and worse, more tracks than ever so they couldn't keep the quality up but it is so incredible when it all gels. Game was absolutely worth the wait - buy it!

Game 17: Ori and the Blind Forest (PC - Steam) - completed March 24th

Firstly, this is a very good metroidvania game and if you are at all into the genre, you should absolutely play it. The graphics are outstanding, the difficulty is great and the length and size of map is good. Nevertheless, much to my surprise I was still disappointed with it.
Unlike many others, I didn't like the feel of the jumping, especially the double/triple jump which barely did anything. The story was completely throw away and the abilities you do get seem very rote - basically the same or worse than every other metroid game. After finishing it I had no desire to get secrets since they are basically some experience or some more max health, nothing very exciting to obtain (unless I never found any of the real secrets I guess). The truth is I think I have just been spoiled by La Mulana which is vastly superior and I'm beginning to think is my GOTG - I started another run immediately upon finishing Ori as a matter of fact.

Game 18: Jamestown+ (PS4 - PSN) - completed March 25th

Wow! Hugely surprised by this game, absolutely the shoot em up we needed in my house, having 4 players elevates it above every other non-Treasure shooter in my book and I love the variety of ships and the crazy story. Totally shocked by this one which wasn't on my radar at all, it was just bought as another 4 player game for the PS4 and I am smitten with it. Having a scoring mechanic I can actually understand is a big plus too - I'm looking at you, Cave
I'm hopeful this will eventually be a free PS Plus game because more people need to experience it.

Game 19: Axiom Verge (PS4 - PSN) - completed April 6th

What a journey I went on with this game! At first since I'd heard it was like the next Fez I was utterly enthralled and loved picking up encrypted documents and using the disruptor. The levels were well designed, difficulty was great and the map was old school brilliance. Even after seeing the ending I just wanted more. Then....I found a certain item which pissed me off so much I just said fuck it and went and looked up all the other secrets in the game because it was such mystery ruining bullshit. I thought I was done with it but I just randomly started a 'no deaths' run on a whim and am appreciating it just for the action part of it, rather than the supposedly clever bits which amount to nothing. Hugely disappointing because I was basically mis-sold on it but as a simple action game it is one of the best I have played in a long time in all honesty.

Game 20: Far Cry 4 (PS4) - completed April 18th

We have been playing this on and off since Christmas and only just finished it! Huge game with a billion (mostly good) things to do. Its really good in just about every way, excellent endgame weapons in particular and the Shangri-la missions were really well done. Only complaint is the ending is very brief and poor. Pretty much guarantee I will buy Far Cry 5 when that comes out, still haven't had enough of open world done right.

Game 21: Defense Grid 2 (PS4 - PSN) - completed April 27th

Finally, this was on sale for a reasonable amount. Definitely the best tower defense game I've ever played but even so, it just seems pretty simplistic. Once you work out how good temporal, concussion and meteor towers are, you're done basically. Glad I bought it but I think I'm done with tower defense for a long time.

Game 22: Injustice (PS4) - completed April 28th

Was so glad to get this for free and have been chipping away at it for ages. The story mode isn't nearly as good as MK9s (maybe because I don't follow DC comics stuff) but still a good romp and it is great to have to try out a lot of different characters. Green Arrow was a surprise favourite. A solid fighting game and an unbelievable freebie to get from PS plus.

Game 23: Broken Age (PC - Steam) - completed May 6th

I loved the first act and cliffhanger and to be honest I really liked the first half of act 2 - I wasn't bothered by the same locations at all and the humour was good. However, the wiring stuff got very tiresome and the ending itself suuuuuuuuuucked. I cannot believe they spent as long as they did making the game and setting up such an interesting premise to end it like that. Truly awful ending, probably the worst I have seen in years.

Game 24: Race the Sun (PS4 - PSN) - completed May 7th

When I say completed I mean reached level 25. Not really anything to this game, I would've been greatly disappointed had I bought it. The graphics seem to be overly simplistic and not in an 'art style choice' way. Gameplay is just an endless runner with very basic missions and upgrades. I guess I enjoyed it enough to get to max level but it's not worth playing to be quite honest.

Game 25: Transistor (PS4 - PSN) - completed May 12th

Bought this on launch, played an hour then set it aside. Finally came back to it and finished it in one short play session. The main thing about the game is it should've been about 3 times longer. The leveling and systems are very good and interact very well but just when the story is going somewhere and you are expecting a kind of act 2 twist it just ends! A terrible shame as the combat, art and speech are good but it seems all the side stuff in the game amounts to nothing, it might as well have not been there. Can't recommend this, if you must try one of these games, definitely go for Bastion, that is a great game.

Game 26: Box Boy (3DS - eshop) - completed May 13th

Wow! Automatically goes to the top of the 'value of the year' category - this game gives you more for a fiver than you could possibly ever expect. Over 20 worlds of levels along with loads of extra challenges, it embarrasses every modern 'split-up-to-give-DLC-down-the-line' game out there. Very simple but really well tuned to be fun and a surprisingly excellent additional game mechanic right near the end mean it is amazing all around basically. Don't hesitate, just buy it right now!

Game 27: Futuridium EP Deluxe (PS4 - PSN) - completed May 14th

This game was hugely disappointing - it could've been so good! I loved the original Uridium - all they needed to do was make it fast, with great music and punchy sound effects (I cannot believe the shooting effect got past QA, its truly awful). The graphics are spot on and the colour filters are a great idea. A key thing missing too is a crosshair, that alone would've improved the game no end. A real shame.

Game 28: The Room (PC - Steam) - completed May 17th

Really great puzzle game with brilliant production values - sound effects and wood textures and the like were outstanding. The single complaint I could level against it is the control with mouse had a few issues, clearly better on ipad but I can't blame them since it was originally designed that way. Finished it in one session but I found the difficulty to be just right, never frustrating, but required some thought. Great game!

Game 29: Wolfenstein - The Old Blood (PS4 - PSN) - completed May 30th

In a word - fantastic. The only negative I can level against it is the way it has a slightly boring first level (just like the New Order) while it winds up but once it gets going it is brilliant, loved playing through it. Shout out to the last boss being very well done, too, which is nice, rather than just fighting a variant of mecha hitler in all these games each time. I did eventually get a bit bored of playing the original Wolfenstein but since those bits are optional, I just skipped them, just shows you how far we've come really

Game 30: Steins Gate (Vita - PSN) - completed June 8th

Wow, I really love a good VN and I played this over 15 hours in three days - had to get to the end. Having said all that, the ending is huugely disappointing, they build so many fantastic 'gun on the wall' bits ready to use later and then promptly ignore virtually all of them and go for the stupidest, generically happy ending they could. Going in I was told this was more revelatory than 999 and VLR which prepared me for what I thought was going to be the best game ever, to be honest. This isn't even close to those two, but if you have played this first, I strongly recommend you play through 999 and VLR to have your mind blown.

Game 31: Bloodborne (PS4) - completed June 14th

Hooray, first run finally complete, time to go through properly with a guide. Don't have much to add on to what everyone else is saying but yes it is an amazing game. Personally I prefer Dark Souls 2 (pre scholar) because the difficulty is just a tad less frustrating, but BB is still great, loved the last boss fight. There were a couple of times I just lost interest and stopped playing for a while though - I went 'the wrong way' early on and kept getting stuck against super hard enemies and bosses and then Rom put me off for a long time. Still, the amount of secrets and ways to play is really quite something. I've never loved a weapon in a souls game quite as much as I did the rifle spear in this. Loved every move in its moveset.

Game 32: Battlefield 4 (PS4 - PSN) - completed June 15th

TBD

Game 33: Evil Within Season Pass (PS4 - PSN) - completed June 21th

Jesus, this was so good! What a game. Even the standalone game I consider one of the games of 2014 but the season pass felt like so much content. If you had to play through the full game with all the season pass in one go, you'd be there for a long, long time. I was slightly disappointed that the plot wasn't explained a bit more though, I didn't mind it not tying up neatly in the main game, but I figured it might at the end of the season. Kidmans end boss was a high point but the whole thing was really nice, showing you can do a good game like this without an RPG upgrade system and it still be great. Roll on Mikami's next game!

Game 34: Batman Arkham City (PC - Steam) - completed July 1st

Half way through the year- hooray! Had to play through this before starting Arkham Knight. Hadn't had a chance before because my 360 disc broke, got it on steam sale for virtually nothing so had no excuse not to. Really great game, the combat and predator stuff was pretty much exactly what I was hoping for but adding the open world city in virtually added nothing, it was so generic as black blocks for each building it may as well have been a VR mission from MGS so I never felt a reason to explore or spend time flying around doing side stuff. Fortunately the main story stuff was all very good, especially a boss fight in the middle of the game, one of the best bosses in ages. Highly recommend it but still Arkham Asylum was better. Onto Arkham Knight!

Game 35: Batman Arkham Knight (PS4) - completed July 7th

Holy crap, this is the first 10/10 game this year, absolutely astounding. I feel like I played this game in the most ideal scenario possible, on PS4, straight after City, no crashes and only happened to do the good side quests. The game just keeps on stepping up a gear until it becomes freakin amazing. Best story and ending in a game in a long time. Due to the story carrying quite a bit forward from City, I would recommend playing through City before playing this even though I think City is the least good of the three.
Driving is a bit weird to get used to but still pretty fun, Batmobile combat I actually loved, a great addition to the predator, traversal and combat portions of the game. There's so many good story beats I want to mention but you definitely don't want to be spoiled on it.

Game 36: Her Story (PC - Steam) - completed July 12th

Really enjoyed playing this, great game to play with someone else, because discussing the plot is basically the whole point. Can't say anything without spoiling it but trust me, it's a good un. Now that I have 'completed' it (seen the credits) I feel like I have to go and discuss with other players what really happened - to the GAF spoiler thread!

Game 37: Murasaki Baby (PSVita - PSN) - completed July 12th

I really wanted to love this game but unfortunately its just not fun. I'ts laudable to try and make a game taking advantages of all the Vitas functions but just like Kinect, the back touch is so bad, you just can't make a game responsive or fun using it. The art style and style in general is really nice, but the actual platforming was a chore due to the controls. If you want a game that uses the Vita and is actually good, get Metrico instead, it's this kind of game done right.

Game 38: Ether One (PS4 - PSN) - completed July 17th

What a turn around. This game is like the exact opposite of Broken Age - pretty bad for a lot of the game but the end ties up so well it retroactively makes what you've done amazing. I loved the final stage of this so much that I highly recommend anyone who got it free on PSN play it through to the end. Don't go and try to solve all of the projectors though, they are so hard and rely on information you may not even have when you discover them that they will put you off playing (did to me anyway). Just collect all the ribbons and pay attention to the story and in no time you will have finished it and it'll be great. I would love a big budget AAA game in this vein.

Game 39: Monster Bag (PSVita - PSN) - completed July 19th

I love the art in this game - so clean and hi res. It looks somewhat in the style of a flash game but how it actually should be done to look great and not 'like a flash game' if that makes sense. Loads of levels, in fact the primary complaint is the game should've finished after level 14 - great level and every one after that is horrendous test of patience, even some randomisation meaning you can't finish a level without dying at times! It's like they forgot everything that made the game good! Play through to level 14 and you will have a fun, if quite basic, time.

Game 40: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PS4 - PSN) - completed July 19th

First off, the graphics are phenomenal, absolutely beautiful game. Much, much shorter than I expected but the open ended-ness of it is nice and handled quite well. Wish we'd found the fast travel earlier though, it was very trying running from one side of the world to the other twice. Good, interesting stuff going on in the game though, good if you can get it cheap.

Just got an ipad so I expect I'll get quite a few more finished in quick succession.

Game 41: Monument Valley (iOS) - completed July 26th

Game 42: Magic Origins (iOS) - completed July 26th

Time to get the party started I suppose. Lots of time for games this holiday, which was nice for once. Doubtful I'll be able to keep this pace.

Ongoing status post

Completed

Game 1 - Assassin's Creed II (PC) - 28 hours
Finally got around to this right when the Ubi style of design is being hated by everyone here. I ended up doing everything aside from finding all the feathers.

I haven't played an Assassin's Creed game since the first one around it's launch. It definitely feels more polished. There's definitely more variety in the missions. At first, I didn't like that the story assassination missions were less puzzle-like than they were in the original. This one makes up for it by giving you a series of assassination side quests that are pretty satisfying in general. Even if none of them really stand up to the best assassination missions in the original.

The characters are more interesting, the story is better paced, the cities are gorgeous. Venice in particular was really fun to traverse. Not sure if I liked the city system that generates money for you. It seems unnecessary considering that I kind of felt the weapon/armor upgrade system was kind of unnecessary too.

And that stems from my feeling that the game is generally too easy. Combat, in principle, is just fine. It's just not difficult at all, if you're any good at reacting to visual cues. As a fan of character action games, I'm sure I'm not the target audience here, but the combat is just too easy to be a highlight for me. It might have been a bit more difficult towards the very end when you've got sheer numbers working against you, but by that point, I'd accumulated so much health/medicine/whatever that it was kind of a moot point. The challenge was just trying to not have to use any medicine. Which I did maybe four or five times in the entire game?

Overall, I enjoyed it. I can see why so many people liked it so much more than the original. I liked the original too, but just felt it was a bit too repetitive. They did a good job of injecting a bit more variety into this one.


Game 2 - Super Dodge Ball (NES/Wii U VC) - 2 hours
Couldn't sleep last night, so I ended up firing this up. I haven't played Super Dodge Ball in over 20 years. Really glad I bought this. It's just as much fun as I remember. It didn't take me long to remember the timing of all the catches/throws. Ran through the World Tour mode in all three difficulty levels. Got tripped up once by the USSR in Hard, but they fell to my power smashes the second time around.

I'm pretty sure I have the GBA version somewhere, which I never played. I'll have to dig that one up soon and see how it holds up. I definitely want to cajole/force some of my local friends into playing some multiplayer in this. It might be a good distraction from all the Smash Bros. we've been playing lately.

In Progress

• Kid Icarus Uprising - Up to Mission 9. Doing as many challenges as I can on the way. I'm thinking that I'll stop doing that and worry about it if I still want to do it once I beat it. I like it so far, but I also haven't touched it in a week or so.
• Super Mario 3D World - Having just finished New Super Mario Bros U about a month ago, I was afraid I'd enjoy this less. No such luck. I'm through the first four worlds and I've picked up all the stars/stamps/gold posts on the way. Enjoying it more and more as I go on.
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - This finished downloading before Super Mario 3D World, so I started playing it. Got through the first book, and completed all the objectives/challenge times. I wasn't sure at first, but about half way through that first book I was hooked.
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - Unlocked all the major things, but still going through a lot fo the single player content. This is worlds better than Brawl overall. I really love the feeling/pace of matches, and it's been the go to game when I've gotten together with friends.
• Mario Kart 8 - Going through the DLC. I just need three stars on one of the cups in Mirror. Time trial ghosts done. Fantastic value for the price. This is the backup game with friends when we've had enough Smash Bros.
• Star Wars: Dark Forces - Now that I finished AC2, I used a randomizer to pick out another game from my endless Steam backlog, and ended up on this. Spent a few evenings on it so far. I remember playing this when I was younger, but going through it now, I'm pretty sure I never got past the fourth mission. A really interesting variation on the DOOM design for the time. I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. I think I'm maybe a third, maybe halfway through?

7h-ish. Completed Story mode. Short and sweet, frustrating at times - I particularly hated how the objectives tended to make you leave the HQ unattended and then you got a Game Over out of the blue. But the game itself was good fun. Also fanservice. Tons of fanservice.


Updated OP

I've already finished two games this year;

Hyrule Warriors (Wii U) - 8ish Hours
Really enjoyed this, the gameplay was really fun and having so many different characters to mix it up was great. I also really enjoyed the RPG aspects like the craftable weapons, upgrades etc.

Resident Evil Revelations (PC/Steam) - 6:30 According to ingame/8:00 According to steam
Not sure what I thought of this, you could tell it was a 3DS port despite the effort that had been put in. I have no idea what was happening with the story and the gameplay was sort of annoying (the ability to sprint or dodge roll would have been nice). Overall I wasn't impressed and RE4 remains my favorite.

As for the rest of the year I'm working on a few titles right now; Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy and Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment are the ones that come to mind and I have a load of sealed games to get through - it's going to be a busy year!

Game 3: A Bird Story 22/01/15


Game 2: Ranko Tsukigime’s Longest Day 10/01/15


Game 1: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution 8/01/15

Playing:
The Wolf Amongst Us
Super Smash Bros
Pokemon Link Battle
Pokemon Black 2

Original Post

I think I'll just stick to putting up a complete list instead of whatever I'm working on. Easier to read, probably.

Metro 2033 (Complete!)

Samurai Warriors 4 (Complete!): Damn, those DLC levels were not fun, at least compared to the previous, normal ones. Still, it's over, and I'm happy to be finished with it just in time for the expansion pack later this year.

Plants VS Zombies Garden Warfare (Complete!): 100 kills wasn't too bad using the All-Star guy. In fact, it was a bit too easy.

One cool indie game each evening is working great so far.

Game 3: The Room - 3,5/5 - 2:54 hours (05/01/15)

Nice puzzle game, with minimalist, clean graphics, and great atmosphere. I love chinese boxes and hidden mechanisms, so this one really hit the spot for me. I only have a few complaints: the game's too short and the last two sections are too straightforward, you feel a little guided at times, while at the beginning you could choose to follow multiple "paths" at once; also I found the game too easy, only got stuck once, for around 10 minutes. The ending sucks.

This game is:

+

Click to expand...

Original Post

Game #5: Mark of the Ninja



What a great surprise! I was itching for an action side scrolling game and Mark of the Ninja totally delivered. The controls are rather weird at first, but once you get to them, the game is very fun and rewarding. Making those guards shit their pants out of fear is so satisfying! Also, I really liked that segment at the end of the game. Very cool I am open to recommendations of other indie (or not) action games like this one!

Game 1 - The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - Completed (5 hours)

Absolutely gorgeous game with incredibly vibrant environments and an engaging story. Would recommend to anyone who loves a good narrative.



Game 2 - A Story About My Uncle - Completed (6 hours)

Fun platformer with a nice little fairy tale story. Fairly easy for the most part, except for one small area I swear I spent half my time trying to get past. It's in a cave and there are stalactites and I was sure it was impossible. Very good game overall though.



Game 3 - Papers, Please - Currently Playing

I've started playing this multiple times in the past but never made it to the end.



Game 4 - Transistor - Currently Playing



Game 5 - Tomb Raider - Currently Playing

Yet another game I started a while back but never finished.

Games played this year:

1 - Call Of Duty Ghosts - PC (5 hours) - Easily the worst SP campaign of the entire series until then (Still haven't played AW, but it can't be worse than it).
2 - Suikoden 2 - PS1 through Vita (28 hours) - Solid JRPG mechanics, an interesting antagonist (Jowy, not Luca Blight, he was to one-dimensional, "I'll destroy the entire world because I want to", for my taste.) and a good story. I understand the love GAF has for this game. Didn't get all 108 stars, though.
3 - Assassin's Creed: Unity - XBox One - (18 hours) - Maybe too ambitious, fell short on a lot of aspects, but still an entertaining experience. The ending sucked, by the way.
4 - Bionic Commando (2009) PC - (5 hours) - Seemed like a fan service, with lot's of references to the original game (That I never played). A little boring.
5 - Max: The Curse Of Brotherhood - XBox One (6 hours) - A fun platformer. Easy for most of the time (Except for a couple of non-obvious puzzles).
6 - Soul Sacrifice - Vita - (20 hours) - Deep mechanics with a interesting story. Great for short play bursts.

1 - shadowrun dragonfall

most of the hours that went into finishing the game came from last year though.

it is a great game, and i highly recommend it. cool party members, game appears to be balanced, interesting setting in germany, good plot twists, and the final boss battle music was a fitting piece. i will replay it since i'm curious about the other outcomes from evilish choices

Currently Playing

Pushmo
Dragon Age Inquisition
Lego Marvel Superheroes
Record of Agarest War
Pokemon White
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Bravely Default
Breath Of Fire III
Blades of Time
Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Super Mario 3D World
Dragon Age II
Blue Dragon Plus
Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor Overclocked
Arc Rise Fantasia

Original Post

Game 2: Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of The Baskervilles - 4 hours



It's a hidden object game, but it has a decent story, decent to laughable voice acting and quite nice artwork and puzzles. Unlike the original story that implies a supernatural cause, the game takes the supernatural and goes all out with time travel, supernatural beasts etc...

BraXzy - 27/52 Games

I failed miserably and didn't keep my post up to date last year, I'm gonna try and go through with it this year, here goes! *The start of this year went well but it's gone downhill recently, hopefully next month I find some time to get into a bunch of games I want to play.*

COMPLETED GAMES



Game 1: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - 10 hours ish - 04/01/2015 - PS3

Interestingly, the first game I have completed in 2015 is a PS3 game. Awhile back, I'd bought a bunch of PS3 games, kinda on a whim, that I'd wanted to play last gen and never did because I only owned an X360. I didn't own a PS3 at the time but I knew I wanted to play them somehow so why not. My GF bought me a PS3 for Christmas since she knew I'd never end up borrowing one and also because she's awesome so I've started a few of the games.

I was torn on whether or not to start with Uncharted 1 since 1) it's pretty old and 2) Everyone says Uncharted 2 was the best. But after a quick Bing (kidding I used Google ofc), it sounded like playing 2 first would make it hard to touch 1 so I thought heck just play them all. I've got a PS4 now so I want to have the trilogy completed before the 4th is out. I thought the game was pretty good, especially for something from 2007. I enjoyed the setting and the characters.. overall the gameplay was fun, a lot of encounters were badly designed though imo. One thing that made me go oh cool was when I shot a guy in the leg and he reacted to it and hopped around, seemed like a neat feature for a now 8 year old game. Spoiler:

Spoiler

The supernatural twist was interesting, although I'd seen mention of it in UE4 which took the surprise out.

I only found 47 of the 60 treasures which annoyed me a little, I looked in every damn nook and cranny I tell ya! All in all, it felt very much like what I'd imagine Indiana Jones in game form would feel like. Enjoyed it and I can't wait to see what the much more adored improved sequels are like.



Game 2: Grand Theft Auto: V - 50+ hours campaign - 07/01/2015 - Xbox 360

I started this game at launch and really enjoyed it, and I've put almost as many hours into the online as I have off.For some reason I stopped playing, distracted by the next-gen consoles and never got round to finishing it I think. So since I finally got round to setting up my PS4, I figured I'd finish it up before packing away my Xbox 360. I've never really gotten into a GTA game before as much as I did with this one. The world rockstar created was incredible, a joy to explore. It's pretty crazy how much stuff you could do, and all the ways you could interact with it. I can't remember all of the story since I did most of it over a year ago, but what I do remember was pretty great. The three character switching mechanic is something I hope they bring back since it is a great concept. Ending Spoilers:

Spoiler

When it came to picking the ending, I immediately regretted my choice. It was super late and I was trying to finish it in one sitting. When it got to the choice, I hadn't fully paid attention to the cutscene prior and suddenly realised I had to make the choice. The way I took it was, A = Trevor, B = Michael or C = Franklin to die. I liked Trevor least so I went with option A. It was painful to play through and I couldn't actually do it in the end, Michael did. So when I found out option C was actually the awesome brotherly ending I was super gutted and regret it.

I'm contemplating buying the next-gen remakes and replaying the whole thing at some point.



Game 3: Halo 5: Guardians Beta - 10+ hours multi - 09/01/2015 - Xbox One

This counts right since it's a multiplayer and I've played more than 10 hours? Well anyway.. Halo is one of if not my favourite gaming franchise. When I was younger I mainly played on handheld Nintendo devices, I did own an OG Xbox but I barely remember it, I don't think I had many games. When Halo 3 came out on the Xbox 360 I got swept up in the hype though, I guess because of the marketing and people going on about it at school. I didn't have a 360 at the time, so I used to go to a mates house as often as I could to play it. It has been close to my heart since.

With 343 taking over, Halo 4 was okay but just didn't grasp me. I quickly moved on from it after finishing it and found it kind of disappointing. I'm really hoping 343 has learnt a thing or two and have my fingers crossed for Halo 5. The beta so far, while quite different to the classic games, is fun to play. I feel like it's still too fast and some of the new abilities I'm on the fence about but for a beta it has been good fun. I can't wait to see some campaign stuff and get my hands on the real thing.



Game 4: Dota 2 - 10+ hours multi - 09/01/2015 - PC

I started playing Dota 2 back in 2012, I saw it when I notcied all the buzz it was getting. My first reaction was wtf is this, but then I looked into it and was hooked. The idea of it seemed awesome, and although the look of it was something drastically different to your typical game, I was super interested. I read up on all the heroes and their abilities, watched played games online and repeatedly bugged my mate to play it with me. I'm now sitting at over 1000 hours played and I think he's at around 2000 :3

It's an awesome, complex game that's entirely free and one of the best I've ever played. Idk if I'll ever not go back to it at some point or another. You have your bad games and your good games but you're always back for more.



Game 5: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - 12 hours - 11/01/2015 - Wii U

When I played the Captain Toad levels in Super Mario 3D World I adored them, my first thought was, I wish there were more. This should be a full game. It seems like a lot of other people thought so too because here we are! It's such a colourful, clever little game and I enjoyed pretty much every minute of it. The diorama style levels are an awesome idea, the art style which seems to now be the norm for all 3D Mario type games looks as gorgeous as ever and the puzzles were all fun without too much frustration. I beat all of the main game and did 90% of the bonuses in 12 hours. Pretty satisfied overall! My favourite level was probably

Spoiler

the pinball machine.

Game 6: Infamous: Second Son - 20 hours - 14/01/2015 - PS4

Since I only just recently got a PS4, I haven't really followed any of the games so far. I nearly didn't buy Infamous because my brief look at impressions at release seemed to have an overall feel of mediocre, but I figured I'd give it a shot anyway, it had looked pretty cool. I remember thinking that Delsin seemed kinda annoying from the trailers I'd seen so I wasn't sure what I'd make of it. This is also my first Infamous game and while it wasn't perfect, I thought it was a pretty good game. The powers are awesome, it was great just being a super hero and being free to do whatever. I actually quite liked the story and characters but I thought they were underused which was a shame. There were a few downsides though.. the world whilst big and detailed, didn't really have any soul. NPC's didn't really do anything, there wasn't much to interact with and the things to do on the side were super collectathon-y. I still collected them all because I can't help it but I wanted so much more to do.

The world and the graphics though.. gotdamn. This is one of the best looking console exclusives I've played so far. Two minutes into the game I was taking screenshots.. I probably spent half of my play time messing about taking images and messing with camera mode. The game really is gorgeous, the lighting, the particle effects, everything! I took 270 screenshots overall, and everyone of them looks like a bullshot! Overall I really enjoyed it and I'm an evil playthrough away from my first platinum!



Game 7: Monument Valley: Forgotten Shores DLC - 1 hour 30 mins - 17/01/2015 - Android

I absolutely loved the base game which I played at the end of last year so I was happy to see they'd made more. It's a beautiful and incredibly clever game, and they went even further with their ideas with this. It's pretty short but it keeps you thinking throughout, some really clever mechanics in play. Each level is crafted brilliantly. I don't understand the outcry for the price of it, I thought I got my moneys worth.

I am in awe of the way in which anything that is visibly connected, is so. Some really awesome mind bending stuff playing with space and perspective, I love it. I kind of want a fully fledged sequel, here's to hoping!



Game 8: Metal Gear: Ground Zeroes - 2 hours - 20/01/2015 - PS4

I've never played a Metal Gear game before since I've never owned a PS console myself till now, shoot me I know, I've missed out. I know roughly what the series is about and how the gameplay is, so I wasn't going in completely blind.

I haven't done all the side ops or collected everything but I've finished the main mission which I think is technically completing the game? I absolutely loved it. It took me a few tries to get into the stride of stealth and getting used to the mechanics of the game but when it clicked it was bliss. So much fun in a tightly packed small-ish environment. The level design is brilliant, it is so much fun just finding multiple ways to do things.. I will definitely be doing a tonne of replays of this. The story as well seems really intriguing even though I only saw snippets from this big universe, I've got some catching up to do. I can't wait for MGS V now! The main negative I had if any is that it was quite short and sweet, at least the main mission. I would've been annoyed if I got it full price but since I got it fairly cheap digitally I'm not too fussed.



Game 9: The Room - 2 hours - 28/01/2015 - Android

I heard good stuff about this when it came out but never picked it up. Finally played it and the epilogue and I'm glad I did. Really unique, very clever puzzles. Some were too obscure in my opinion but I very rarely got stumped. The fact it had an interesting little story to follow was a nice addition. It's a shame that it isn't really all that replayable but that can't really be helped. Had a few issues with the controls going wonky during certain sections but it mainly worked really well. Will definitely be picking up the sequel at some point.



Game 10: Driveclub - 10+ hours - 29/01/2015 - PS4

Since the game doesn't really have any kind of end due to its nature, I figured I'd treat it in the same way as a multiplayer game since I've easily played 10 hours already. I bought this game mainly because of the GIF thread that popped up and also to populate my new PS4's library.

I'd like to preface my thoughts by saying that I am not a big racing game fan. I very rarely play them and I've never had them click. I can count on my hands the total racing games I've played. So I wasn't really expecting to enjoy Driveclub that much. It turns out that it has sunk its claws in and I love it! The graphics are stunning, the racing feels fun but just punishing enough that things take practice. The social aspect of it works much better than I expected, all of the various challenges, leaderboards etc. add to the replayability and competitiveness of everything. Will probably end up getting the season pass.



Game 11: Hearthstone - 10+ hours - 17/02/2015 - PC

It's been awhile since I last got time to invest into a game. I got back into Hearthstone at the start of the year though and I must've easily spent over 10 hours playing it. Why doesn't EVERY game/console keep track of playtime? I'm still pretty novice at the game, and the whole card game genre in general but it's a really enjoyable game. I love how they have 'illustrated' the game, the way all of the cards look and interact on the board. And the game boards themselves are awesome! I love tinkering with the random things around the edge of them while I wait for my turn.



Game 12: The Unfinished Swan - 6 hours - 18/02/2015 - PS4

A unique, beautiful and fun adventure game.. I loved every minute of it. The art style is superb, I was constantly taking screenshots. Even though there is hardly any detail it just looks so good. I love how the game mechanics evolved and changed, I was worried it'd stay the same and get a bit old. There were quite a few wow moments with a few jumpey ones thrown in too.

Spoiler

The credit sequence and the portals to the blue house were awesome.

I really enjoyed how it ended too. Overall it was a great experience, I ended up getting all of the trophies!



Game 13: Flower - 2 hours - 18/02/2015 - PS4

A quarter of the way there! I've completed way more games than I expected to already woop! Another really unique and gorgeous game that I have been waiting to get my hands on. It was a magical, relaxing experience, very different to the typical game I'd play. The soundtrack and general audio really helped add to the whole thing. I wasn't a fan of the controls though, it took awhile to get used to it and I feel like I'd rather have had the option to use traditional methods.



Game 14: Thirty Flights of Loving - 1 hour - 18/03/2015 - PC

Damn, it's been exactly two months since my last finished game. A short but sweet one this time. A really unique little gem that tells its story in a really interesting way. The developer commentary was a nice little touch.



Game 15: The Last of Us: Remastered - 17 hours - 24/05/2015 - PS4

Wow. I really need to find time to write down my thoughts.



Game 16: Counter Strike: Global Offensive - 22+ hours - 05/07/2015 - PC

I grabbed this in a recent sale and decided to get into it, I've never played a CS game before and I always hear good things. I don't play shooters in general on PC so aiming with a mouse took a bit of getting used to as well as just getting to grips with the game but I feel like I'm at least a competent noob and have fun playing, even though I get wrecked. Recoil still throws me off a bit but I'm enjoying learning to get good. Skill based games ftw.



Game 17: Rocket League - 20+ hours - 18/07/2015 - PS4

Not had a whole lot of spare time recently, so I've been mainly squeezing in short multiplayer matches in the time I do have. So when Rocket League came along as a free PS+ game I figured why not check it out. What a game! So so fun and so so simple but yet with a really high skill ceiling. And it's an absolute blast to play with friends. I'll be coming back to this game again and again.



Game 18: Journey - 2.5 hours - 20/08/2015 - PS4

Yet another big gap since I last had chance to really sit through a game. What a game to play next though.

This was my first ever playthrough, never owned it on PS3. What a fantastic, beautiful, emotional experience. The entire game was gorgeous and the soundtrack was a perfect match. I wasn't sure about it at first but it grew on me really quickly and then I was just completely invested. I had the same companion for most of the journey and it was awesome yet strange making a special bond with a stranger using only pings to communicate. We stuck together through the whole thing but they disappeared at the end sequence, such a sad way to end but it was still an incredible experience.



Game 19: Fallout Shelter - 10+ Hours - 29/08/2015 - Android

This was quite a fun game to pass the time. I got slightly obsessed with this for awhile, training my guys, trying to get better loot. That is until the game bugged out and nothing works now

I don't want to restart so I think this will be permanently shelved in my phone. Ahh well.



Game 20: Mario Kart 8 (DLC) - 10+ Hours - 17/09/2015 - Xbox One

Wasn't too sure about picking up DLC for this but I did it anyway. Got round to playing DLC pack 2 and just a bunch of the other stuff again and fell in love with the game again. So much fun, especially split screen with the GF and my little brother. Perfect family game.

Nintendo didn't disappoint with the DLC, they added a bunch of cool new race courses and it was awesome to get some extra Ninty franchises featured. Can't complain at extra helpings of great stuff. Good fun all round!



Game 21: Destiny: The Taken King - 100+ Hours - 25/09/2015 - Xbox One

I stopped playing Destiny vanilla roughly just over a month after release, I got the typical burn out I do when I play a game too much at once. I didn't bother with the DLC even though I owned the season pass, but the TTK hype pulled me back in.

Gotta admit, Bungie stepped up their game as far as the story mode goes. Still not perfect, but a great deal better. More variation in gameplay, more interesting missions, everything linked together better. And there were ACTUAL cutscenes. The new raid is fantastic, the first time through it was just as magical as the Vault of Glass. Looking forward to hard mode. PvP doesn't feel as fun as it used to, most of the new maps feel too crampled and reward shotgun play. Can't complain though, PvE is more than enough for me atm.

Overall a tonne of fun, it has me hooked again. Just a shame it took this long for them to make something worth playing. More of this please!



Game 22: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture - 7 Hours - 01/10/2015 - PS4

Rapture.



Game 23: Nintendoland - 2.5 hours - 04/10/2015 - Wii U

Game 24: The Beginner's Guide - 1.5 hours - 06/10/2015 - PC

Game 25: Halo 5: Guardians - 14 ish hours - 25/11/2015 - Xbox One

Game 26: P.T. - 1.5 hours - 03/12/2015 - PS4

Game 27: Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist - 22 minutes - 05/12/2015 - PC


Such great, simple co op fun. I absolutely love the mini games in this and after not playing them for awhile, cracked it out with a few friends round for some laughs. The chase game and ghost game are my favourites. Must have cheap pick up for party multiplayer if you own a Wii U.


CURRENTLY PLAYING

I am part way through so many games I've lost count. I'm gonna try and stick to a couple of games at a time from now on. These are games I'm either Actively playing through/online or high on the list.

• Bloodborne (PS4)
• Witcher 3 (PC)
• Sunset Overdrive (X1)
• Bioshock (PC)

UPCOMING GAMES

Instead of listing my backlog, I figured I'd list the games coming in the next year or so that I want to pick up (even though my backlog is indeed crazy)

• Uncharted Collection
• Uncharted 4
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• MGS: V
• Halo 5: Guardians
• The Last Guardian
• Dishonored 2
• Deus Ex: Human Divided

Reserved post in case my word count goes over :3

Reserving my spot...

Game 1. Hatoful Boyfriend - Steam - 6 hours
Discover the true meaning of pudding and despair.

Game 2. Bayonetta - Wii U - 13 hours
Still as good as ever and feels great since I only ever played it on PS3 before.

Game 3. Tex Murphy: Mean Streets - Steam - 7 hours
really old text-based interface and a weird genre mashup, it made me feel like a detective

Game 4: Bayonetta 2 - Wii U - 14 hours
Makes Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance look like Devil May Cry 2

Game 5: Unhack - Steam - 1.5 hours
Easy but fun puzzle-like game with a nice story.. and waifus

Game 6: Saints Row 4 - Steam - 20 hours
really fun, liked it even more than SR3... best super hero game engine lol

Game 7: A Story About My Uncle - Steam - 4 hours
I enjoy this and felt it was the perfect length but some detection issues bring it down a bit

Game 8: The Old Tree - Steam - 11 minutes.
a short, arty game that is free... good timez

Game 9: The Detail - Steam - 2 hours
only episode 1 is out now but I enjoyed it and want to play the other ones

Game 10: Super Mario 3D World - Wii U - 23 hours
I wanted to put this when I finished world Crown but that's too much for me and I need a break lol

Game 11: Hyrule Warriors - Wii U - 13 hours
my first musou game and I enjoyed it.. I finished the story mode and the beginning of adventure mode, will continue to unlock stuff but that will take hundreds of hours so I'm counting this now lol

Game 12: Saints Row Gat out of Hell - Steam - 7 hours
did a bunch of side missions and horsing around until I got tired and finished it.. it wasn't that good :/

Game 13: Lost Civilization - Steam - 3 hours
pretty simple hidden object game, not the greatest but was nice to play with the morning coffee

Game 14: Sickbrick - Steam - 2 hours (not even)
complete fucking turd

Game 15: Night Shift - Steam - 3 hours
weird game but fun, it's like a puzzle game inspired by a kavinsky album.. dat ending

Game 16: Hexcells - Steam - 4 hours
time for hexcells plus lol

Game 17: Hotline Miami - Steam - 6 hours
replayed it to get ready for 2... now I am ready for 2

Game 18: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Steam - 8 hours
fun game, probably best COJ technically but I enjoyed bound in blood more

Game 19: Hotline Miami 2 - Steam - 8 hours
completed main story on normal plus bonus mission, now going for achievements and hard mode

Game 20: Hexcells Plus - Steam - 5 hours
more difficult than Hexcells, still fun though but I feel I've had enough of this series for now

Game 21: Shovel Knight - Steam - 8 hours
fantastic, love how it's a nod to NES style games but adds new things instead of being just a retro retread... will definitely go back to try to 100% this

Game 22: Batman ARKHAM ORANGES - Steam - 23 hours
better than City, didn't do all the Riddler things and still have Cold, Cold Heart to play but will go back later

Game 23: BEYOND: Two Souls - PS3 - dunno
I enjoyed it

Game 24: Among The Sleep - Steam - about 3 hours
nice little indie fps horror game where you play as a toddler

Game 24: Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix - PS3 - 43 hours
based

Game 25: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes - Steam - 2 hours
it's ok

Game 26: Splatoon - Wii U - 6 hour for single player + a bunch more online
finished unlocking all the things but still playing online

Game 27: Dankey Kang Tropical Freeze - Wii U - dunno how long

Game 28: NotGTA5 - Steam - 45 mins
amazing

Game 29: The Wonderful 101 - Wii U - 14 hours
it's fun but has some isues lol

Game 30: Earthbound Beginnings/Mother - Wii U VC - 18 hours
really good dragon quest clone

Game 31: Bedlam - Steam - 6 hours
nice indie FPS harking back to the 90s and with a pretty nice/fun story based on a cult book

Game 32: Gravity Ghost - Steam - 3.5 hours
really fun 2d platformer game (like 2d mario galaxy basically) with a nice story

Game 33: Home - Steam - 1.25 hours
interesting 2d style indie horror game

Game 34: Fox and Flock - Steam - 2 hours
short puzzle game based on a victorian board game that lets you play said board game but not over the internet :/

Game 35: Metal Slug X - Steam - 3 hours
classic arcade game, not as good as Metal Slug 3 tho

Game 36: You Are Not a Banana - Steam - 2 hours
weird little indie art game

Game 37: Loot Hero DX - Steam - 3 hours
grinding: the game

Game 38: Roundabout - Steam - 5 hours
is very fun game will plan to play more for achievements

Game 39: Contradiction - Steam - 5 hours
really fun FMV game it is awesome I want a sequel

Game 40: Aperture Tag - Steam - 5 hours
Portal 2 mod where you control a paint/gel gun rather than portals. is fun

Game 41: Shadow Warrior (Remake) - Steam - 21 hours
too damn long, lots of padding, overrated

Game 42: Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride - Steam - 3.5 hours
can't get enough hidden object cazhul gaems

Game 43: Left in the Dark: No One on Board - Steam - 3.2 hours
ghost shipz hidden objects wooh

Game 44: Neverending Nightmares - Steam - 3.4 hours
I enjoyed it more as a piece of interactive art than a game.. worth the dollar I paid

Game 45: MGSV: The Phantom Pain - Steam - 85 hours
such a lust for revenge! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!

Game 45: The Blackwell Legacy - Steam - 2 hours
Fun P&C game from Wadjet Eye... first in the series will play the rest is good yes yes

Game 46: The Legend of Korra - Steam - 3 or so hours?
bought it because of Platinum... don't know shit about Korra and the game was poop, at least I only paid 3 dollars

Game 47: DreadOut - Steam - 10 hours
horror game from Indonesia, it is janky but really good... feels like a ps2 horror game in a good way

Game 48: Assault Android Cactus - Steam - 6 hours
[i[damn good stuff.. nice twin stick shooter with tight controls... last boss is extra hard but felt good to beat him

Game 49: Broforce - Steam - 5 or so hours?
completed campaign and did some arcade mode to unlock all the bros, fun game

Game 50: Party Hard - Steam - 11 hours
fun game but gets repetitive good play in short burts like stealth hotline miami

Game 51: Tales from the Borderlands - Steam - 12 hours
what a ride

Game 52: Game of Thrones Telltale - 11 hours
worst TellTale game?

yay i finished

Might have already achieved this in previous years, but I'm starting to log it here this year.

Game 1 : Spelunky - 40 hours - January 3
Been playing throughout 2014, managed to defeat Olmec once, did it again in 2015 during a daily challenge. Playing at least once a day on Vita, a very deep and gratifying game (huge challenge brings satisfying victories). On my way to reach the City of Gold, which eludes me to this day...

Game 2 : Nidhogg - 3 hours - January 10
Solo is short and easy, 30 minutes approximately, but it all comes to matches against your friends (works well online). Easy to pick up and insanely fun.

Game 3 : Yakuza 4 - 65 hours - January 10
More varied thanks to the 4 characters, Akiyama being a delightful highlight, the plot takes center stage again, with drama and ludicrous substories. It all comes together in the end, with a less convoluted story than previously, which manages to engross throughout a long running time. Combat is easy but special moves are very impressive.

Game 4 : Infamous First Light - 4 hours - January 13
Finished the story and all the missions/light bubbles in Seatlle (couldn't be bothered to play the arena). Almost forgot how impressive the visuals were since playing Second Son. Seattle missions were fun, if uninspired, traversal was made more interesting with speed bubbles, story and arenas were boring. Not a bad game to play through PS+.

Game 5 : Life is Strange Episode 1 Chrysalis - 4 hours - January 29
Between Heavy Rain and the Walking Dead, I really like the college setting, and the insecure/geek character. The dialogue is sometimes a bit cringe-inducing, but the script is sincere. Puzzle light with an underutilized time mechanic, but the indie movie atmosphere and great soundtrack won me over. Can't wait to play the following episodes.

Game 6 : Far Cry 4 - 35 hours - February 9
A known quantity, nothing revolutionary. I enjoyed stealthing the outposts, and the game plays fine, but ultimately, it remains forgettable. If there is a sequel, I want less "stuff", less god like influence, more stakes for my actions, like a real tug of war on the map.

Game 7 : Wolfenstein : The New Order - February 16
Finished the Fergus timeline. It was my first Wolfenstein game, picked up for cheap after hearing good things about the game and the narration. I was not disappointed, the focus on characters, the slow pacing with a viable stealth option for most of the levels and the refreshing gameplay variety on display made it very enjoyable. Frau Engel wwas a highlight on the train. Some frustrating difficulty spikes though, even though I liked the health system with an emphasis on managing pickups. Perk system was cool but I got hampered on most of the trees because I missed the silencer early on, and I couldn't manage to use grenades and slides in combat. Great B game overall.

Game 8 : Hohokum - 5 hours - February 23
A marvelous surprise, with gorgeous visuals and soundtracks, numerous worlds, each with its own identity, its own mechanics. A sense of wonder perpetually refreshed. It entices you to play, to probe the world and interact with everything, without ever resorting to handholding. Only downside is that it's easy to get lost.

Game 9 : Hexcells - 3 hours
Great puzzle game mixing Minesweeper and Picross, with a set number of puzzles with only one solution, and almost only one way to go find them. Scratch my thrist for logic like a great sudoku grid.

Game 10 : Hexcells Plus - 10 hours
Same as Hexcells, but improved with more complex puzzles. Always a great rush to uncover a new tile.

Game 11 : Hexcells Infinite - 15 hours
Couldn't get enough of the two previous games. This one has obvious improvements with puzzles being saved even when unfinished (not required to finish them in one go, a blessing when some of them require easily half an hour). I felt the puzzles were a little too obscure and contrived, even if I managed to solve them all. Hexcells Plus was more enjoyable for me, and while the puzzle generator is great to have, it doesn't feel the same.

Game 12 : Sixcells - 5 hours
Free version for Android compiling fan made puzzles (with the blessing of the original developer). Great to scratch my Hexcells itch on the go, even though it's obviously inferior to the official games.

Currently playing :
Valiant Hearts Great War
Dying Light
The Swapper
Steamworld Dig
Persona 4
The Walking Dead Sason 2
Super Mario Galaxy

Fell just short last year, but I'll have another go this time around. Still going to try and focus on playing games for enjoyment rather than completion's sake though...

GAMES COMPLETE: 48

Games 14-26 here.
Games 27-48 here.

1. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
This was the first Wii U game I played after buying the console for myself as a Christmas present, and what a way to start! 3D World is a game that screams 'Nintendo magic'. In a 2014 plagued by broken games, it's so refreshing to play something that just works. Stunning graphics, catchy music, inventive level design and character handling that no other platformer seems to nail quite like EAD Tokyo does. Needless to say I had a lot of fun with this game. Apart from Champion's Road, that is. What a bastard of a level. Pleased to say I managed to surpass it after countless retries though!

2. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)
If you've been following much about this game in the press or the OT, you know what to expect. That is, an adorable and charming little puzzle title with more classic Nintendo ingenuity and polish. The music doesn't captivate like 3D World does, but the gameplay and cute cast is enough to have most cynical gamers smiling from ear to ear. Perhaps a little light on difficulty aside from the tricky final bonus level, but otherwise a really neat concept and one that I'd be very happy to see reappear in the future, whatever the guise.

3. 999 (iOS)
Ok, so it's fair to say I didn't get the true experience of this game, given that I was only playing the iOS visual novel version. Still, I enjoyed my time with what I had, and the story was definitely interesting enough to keep me going. Not sure I totally buy into the way that certain choices and flowchart paths had to be completed before other (quite separate) paths could be followed. Even with the story explanation for it all, it felt a little bit too convenient. I'm left with plenty of questions from the true ending, but hopefully they'll be elaborated upon in the sequel, which I've just started playing on the Vita.

4. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS Vita)
Finally finished this game after what felt like a hell of a slog. This is only the second Sly game I've played (after the original) and I don't know why, but it really didn't gel with me at all. There's nothing much I can really call out as bad, it's all just so bland. To me, the Thieves in Time feels repetitious and uninspired. So much so, that I felt pretty pleased that it was all over. I've played plenty worse games than this, but for some reason this title left me especially cold.

5. LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4)
Definitely a mixed bag of a game, this. On the positive side, the new playable characters are all excellent additions, the main campaign levels exhibit some fantastic desgn, and the popit academy levels are an inventive and fun way to gently introduce people to the tools of the create mode in an unimposing way. On the down side, the main story mode is criminally short and the game suffers from a plethora of well-documented bugs. There are several times you can't help but feel that LBP3 was rushed out of the door to hit the Christmas window, and that's a damn shame. It's difficult to see where the franchise can go from here.

6. Devil's Attorney (iOS)
Really fun, albeit brief, mobile game. First off, it should be applauded on the basis that the game has one fixed price for all of its content, and no IAP nonsense. Devil's Attorney is a neat little turn-based strategy game with RPG-lite elements. It's nicely presented and runs extremely smoothly. For those expecting something like Phoenix Wright... don't. It's a very different beast, but an enjoyable one all the same.

7. New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)
It probably wasn't the best idea to play this not long after 3D World, as it can't/doesn't to live up to the invention, charm, presentation and stunning music of that game, however I still had a good amount of fun with NSMBU. I found that, like most recent Mario games, they're best enjoed when trying to 100% them. Racing to the flagpole rarely provides much of a challenge, whilst trying to grab all 3 star coins in every stage can certainly test your platforming skills at times. For me, this is an ideal way to ensure your game has appeal for both casual and core gamers alike, and I think few do it better than Nintendo. Little else to say other than another highly polished Mario title, which can't help but feel like a poorer cousin when put alongside games like SMG1, SMG2 and 3D World. Still, I enjoyed getting a shimmering 5 star save file, and look like to attempting the same with New Super Luigi U soon.

8. Infamous: First Light (PS4)
After getting the platinum for Infamous: Second Son last year, I enjoyed that game enough to see what First Light was like. When I saw it was going to be free on PS+ in January, it was a no-brainer. In short, it's more or less more of the same. Fetch's neon moveset looks and feels great, and it's a pleasure to blast through the streets of Seattle at high speed. The main story is (expectedly) brief but enjoyable, and the package is significantly fleshed out by the surprisingly enjoyable challenge arenas. I blasted through all of the trophies in a weekend, so the game isn't a long one (as befitting of it's price), but it's a largely enjoyable return to the world set up in Second Son.

9. Framed (iOS)
Picked up and played this one on Australia day as it was free and the "Kojima's GOTY" label had me intrigued. For those unaware, Framed is a (very) brief puzzle adventure game in which each level portrays the panels of a comic book page. Your task is simply to manipulate and rearrange the panels to successfully navigate the player characters onwards, avoiding perils along the way. Though the game can be comfortably wrapped up in 1 hour, it's still a title worth taking note of and playing. The animation is fluid and gorgeous to behold, and the game introduces a few new tricks along the way so that the core (clever) mechanic doesn't feel stale. Much like the original Portal, it's a game that oozes potential for a larger, grander sequel.

10. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4)
Picked this up for a very reasonable £23 in an Amazon lightning deal in December, and I can definitely say it was worth the price. As many people have rightly said, the game is a mix of Batman Arkham-style combat, and Assassin's Creed open world traversal (albeit with less climbing). This plays out as you would expect - very satisfying combat, but slightly repetitive open world/side mission elements. SoM deserves the flak it gets for its TERRIBLE end game portion, but it also deserves a lot of praise for the whole setup of the nemesis system (including what you can do/how you can manipulate captains and warchiefs). It's an interesting title in the way that on one hand it feels more repetitive as you play through all of the content (understandably) yet on the other, unlocking parts of your skill tree make the combat more fun as you progress. Despite it's obvious influences, I admire SoM for feeling like something fresh in 2014, and I'd be interested to see what they might be able to do with a sequel further down the line.

11. New Super Luigi U (Wii U)
After playing and 5 star-ing New Super Mario Bros. U, I was ready to tackle the Luigi DLC. As widely reported on, NSLU is a substantial bit of extra content, featuring the same number of levels as the core game. The stages are remixed to be more challenging than NSMBU, whether that be due to the obstacle layouts, the 100 second time limit, or Luigi's infamous floaty physics. Overall, I really enjoyed NSLU, and I'm pleased to say it felt like a fresh experience, even having played NSMBU so recently before it. People often complain about Luigi's handling but I actually found it a lot of fun, and the game offers a step up in terms of difficulty from NSMBU - something core gamers like myself are thankful for. I'm not normally a fan of time limits in modern Mario games, but I appreciated it here. It gave the stages a sense of bite-sized urgency in a similar way to the phenomenal treasure chest chases in Rayman Origins.

12. Super Stardust Ultra (PS4)
I'm one of the few PS3 owners who let SSHD completely pass them by, so I knew I had to give Ultra a go as soon it was released - especially after having played, platinumed and loved its successor, Resogun. All in all, SS Ultra is an easy game to like. The core mechanics are incredibly straightforward, but require practice and finesse to master. The music and visuals are arresting, especially in the superbly-implemented 3D mode. The game is packed with lots of different modes of play which put a spin on the core shmup mechanics. Having played Resogun prior, the similarities between the two games are pretty obvious. I'd give Resogun the edge in terms of personal preference, but both titles are worth playing/owning in my eyes, and both further cement Housemarque as a developer of top quality games (I also have a lot of love for Dead Nation and Outland).

13. Monument Valley + Forgotten Shores DLC (iOS)
The mobile game so enjoyable even a (TV) US President can't stop singing it's praises. I actually played the base game through last year and when I realised there was some DLC available, I decided to replay the entire experience end-to-end. Monument Valley is a wonderful game, and one of the poster childs of gaming-done-right on iOS. In many ways the presentation and gameplay is simple, however it's not simplistic. Every aspect of the design is cohesive in crafting a brief but memorable, and certainly very enjoyable, puzzle experience. It's a game that has spawned several imitators (the sincerest form of flattery, they say) though it's telling that none of them hae really come close to capturing what makes this game a bit special.

5h-ish. Completed game. Some of the puzzles were really clever and I liked the setting, but I'm not really much for arts-y indie-y platformers, so I don't think it's THAT much of a memorable game.


Updated OP

Game 2: F.e.a.r: Extraction Point [PC] Complete: 3 hours.

The first expansion to F.e.a.r, didnt really add to much to the story. I recommend to look it up online rather then spending 3 hours since the plot can be summed up in two sentences. Onward to the second expansion, wish me luck. ;-.-

Game 1: Alan Wake - 13.7 hours
Game 2: Alan Wake's American Nightmare - 3.6 hours
Game 3: Assassin's Creed Liberation - 13.4 hours
Game 4: Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry - 7.8 hours
Game 5: Dark Souls (+DLC) - 60.5 hours
Game 6: Wolfenstein: The New Order - 14.7 hours
Game 7: Saints Row: The Third - 41.9 hours
Game 8: One Finger Death Punch - 8.6 hours
Game 9: VVVVVV - 3.5 hours
Game 10: Super Meat Boy - 18.7 hours
Game 11: Dark Souls 2 (+DLC) - 80 hours
Game 12: Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition - 36.8 hours
Game 13: Nidhogg - 0.7 hours
Game 14: Far Cry 4 (+ story DLC) - 73.9 hours
Game 15: DLC Quest - 2.1 hours
Game 16: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - 8.2 hours
Game 17: Jazzpunk - 3.9 hours
Game 18: Thomas Was Alone - 4.2 hours
Game 19: Octodad: Dadliest Catch - 2.9 hours

Game 1: Picross e 6 - 29:57
# Thirty hours of puzzles for $5? Talk about value.

main post

finished second game Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey.
This game might start a new genre RPG-scramble one, or not. Word or letter games seem to be unpopular. Mechanics are interesting, RPG aspects are very light and variety of enemies limited. Music wasn't good enough too, I've played most of those hours with a game muted, but there is something charming and very addictive about it, would recommend for people at least to try.

Steam Link

NOTE: This post contains a minor spoiler about Back to the Future III's ending.

I completed my first game! Back to the Future from Telltale Games. Originally, I had completed the two first episodes, so I thought this was a great way to start.

#1 - Back To The Future (7-8 hours, PC)
Disclaimer: I really, really love the three movies. They are some of my favorite movies of all time, having grown up with these movies, Marty McFly and Doc has always been a part of my life. When this game was announced I was very skeptical, because I didn't really know Telltale or any games they've created and because I initially hated (I don't hate it now, but I still think it's a bit ugly) the art style. For that reason and some unkown ones, Back To The Future: The Game flew under my radar. When they joined a humble bundle (I believe it was?), I bought it because I wanted to experience it. But I never got around to play it. Eventually, I started the first episode and completed it, followed by the second. Then I stopped again for whatever reason and never completed the last three. Now was the perfect time to start the game and finally complete it.

... and great Scott! This game is pretty darn good. Yes, the controls are wonky and you'll have to get used the simplistic, yet blocky art style. But benath the not too good-looking skin hides a gem that shows every kind of love to the Back to the Future universe that you'd expect and expands the story and characters. The game takes off a couple months after the third movie ends. Marty hasn't seen Doc for a while and the bank is starting to sell his stuff. He finds a note from Doc that explains there exists a time machine, even though we clearly saw the last one being destroyed in the end of the third movie. Now we have a story, where Marty has to travel back to the past (heh) to find out what happened to Doc. The voice acting is also great. Christopher Lloyd reprises his role as the crazy Doc Brown, but A.J. Locascio absolutely nails it as Marty McFly. If you didn't know it was another actor, it would be pretty hard to tell them apart. The rest of the crew does a wonderful job as well.

I think the story is a good addition to the already existing movies. Just like the them, Marty travels through time and meets new members from characters we know and love. The strongest aspect of the game is exactly that: Characters. I remember the movies as the first two having a focus on Marty and the third one focusing more on Doc. The game continues this development and we get to know Doc (and his background) a lot more than we ever did in the movies. Changing things in the past can have consequences for the present (and future), and this game Marty through some very interesting alternative time lines. The story went places that I didn't expect and thus had some very (cool) surprises that changed everything.

The controls and gameplay are the weakest aspect of the game, however. The controls are not always responsive and sometimes the character moves the other way than intended. It happens when the game changes camera angels; suddenly the key you pressed to go west (left) now acts as going south (down). Like any new Telltale (The Walking Dead, etc.) games, there are lots of (optional) dialogue that you can through. Unlike these game, the dialoge options you pick has no consequences and/or changes anything. Sometimes you are merely required to go through all options to advance the game. Instead Back To The Future: The Game is focused on puzzles. While I love puzzle games, I sometimes found the puzzles out-of-place or they felt liked they were pushed to be there just to have something for the player to do. But the controls were never game breaking or major inconvenience.

I do endorse the story, but I feel like it was held by back the puzzles. A bigger focus on characters and story would have benefitted the game alot. The puzzles were never too easy nor too hard, but as I said, they sometimes felt out of place and random. The controls are not game breaking, but they are suboptimal. As for the PC port, the game was fine and have fully controller support. I would probably recommend playing this with a controller. If you love the movies, I'd definitely recommend this game in a heartbeat. If you haven't watched the movies or don't like them - what's wrong with you? (I kid) - I would either watch them first or avoid this game. In a nutshell: Back to the Future is a good game, with great story and characters and not so good gameplay.

Original Post.

loving all of the pictures this year



Game #4 Beaten: Child of Light (Vita) - 15 Hours?
(Started December 17th 2014 / Finished January 5th 2015)
So who would have thought that the killer new IP from Ubisoft in 2014 would be Child of Light? A killer RPG with a fantastic characters, art direction, amazing soundtrack, writing, and a world of lore to digest. I want more Ubisoft. You accidentally made a magical magical game.

OG Post

I'm in. Frankly, I need to cut down my backlog this year, it's become totally ridiculous. Even if I only complete the games I've almost finished, I'll be happy.


EDIT Game 3 Complete!

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 (16/01/2015) - I beat the main campaign and saw the credits, so I'm counting it! I should probably stop messing around with the expansion content and move on the next title.

Digimon World: Dawn (24/01/2015) - Another game that threatened to eat up way too much time. I wasl already starting to develop a "but i was to get a _____mon before beating the game" mindset before accidentally triggering the final boss.

Tomb Raider 2013 (25/01/2015) - Definitely not a bad game, but i have absolutely no desire to go back and get the remaining 35% of the collectibles in the game.

original post

First progress!

Game 01, Jan. 3

Rollercoaster Tycoon (PC), 62 hours

Started this in december after buying it in the Steam Sales, finished it today. Now having fun in Mega Park while picking out my next game.

Game 02, Jan. 5

Klonoa (Wii), 6 hours

Honestly, this felt like cheating as the game takes only 5-6 hours to complete, but hey, it puts me ahead of schedule. Quite liked it, happy to finally have a Wii U to finally play all the great platformers for Wii/Wii U.

Will now start on Bayonetta 2, so that'll take a little longer.

I'm definitely up for this. My backlog is getting quite sizeable so some extra motivation to start finishing some games is definitely needed. I doubt I'll get all 52 but I'll give it a good try.

Game #1: NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. U (Wii U)
Finished: 5th January

I had an absolute blast with this game. I know a lot of people are burnt out on the Mario formula, but I recently impulse bought myself a Wii U, having not owned a Nintendo home console since the SNES. It still felt fresh enough, especially with some of the new tweaks to the classic formula, but was also beautifully nostalgic. Being back in the mushroom kingdom is definitely a good thing and I have a feeling there will be a few more Mario titles in this list before the year is done. I don't feel particularly compelled to go back and collect all the gold coins though. Any gaffers who have done so with an opinion?

Game #2: SUPER MARIO BROS. (Wii U) [Virtual Console]
Finished: 13th January

Games don't get much more classic than this. Probably one of my earliest, if not the earliest video gaming memories is playing this around a friend's house. It actually took me a long time to get used to the physics again. I'm not sure if its because I'm coming straight in from Rayman/ New Mario or that I played a lot more of 3 and World back in the day, but Mario felt a lot more 'slippery' and 'skiddy' than I was used to. This wasn't a major problem as I got back into it pretty quickly and had a lot of fun, even if it was getting frustrating at times. The game is tough, some of the levels at the end especially had me die pretty repeatedly, but the sense of achievement was well worth it when I finally nailed the real Bowser.

DiscreteCat said:

I'm definitely up for this. My backlog is getting quite sizeable so some extra motivation to start finishing some games is definitely needed. I doubt I'll get all 52 but I'll give it a good try.

GAME 1: NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. U (Wii U)
Finished: 5th January

I had an absolute blast with this game. I know a lot of people are burnt out on the Mario formula, but I recently impulse bought myself a Wii U, having not owned a Nintendo home console since the SNES. It still felt fresh enough, especially with some of the new tweaks to the classic formula, but was also beautifully nostalgic. Being back in the mushroom kingdom is definitely a good thing and I have a feeling there will be a few more Mario titles in this list before the year is done. I don't feel particularly compelled to go back and collect all the gold coins though. Any gaffers who have done so with an opinion?

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Yes! We've done so and felt it to be well worth it. What you unlock is pretty rad. I also recommend checking out the incredible New Super Luigi U DLC, as well as NSMBU's included Challenge Mode, which is tough as heck but really fun.

Game Beaten #5 Gone Home (PC) - 90 Minutes
(Started/Finished 1/5/15)
Forget the fact this isn't really much of a game and instead a house exploration game. I learned that nobody that worked on this game actually ever has been inside a house. What this game nails is the eeriness of an empty home in a thunder storm, and it nails that mid 1990s feel. I enjoyed looking through their VCR tapes and 90s things that wouldn't be around today or the fact they don't even own a computer in this house.Most of the game is about you coming home and nobody is there so you decide to turn on every light, trash the place, and ignore the warnings of basically death storms outside!

OG Post

This is a great idea! It will hopefully allow for me to finish some of my 700 Steam games!

Game #1: Final Fantasy XIII 15hr 20min and counting

Platform: PC

Started: January 1st, 2015

I bought this for the PS3 at launch but only made it to Chapter 6 or so. I'm giving it another go in 4K resolution and as close to 60fps as the game will run. So far, I'm blown away at the beauty of the game, and the linearity does not bother me in the slightest. I will keep plugging away at this game until I finish it.

Game #2: Hyrule Warriors 3hr 30min and counting

Platform: Wii U

Started: January 1st, 2015

I ordered this game when I was a little buzzed and really wanted a Zelda fix. Coming from someone who has never played a Dynasty Warriors game, I am liking it a lot. The co-op play especially is great fun with a few beers and some friends. It seems this game has a decent amount of stuff to do, and I will gladly explore the rest of this title!

Game 1: Tomb Raider III - 27 hours, Jan. 5th
Quite the game. It took me almost 10 hours longer to beat than TR2. This was the first time I played all of it, only played bits of it at a friend's house as a kid, but it might be my favourite out of the first three TR games. The complex level design appeals to me, however the downside is that it makes the bad levels more of a slog since they too are more complicated. I thought the ability to monkey swing adds a lot and on the whole the game controls better than the first two. The environments also feel much more dense. My favourite levels were the ones in the South-Pacific, as well as the first Antarctica level. The India ones were all right, but I think TR2 starts better.

coolbrys said:

This is a great idea! It will hopefully allow for me to finish some of my 700 Steam games!

Click to expand...

Damn.. and I thought my backlog was huge. Are you planning on playing FFXIII-2?

Hikami said:

Damn.. and I thought my backlog was huge. Are you planning on playing FFXIII-2?

Click to expand...

Not all of that is backlog but the vast majority is... I got a little carried away.

I definitely plan on playing FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns after this, I'm just loving it right now. Getting all prepared for FFXV and FF Type 0!

Just wanted to post that I beat my first game of the year!!! (I'll also be updating my og post as well)

1. Bayonetta 2 (Finished 1/5/15, playtime 13 hrs 36 mins) - As part of last year's challenge (see #30) I played and beat the first Bayonetta game on the PS3. Earlier this year I got Bayonetta 2 and unlike the first Bayonetta I ended up thoroughly enjoying Bayonetta 2 as I found that there weren't as many frustrating moments as there were in the first game.

Update 1:

Leftovers I began last year, finished last week:


Ultimate NES Remix (3DS) - about 11 hours;
Took most bad minigames out of it and generally just has the fun challenges left. The content is pretty good, if you're going for 100%.

Weapon Shop de Omasse(3DS) - about 12 hours;
Even though there is some tedious moments, you'll most likely be occupied for most of the playtime, unlike what some reviews say. It's also a perfect fit for a handheld. Running your shop, polishing up weapons with your stylus and whatnot might become tedious on home consoles, but it's the perfect thing to do with maybe something else going on in the background. The writing is pretty good and keeps entertaining until the end. I guess a few additional options couldn't have hurt.

Folklore (PS3) - 20-25 hours;
The atmosphere is great. Both the melancholic parts in the Irish village, but also the fantastical parts at night, which I thought I wouldn't like due to the neon colours. But it's good. This game should have really been a pure adventure though, or something puzzle related maybe. The combat feels kinda out of place in relation to the detective parts. The combat sections also are not that spectacular. But there's still a couple of decent boss fights and ideas. Good game, even though it could have been more. Oh, and the waggle is godawul.

edit: fixed lol

Spieler Eins said:

Folklore (PS3) - 20-25 hours;
The atmosphere is great. Both the melancholic parts in the Irish village, but also the fantastical parts at night, which I thought I wouldn't like due to the neon colours. But it's good. This game should have really been a pure adventur thoughe, or something puzzle related maybe. The combat feels kinda out of place in relation to the detective parts. It's also not t

Click to expand...

Not what? I need to know!!! Argh...

Seriously though, I loved Folklore, even though it's a little too repetitive: a very underappreciated game.

DiscreteCat said:

Any gaffers who have done so with an opinion?[/I]

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I loved to get them all, in co-op with my gf. Besides you're going to unlock the last few awesome secret levels that way.

DiscreteCat said:

I recently impulse bought myself a Wii U, having not owned a Nintendo home console since the SNES

Click to expand...

I'd like to suggest you just three masterpieces everyone should play: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, you can play it on Wii U), Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii, you can play it on Wii U), Mario Kart 8. Also you really should find a way to play Zelda OoT one day (it's on N64, on a GC collection, on the Wii Virtual Console and it was remade for 3DS).

Claiming a Spot!

Currently in Progress
-South Park: Stick of Truth (11 hours)
-Persona Q (~30 hours; technically this one was started last year but a good portion is going to be in 2015 so I'm counting it =P)
-Pokemon Omega Ruby (~4 hours; ditto)

On Queue
-Captain Toad
-Illusion of Gaia
-Banjo-Tooie