GAME #8: The Walking Dead: Season Two (2014)
| Rating: ★★★ | Platform: PC | Developer: Telltale Games |

I never liked the first game as much as some other people did. The high point of Telltale is still The Wolf Among Us: Season One. The Walking Dead is something I've grown a bit tired of as a concept. So I came into this with pretty much the lowered expectations you'd expect.

It isn't bad. It's not setting the world on fire. It's not doing anything differently. It's even got the "The Walking Dead"-signature walking around without a point for too many hours and it all turning out to be for nothing. Okay, I'm being too hard on the fellow. There's some things I like too. There's some good characters in this. Once the story kicks in it's actually a good time for a few hours. Every so often, though, it forgets to be interesting but you can tell when the good writer came back from his coffee break in order to salvage it.

Okay, okay... I'm too hard on it. It's a good game. Certainly more of the same if you liked the first game. The rest of us who feels that Wolf is where it's at we'll just have to wait. This'll do in the meantime.

Game 9: Hitman GO - 4-5 hours - February 23rd, 2015

Hitman GO is an absolutely amazing take on the Hitman formula. At first glance, you might roll your eyes. Here's Square Enix trying to cash in on one of their beloved console/PC franchises with a mobile game. Ugh right? Well...no! SE Montreal has taken the formula, shrunk it down to its basic elements, and then covered it with a gorgeous, stylized aesthetic.

I'll admit, I have never played Hitman (even though I want to now!), so I went into this game with limited preconceptions of what it should be. I know that some Hitman fans might be irritated by a lack of options. As a puzzle game, it has a natural limitation in the number of paths and strategies you can try. But it's a satisfying game that requires some real mental deftness in places. For $5, you get a fun game with a decent amount of levels and a satisfying amount of complexity/mechanics added in at an appropriate speed. Absolutely worth your time and your money.
- 8/10

Other games here

Chastten said:

Will update my main post later, but here's where I am right now:

03-01-2015 – Rollercoaster Tycoon (PC)
05-01-2015 – Klonoa (Wii)
09-01-2015 – Bayonetta 2 (WiiU)
27-01-2015 – Disney Infinity (X360)
29-01-2015 – Iron Brigade (X360)
08-02-2015 – Mass Effect (X360)
22-02-2015 – Darksiders (X360)

The good news is, with 7 games in less then 2 months I'm way ahead of where I was the last years.

The bad news is, I'm already behind where I should be and it's only gonna get worse from here. Convention season begins next month so I'll have a lot less free time for gaming. Furthermore, most of these games are fairly short at 15-25 hours whereas the games I usually play are at least double that. Ow well, we'll see how far I come.

I'm currently installing South Park: The Stick of Truth on X360. This being another fairly short game I should finished it this month or else early March, then I'll probably spend the rest of march on Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. After that, I have no idea yet.

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I always wonder how realistic it is to keep pace when I'm generally inclined to play long games.

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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 renewed. 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.

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Game 19: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

First time through OoT, and actually the first 3D Zelda I've ever beaten. It was a level design masterclass, for the most part, though mechanically it's showing its age. The camera was a mess, the lock-on as frustrating as it was helpful, and having to juggle items in and out is still needless busywork. And while I would have loved the minimal signposting back when this first came out, as a grown man with only an hour or two here and there to play, the few times I had no idea where to go next wasn't exactly a fun use of my time. But that combat, man. So satisfying. The 3DS version looked great too, regardless of how old the game is, and the 3D effect was consistently excellent. I had a blast, and can't wait to play Majora's Mask.
If you like Darksiders, you'll like this

OGPost

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The Order:1886 ~10 hours to platinum this game
Underrated by critics and loved/hated by gamers. Did I enjoyed this game? Absolutely. Was the game perfect? Not even close. Still I think gaming press was to harsh for this game. Calling it terrible and nothing else but a tech demo...
Great setting, mind blowing graphics, good story and solid shooting mechanics not to mention how well it runs with no performance issues. One of the most polished games I have ever played (on the technical side).
Now it's up to Naughty Dog/ Guerrilla and Santa Monica studios to try to surpass this game on the graphics department. RAD lifted bar really high that's for sure and as for The Order I can't wait for a sequel. Solid 8 from me.

OP

Game 5 - Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
What a lovely game. The best Super Mario game on the Wii U by a considerable margin, which isn't hard when competing with NSMB, and a full upgrade from Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. Fantastic level design and beautiful art direction, although fuck the guy that designed Grumblump Inferno. Yes. You. Fuck you.

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Game 13: Injustice: Gods Among Us - ??? Hours
PS4
I completed the story mode and have also been playing the game in local coop. I'm not very good at fighting games and the only reason I played it was to see some over the top action and some super heroes/villains have at it.

Game 14: Fallout: New Vegas - Dead Money - 5 Hours
PC
I don't know if people count stuff like this or not but I felt that it was enough content to warrant a place on the list. I enjoyed the companions and Father Elijah's presence but I hated the whole collar and hologram idea. Could have been a great DLC for the game, but now I will give it a score of "Good intentions, flawed execution."

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Game 7: Metal Gear Solid [Vita] (2/1-2/20)
Really glad I decided to play this game. Originally I was going to skip straight to 2 for my first Metal Gear experience but I would have been missing a lot. The mix of top-down and first-person gameplay is really unique and awesome in this game. THe voice acting and story are obviously amazing and the graphics are really impressive considering when it came out. The fact that the game is mostly just boss fight, cutscene, boss fight, repeat is cool. Only thing that annoyed me was the backtracking becuase of missing items and the keycard section at the end. MGS2 here I come.

Game 8: The Order: 1886 [PS4] (2/20-2/22) Took almost exactly 7 hours on hard to beat. To say it ended abruptly is putting it lightly. Overall I loved it but man it could have been truly amazing. Combat is great but a little more encounter variety and obviously more of it would have been icing on the cake. Really wish there was an insane difficulty because hard is just too easy even without aim assist. I don't think I used blacksight once after they first teach it to you. Graphics and animations obviously mind-blowing. Reason alone to replay it at some point. Can't wait for the sequel! (I hope)

Cheat Code said:

OP

Game 5 - Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
What a lovely game. The best Super Mario game on the Wii U by a considerable margin, which isn't hard when competing with NSMB, and a full upgrade from Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS. Fantastic level design and beautiful art direction, although fuck the guy that designed Grumblump Inferno. Yes. You. Fuck you.

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You saw the mice telling you not to jump on those blocks, right? I know that was a big sticking point for a lot of people. Did you 100% the game? Definitely gets harder in the post-game! Anyway, glad you enjoyed it!

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Game 8: F.E.A.R. (360) - 12 hours [2/23/15] ★★★


Beat the game on Moderate. 11/47 achievements.

First off, like a lot of early Xbox 360 games this was extremely unoptimized. Even though graphically it looks closer to a high-end original Xbox game most of the time, the frame-rate is agonizingly poor and I'd be lying if I said that didn't hurt my enjoyment of the game.

In any event, I'm a big fan of FPS games of that era and F.E.A.R. is a pretty good one. Initially it felt a bit dated, obviously, but I was completely adjusted to it after about an hour and had no issues after that. Fun combat, well-designed levels and a strong atmosphere made for a quality experience all around.

Beyond the technical issues, the game is merely good instead of great for a few reasons. Like with Doom 3, this game has some severe pacing issues at times. In the early and middle parts of the game especially, there are loooooooooong stretches where you are going through same-y looking areas until reaching that point where I'm asking myself "What am I doing? Why am I doing this? Is all of this really necessary?" It'd be one thing if the game really capitalized on the horror element and added more tension and suspense throughout, or if the driving force of the narrative was more than "the princess Paxton Fettell is in another castle secure facility." But because the difficulty never really ramps up and the combat never changes a whole lot after a certain point, there were definitely times where I started to lose interest in what I was doing. It's not a long game, but it felt a lot longer than it needed to be; again, it really reminded me of Doom 3 in that regard.

Overall, though, I liked the campaign by and large. Engaging in combat with guns blazing a la Max Payne rather than more tactfully was very effective and a lot more fun. Story and gameplay-wise, I really liked the way that the game's final hour or so was handled. It was the one section of the game that felt totally unpredictable, where I wasn't sure what would happen next. At the end of the day, F.E.A.R. is a very solid FPS even if it didn't blow me away.

Game 6: Mechwarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy
PC, 1995

Having just come off of Mechwarrior 2 with about the best impression possible I decided it would be a good idea to play its expansion pack, which I also remembered fondly.

What a disaster. While it would be unfair to say that I hated it throughout -- Mechwarrior 2's gameplay mechanics are so fundamentally great that such a thing would be impossible -- the lows were so incredibly low that the whole thing left a godawful taste in my mouth. As I'll explain later, I didn't even technically finish the game, although I came close enough that I refuse to believe there's a difference between what I did and finishing the game.

It's worth noting off of the bat that GBL changes very little about the base MW2 game; it adds a few environments, a few weapons and a few mechs, but that's about it. So GBL essentially comes down to its seventeen scenarios (22 if you count the five that you must beat the game flawlessly to unlock, which I most certainly did not do), of which fifteen are of acceptable quality. In fact, the worst you could say of most of the game is that it's uninspired; the missions that aren't offensively terrible are simply basic, often lacking the tension, balance and variety of the base game's missions. They also, by design, generally force you into heavier mechs, and the ton restriction mechanic that forced you to embrace variety in the original game is almost completely done away with. But even the good missions hint at some of the bad ideas that make the two terrible missions absolutely ruinous: you almost always start under fire, the game forces you to waste a lot of time on monotonous tasks, a lot of the ideas feel more like bugs than intentional decisions, either due to inelegant implimentation or confused intentions, (why occasionally lock me out of targeting certain mechs? Why do PPCs only work half of the time on certain stages? Did anyone actually playtest zero gravity mode?) and some of the objectives are simply too unpredictable to be controlled with certainty. Having said that, however, if the game consisted only of the fifteen out of seventeen missions that didn't fill me with loathing, I'd probably say it was a decent if non-essential expansion pack.

But it doesn't, and there is, in fact, the presence of two scenarios that are so ill-conceived that they defy explanation. The first of these two is an underwater mission that does away with basically every element of Mechwarrior that makes it interesting (including damage, heat, guns, logic and fun). Instead, you have a level where virtually every mech (including yourself) is armed with a homing weapon capable of total destruction for no apparent reason. This is already a stupid idea, but it is further magnified in its stupidity by the fact that almost all of your time on the level will be spent walking at an agonizingly slow pace that seems all the more pointless in light of the fact that each instance of combat (of which there are about four on the whole level) takes about four seconds because everything dies in a couple of hits. There is a pattern of unnecessarily large levels in GBL, but this one really takes the cake, not only because it's the largest of the unnecessarily large but also because it climaxes in an extremely glitchy cave where one wrong move will leave you stuck in the geometry forever, forcing you to restart the (incredibly long) mission. This level left me with the first asterisk on my claim that I completed the game, because after failing four times (twice by glitching into the geometry of the cave at the end of the level), I called it quits and skipped the level after completing as many of the objectives as I could. To be clear, there are no mid-level saves and no way for me to ensure that the fifteen minutes it takes to get to that infernal cave will not be completely wasted by a wayward step.

It pains me to say, however, that this underwater monstrosity is not the worst level in this game. That dubious honor has to go to the game's final level, which is some sort of unholy combination of every mistake that the GBL developers made over the course of the game condensed into a mission that, if done correctly (or incorrectly, for that matter), will take no more than three minutes. For starters, like many other levels in the game, you start under fire, only this time the things firing at you are capable of destroying even the most heavily armored mech in a few seconds. Furthermore, this level takes place in "zero gravity" -- zero gravity being another stroke of brilliance of the GBL team that essentially amounts to strapping a big pair of ice skates to your giant, lumbering robot -- on top of a tiny platform, meaning one wrong move will send you flying to your death. You must then, whilst ice-skating away from death lasers you can't dodge or do much to prevent, somehow fly through a tiny, almost completely invisible hole where you will be greeted by a clusterfuck of opponents in a room approximately the size of the shoebox. This part of the level is actually rather easy, despite the fact that you'll likely be almost completely obliterated from the completely ridiculous first part of the level. But it's still stupid, because the only way to win this part of the level is to play like an absolute moron and unload all of your weapons haphazardly. This is because you can't dodge in such a small space and you can't possibly hope to out-finesse a group so much larger than yourself. That's ninety percent of the level, and the remaining ten percent consists of -- spoiler alert -- destroying some kind of crystal and going back down through the tiny hole while somehow not being blown up by all of the lasers. Needless to say, I really hated this level, and I hated it even more when a glitch forced me to beat it twice because the game didn't properly acknowledge my victory the first time. Hell, it didn't really do it the second time either; it had granted me that I'd cleared each of the objectives properly but still said that I'd failed the mission.

That there is still enjoyment to be had in playing this is a testament to how truly great Mechwarrior 2 is, because GBL is quite the impressive mess.

2/5

(Should anyone happen to be reading this and they find themselves confused as to why I was so annoyed that the game started you under attack in so many levels, it's because the nature of the game practically demands that you spend a few seconds at the start of every round determining the layout of your weapons and, when applicable, the behavior of your dumb-as-nails teammates. In the original game, you are always allotted at least a little bit of setup time in deference to this.)

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Game 10: StarFox 64 3D- Finished in 2 hours (all missions)

Man this game brought back memories. I played this on the New 3DS XL, which was great because with the new stable 3D tracking enabled I was able to play this for 2 hours straight with no discomfort or having to re-adjust my viewing angle.

Even though the game is extremely short, I had a blast going through all the missions. Each time through, the game takes about 30-40 minutes, and I liked the variety in gameplay (tank, submarine and flying missions). Surprisingly, I never died once, even on the 'hard' path that takes you to the ultimate fight with Andross. I guess the game is much easier than I remember as a kid, but it makes me glad to know that my son can probably play this in a few years and not get frustrated.

Overall, its still a great game and really holds up with the gameplay and graphics. I would have had a hard time paying $40 for this when it first came out, but I only paid $10 for it which I feel is great value for the amount of fun I had with it.

Original Post - 7/52



Game #7: 80 Days - Inkle
Format: Android
Completion State: Many journeys complete, some successfully, others not so. Most/all cities explored/visited.
Completion Date: 23/Feb/2015

Thanks to the StingX2 who mentioned this earlier in the thread, I really enjoyed this fun and frivolous interactive fiction. Phileas surely is an enigmatic man.

There are a few issues with the UI being a little obtuse and fiddly on a small touch screen device at times but overall this is a fun mobile game with plenty of replayability, at least until you have visited each city once and have a general flavour of the routes and map .

My only issue with it beyond the UI is that it's not really a game that is best enjoyed in very short bursts but that's more a comment on how I view mobile gaming rather than the game itself.

On mobile devices I tend to play stuff that lets me dip in for five minutes or so but 80 days needs more than that to really feel involved in the journey. It is, very appropriately, best for playing on a flight or a long train trip rather than whilst waiting for the bus.

OP

Game 6 - The Order: 1886 (PS4)
Pretty much an insult to Ready at Dawn was given a 4/10, especially for a polished and working game in this generation of broken and rushed-out games. It's not the best game and certainly won't be a contender to game of the year, but when it's good, it's really damn good. With more freedom in future games, RAD have a potentially very special IP on their hands. I'd love a bit more opportunity to pick your play style, as both the gunplay and the stealth work well, the stealth more so when the crossbow gets introduced. A non-regretted purchase.

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Game 7: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (11 Hours)(Wii U) – 2/7/2015

After all the positive things I heard about this game I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to jump into this game. While I haven’t played many platformers in recent years I found this one to be quite enjoyable. The levels were a blast, look amazing, threw a few twists at you, and not enough can be said about the music. It was a bit too difficult for my tastes so I wasn’t able to 100% every stage but I really enjoyed my time with this game.

Game 8: Bayonetta 2 (8 Hours)(Wii U) – 2/11/2015

I loved the original, and I couldn’t have been happier than I was with this game. Gone were many of the small gripes I had with the original and what was left was a very exciting package that had the pacing I wish the first game had. I enjoyed the boss fights much more and was blown away again with design as we fought the minions of hell. The story was a bit confusing for me at times, and the mid flight boss battle portions were a tad annoying, but all that was made up with the lumen sage battles. That was Bayonetta at its finest.

Game 9: Grim Fandango Remastered (9 Hours)(PS4) – 2/16/2015

I never played the original and found this game to be a treat. The story was unique, the voice acting some of the best, and for how old the game was I was surprised at how well it all held up. Some of the puzzles were a bit to obscure for my taste but I really enjoyed the journey through hell with Manny and am glad I was able to experience this game

Game 10: The Order: 1886 (9 Hours)(PS4) – 2/25/2015

Ready at dawn really crafted a world that just oozed atmosphere down to the finest detail. From the graphics, to the decorations, the voice acting, the costumes, and the unique weapons this was a world that I nearly felt was real and which I easily found myself immersed in and I truly marveled at. I was a tad disappointed with the lycan battles as I felt their wasn’t much interesting about them, and the QTE battles often resulting in instant death was a disappointment after QTE have been done much better already. However the overall combat felt great, the story kept me intrigued, and by the time the credits rolled around I was itching for more. I really do hope Read at Dawn are given the chance to build off this game with a sequel.

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#13 game: Kairo - 8 hours

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Weird, insane, mind boggling, no genre can be attached to it too. It was a nice ride. Also that secret ending!

#14: Runespell: Overture - 15.4 hours

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The poker puzzle quest, not even close to greatness of puzzle quest, somewhat slow and longish. Not bad overall, but it seems there are some problems with 100% it, which I managed to encounter.

Game #15: 1000 Amps: 4.6 hours

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Yet another indie game that never got much attention on GAF, which is something I don't really think it deserved. This game is interesting, I may even go so far as to call it good. The aesthetic is nice, sound is good, level design is good (for the most part), music's not great though.

Each screen starts blank, and is revealed as you move through it. There are a number of squares that will light up and add to your power when you touch them. As you power up each room your jump height increases, and later on in the game it also increases the distance from which you can activate a node. Once all the nodes in a room are lit that room is fully powered and will remain that way. The objective is simple, find your way to all the upgrades scattered in the four corners of the map and then kill the boss.

The main problem with this game, is that it takes delight in fucking you over. When you leave a screen, it resets unless it was completed, and there are a lot of rooms that are all too happy to reveal an inescapable conveyer belt or pit that you couldn't've seen coming. In some cases, falling into these traps will carry you 10+ screens away. If you mess up the final screen before the boss it's about a 5 minute trek the whole way around the map to get back to where you were. Still, I enjoyed the time I spent with it and it had an interesting mechanic which is all I expect from a puzzle-platformer.

Also the map is awful, but functional enough I guess

Beaten Game #20 Mighty Gunvolt (3DS)
(Started & Finished 2/24/15)
Beaten with Beck from Mighty No. 9. The game is a pretty neat little throwback to classic Mega Man. It took me awhile to appreciate Beck's weird dash into people.



Beaten Game #21 Mario Tennis Advance: Power Tour (GBA)
(Started 1/2/15 / Finished 2/25/15)
Been working on this off and on for almost 2 entire months. Finally went and finished the single player campaign championship. The tennis is good but the super power ability shots make this kinda lame. The GBC game was hands down better.


OG Post

Triggerhappytel said:

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7. The Order: 1886 - 23rd February - approx. 10 hours
I'm a fan of cinematic single-player games and this was very competent overall, albeit not without some problems. The visuals are incredible - I literally cannot overstate how gorgeous it is - the acting and voice work is brilliant and I really enjoyed the core gameplay and the awesome weapons and sound effects. Of course there are issues with it - primarily the almost entirely prescribed pacing (forced walking sections, not being able to draw your weapon in some areas), level design needs to be a bit more open and there's entirely too many QTEs, but overall I think this is an incredibly solid foundation for a series and I really hope RAD get the chance to develop a sequel. 7.5/10

With these two games I'm probably going to wrap up February, unless I manage to complete some indies on Steam.

Game 11: Shovel Knight - 4/5 - 7:05 hours (25/02/2015)

Finished the game, got all the items and gear, miss only 6 music sheets. Retro gaming done right: the spritework is excellent, there's lots of 8-bit music, the gameplay is immediate, you need no tutorials to start playing and have fun, something rare nowadays; the story is very basic but charming, the world is built with the utmost care. The risk/reward mechanic built around checkpoints, deaths and gold works flawlessly, making the game challenging but not race-inducing like Mega Man games are at times. The levels are all unique, the bosses many just like the items. However there're a few shortcomings: the villages are nice but I wished there was something more to do in them, the armors and shovel upgrades aren't anything mindblowing, also having to go to the blacksmith to change your armor is pretty annoying.

This game is:

+

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Game 12: Dungeon Keeper [replay] - 3,5/5 - around 15 hours (25/02/2015)

Completed the campaign. This is a game that's amazing when it works as intended, but it becomes quickly underwhelming when you're forced to use cheap tricks to win or when your opponents are playing unfairly. The atmosphere is perfect and the attention to detail, even gameplay-wise, astounding: each creature is tortured differently, Hellhounds use your graveyard as a bathroom, prisoners fight among themselves if you leave a chicken nearby, tortured enemies can give you intel on their base, can be converted to your side or can die and become ghosts. Though the designers have this bad habit of making you start a good amount of levels with some kind of handicap, especially near the end of the campaign: limited gold, limited space, limited creatures, limited rooms, allied enemies ganging up on you, etc. I wish there were a bunch of more difficult but straightforward maps, because the difficulty of the last levels, which are pretty hard, is enhanced artificially by the aforementioned limitations. Also the battling mechanics are weird, for a game based on managing stuff, big fights get too chaotic too soon and sometimes you have the impression you can't do much to sway their course.

This game is:

I'm drawing a blank, can't think of a single thing Dungeon Keeper may have been inspired by, the game started a genre.

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Driveclub

Criteria: Obtain 3 stars in all events that don't require a DLC purchase.
Time played: ?? hours. (Doesn't appear to be any time tracker in game)

Wasn't impressed with this one at all unfortunately. The plan was to get all stars for all events that weren't paid DLC. I'm short 3 stars from one Photo-Finish DLC event, but I'm classing this as completed, as I'm not able to enter the event without levelling up another 3 times to qualify for it. I'm not really in the mood to grind in a racer. There's no good reason why such a level cap even exists. If I've obtained every available star for every available event up until this point, there shouldn't be any reason why I'm unable to enter. I've even had a few online races and single events sprinkled in but still came up 4 levels short (3 after finishing all other events). This is the third time I've encountered such a progress gate playing through this, and I don't see what point they serve to be honest.

The AI drivers in this game are horrible. Whilst in front of you they consistently drive terribly. They're needlessly slow on every corner, to the point where I'm not actually sure I've ever taken a turn without completely fumbling it, and had the AI actually come out off it better. This is true for the entire pack, including the car sitting in first place... until of course, the car in first place is you. The moment that happens, your opponents are suddenly Michael Schumacher and amazingly adept at keeping pace with you. The common responses to this behaviour is that the AI simply drives slower when ahead, and drive better once you're in front, whilst employing perfect drafting to keep up. All this is basically to tiptoe around calling it what it actually is. Rubberbanding. Rather than try to justify how certain technicalities mean that it shouldn't be called that, I would rather the creators instead simply call it that (because that's what it is) and instead try to justify why it's beneficial to the game. When a race can have an additional star challenge for beating a certain time, and then when I finish the race I notice that even the car in last place has beaten this time by a good few seconds, then something is horribly wrong. At least in something like Motorstorm I can understand the benefits, as distance from the pack begins to harm the game's core gameplay. Here though, it is completely unnecessary, and I would prefer to simply have consistently easy or difficult opponents.

It's not really as though I didn't have any fun playing through Driveclub... but I find it very easy to have fun with racers in general. There's honestly pretty much nothing I'd credit it as doing better than pretty much any other racer I've given a healthy amount of time to (graphics aside). I really wasn't a fan of the handling system, so we're already off to a bad start... but aside from that I felt that game like Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo are infinitely better for pure racing and time trials (not to mention the integrity of some of Driveclub's leaderboards seems pretty questionable, with some frankly impossible times at the top of many), and it lacks the excitement and variety of its less sim-ish alternatives like Horizon and Project Gotham. At best it's serviceable, but the things it accomplishes are pretty much just a subset of the things accomplished in pretty much every half-decent racer in existence. They're not done any better here, there's just pretty much nothing else to point to as a positive.

Steam Link

I got almost 70% of all collectibles and platinum trophy before I stopped. I barely touched the competitive multiplayer, but played a fair share of co-op with random strangers.

#6 - Far Cry 4 (28-29 hours, PS4)
I've always been a huge fan of Far Cry since I picked up the first one many years ago. I loved the free roam aspect, I thought it was tense and a good-looker. The first Far Cry was great. I never really got around the spinoffs, but I picked up Far Cry 2 some time after release. While I loved the jungle setting of the first one, I thought the barren Africa was interesting setting for the next. I never got through the game though. Neither did I complete Far Cry 3, even though I was ecstatic when it was revealed. With Ubisoft making gameso that are very similar (accurately described in Ubisoft: The Game Review) my interest in Far Cry 4 was very low. I always said I'd play it eventually - and now I have.

The setting of Far Cry 4 is Kyrat, a fictional Himalayan country. Ajay (the player) is in a bus, on his way to scatter his mom's remains in a place called Lakshmana. On his way to Lakshmana, the bus Ajay is in is interrupted by the Royal Army and the game's antagonist Pagan Min who is - like Far Cry 3's villain Vaas - is more crazy than sane. Pagan Min takes Ajay as "prisoner", but Ajay manages to escape with the help from Sabal, the commander of The Golden Path (A rebel movement started by Ajay's father). As such the story of Far Cry 4 starts and it's now Ajay's mission to free Kyrat from Pagan Min's dictatorship. The story in Far Cry 4 is its weakpoint. Sabal and Amita fights internally over how to different missions should proceed and who should lead the Golden Path. In a handful of story missions you must support either side and whom you pick will become the leader of the rebels until the next mission that requires you to pick side. This could work very well, but both Amita and Sabal are really one-sided and just two polar-opposite people that can only agree on one thing: Pagan Min must be defeated. Instead of creating a super interesting conflict - should we do as tradition tells us or should we progress as a tribe - the characters just throw mud at each other, declaring they are the better option. This can be said about most prominent characters in Far Cry 4: They are just not interesting and the world is really just black/white. People are either good or they are evil. Even the game's most memorable character, Pagan Min, is rather forgettable. He is - like rest of the characters in the game - paper thin, but he's easier to remember because he does have more personality traits than the rest. But it's not enough creating a flamboyant character whose only purpose is to be a comical relief. The few times you see hin physically in the game is pretty good, but most of the time he's contacting Ajay over the phone with stupid remarks whichs only purpose is to make the player laugh. Pagan Min and Vaas both have potential to be great characers but they are never utilized properly. They are villains, they have to be some kind of crazy because that's funny and the audience likes that. If you removed the flamboyant character trait you no longer have a character - and that's the problem. There's also alot of side missions, some exploring the story of Kyrat and some where you need to collect blood diamonds. In Far Cry 3 there was a very succesful drug scene which was very popular and because of this we apparentely needed two characters that drug Ajay for no apparent reason (All part of the Ubisoft Game design - this was also possible in Watch Dogs). The missions exploring the story of Kyrat (Shangri la) were pretty interesting and I'd recommend playing these. The rest you can play if you enjoy them, but I'd personally not bother.

If you have played Far Cry 3, you know exactly what to expect of this game. If you have played any recent Ubisoft games, you can be rather certain you know what to expect as well. Far Cry 4 does not derive from the Ubisoft game design one bit. You got your towers, races where you switch vehicles, drug missions, races through rings, outposts, assassinations and so on. Most of the mini games (races in particular) could have been left of the game, no problem whatsoever. They try to contextualize it, but the explanation about making 'cool videos' is really dumb. Fortunately most of these boring side missions are totally optional and have a minimal impact on your skill progression (and achievements, if you care). The world is also filled with side missions and collectibles, and normally I am all for these kind of things but they are simple too much in this game - you can't move 10 metres without having a new collectable show up on your map. When I started playing the game I wanted to 100% it, but after clearing perhaps a 1/5 of all collectibles I gave up: it was obvious it would require a lot of extra hours to gather them all and the only reward was xp anyway or new weapons. But some things are not only gathered for the sake of collectibles: herbs and animal skin are used as syringe and crafting components respectively. The crafting allows you to create bigger bags, wallets, pouches and so on and is locked away by arbitrary requirements (This bag must be created by tiger skin, not leopard or boar skin). The upgrades you can craft are all passive and the only real game changer is holster that makes you able to carry more weapons. The weapon costumization is another complaint I have about this game. You can costumize weapons you unlock or buy, but the costumization is so limited. Each weapon have up to three attachment slots. Slot one allows you to equip a silencer on some weapons (there is only one silencer so it's either or). The second slot are for scopes - the maximum of scopes on a single weapon (not counting no-scope) is, as far I've seen, two. Slot three allows you to equip a extra magazine on some weapons. Other than that, each weapon have a color slot that lets you choose between eight different colors. That's it. Most weapons don't even allow you to use all three slots, making the customization lack options and any kind of depth. An extra magazine will always yield an advantage over not having it, so why wouldn't you? If the third slot is available, you should always add a extra magazine. Furthermore, the game rewards you for playing stealthy, so not having a silencer on is usually a disadvantage. There are two kinds of scopes: medium zoom or long zoom, but the long zoom allows you to toggle between medium or long, so why wouldn't you pick this? The costumization is stupidly designed and frankly would be better off than it's current state, because there's an optimal way of choosning attachments - the only thing that doesn't give you a disadvanage is the color of your gun. Some guns are direct improvements in all ways possible, making some weapons obsolete. I'd rather have a small but varied selection of guns rather than alot of guns are useless or the same.

What it does really well is one thing in particular: Freedom. I very rarely felt locked down in a certain area or forced to clear a mission like they wanted. If a mission required you to do object A, nothing stops you from liberating bell towers, outposts and such during the current mission. Huge probs for that, because sometimes the a mission's objective is close to a tower or an outpost and why shouldn't you be able to take control of a tower before you save those people from the hungry and very dangerous tigers? Most missions allow you to progress as you wish: Stealth? Go loud? Ride an elephant, charging people white burning them with a flamethrower? You can do that and that's really great. Unfortunately the game rewards stealth play in most cases as I mentioned before. If you get spotted by a foe they will almost guarenteed prioritize calling for backup rather than going after you. In a game where freedom is the very essence it's sad to see a playstyle being so advantageous over others. The few missions that take your freedom away and forcing you to complete it the intended way goes against everything else in the game and really detracts from the experience making some missions very obnoxious.

The last thing I want to comment on before I round up this review is the online part of Far Cry 4. The game consists of three online components: Co-op, competitive multiplayer and map editor/sharing. The co-op allows you to join or be joined by a stranger or one of your friends in their/your single-player file. Together you are able to do almost all things you can do solo; as far as I've noticed it's only the main and side story missions that are locked to single player. I feel this is a great direction of the series because co-op is always wonderful. It does take alot of time if you search for random players to play with and if they decide to leave the game you are kicked to the main menu - even if they leave your game. Each time you open the game it requires a pretty big load and you'll have to go through this multiple times if you play with strangers. There's voice chat but there's also a wheel consisting of not usable commands like "go loud" and offer no good way of communicating if you don't use a headset. The competitive multiplayer is what you expect. I didn't play this very much. Mostly because I don't care about it and because the map design was atrocious. The maps are small parts of Kyrat, and while they work in singleplayer they don't make for good competitive maps. This is where the map editor comes in to play - like previous Far Cry games you are able to create maps in the map editor and share them online. I did not use this feature, but if it's anything like Far Cry 2 then the map editor is excellent. The competitive should honestly be trashed for the next installment in the franchise - there are alot better and more focused competitive experiences that I would recommend over this.

My review might come off rather negative, but I do think Far Cry 4 is a good game - many of my complaints are nitpicks or small annoyances. The game does alot of things well or great - but I don't think it does anything (save for freedom) better than others games out there. As such Far Cry 4 is an enjoyable and above average experience, but it's far from a master piece or title that I will remember in a few months. It simply wants to do alot of things and because of this it falls short on most of the things it does. They should get rid of the multiplayer entirely (even if that means we lose the amazing map editor) and put those resources on the single player and co-op portion of the game. For the inevitable next installment in the series they should put more care into writing, story telling and characters, get rid of unnecessary side missions (more is not always better) and create a overall more focused experience. Don't follow the Ubisoft Game Design as much as they have done and take more chances - It's clearly here the game shines.


Original Post

Original Post

Game 20: The Order 1886

Obvious stuff out of the way first. The game isn't very long, and there's little replay value. It isn't worth full price on that alone. It looks gorgeous, but the gameplay is unexceptional. That's not to say it's bad, it's actually very good. It just doesn't really do anything new or interesting. The gameplay doesn't stand out, is what I'm trying to say. It's the same big-budget cover shooter game you've played dozens of times in the last generation. I went in expecting to have a bad time. I was never hyped for this game. I just wanted to churn through, admire the pretty visuals, and get it traded in while I could still make a profit. But, to my surprise, I loved every fucking minute of it, and I really hope it gets a sequel. Just don't buy it at the current price.
If you liked Gears of War or Heavenly Sword, you'll like this

Don't want to do another big update until I beat Persona 4 Golden but I just want to say holy fucking shit this game never ends. To be fair I did the spoiler free walkthrough of the true ending but...why would I not want the true end of a game? lol.

Dungeon locations/times spoilers:
I have loved the story, characters, and bosses but I'm really tired of the dungeons and just gotten burnt out on the game. But I'm soooo close I can't just quit! I WILL NOT QUIT!

Hopefully next months I can beat some games. Sitting at 7 at the moment. Persona 4 has to ruin everythng. (Its still probably my GOTY.)

Persona 4 has certainly been one of the best experiences ever, I must say.just hope I can easily do this dungeon and not grind and omg this post is full of contradictions.

Game 7: Sonic The Hedgehog
1991, Sega Master System/Game Gear
2 hours (although several more spread across the last fifteen years)

I'm a pretty big fan of the early Sonic games and I've always kind of liked the Game Gear portable series, but for a number of reasons (such as their relatively high difficulty and the embarrassingly short battery life of the Game Gear) I'd never actually finished any of them.

I picked the original because I'm pretty sure it's the best of the GG Sonics and it is, indeed, pretty good. It's basically the same gameplay as the original Sonic plus a few technical/scale related hang-ups that lead to it being an overall worse albeit still enjoyable game.

The level design is mostly good, even if a couple of them are fairly dull, and none of them take more than three minutes to clear. There isn't much to be said about them, really; imagine a level from Sonic with less moving parts and you've got pretty much every level in this game. The big difference is the rather high difficulty compared to the Genesis games, and that holds through pretty much until the end.

The game looks impressive for something as old and... portable as it is, but the drawbacks for this are numerous. For starters, the size of the view is quite small, offset somewhat by Sonic himself being miniature-sized. The framerate also chugs along quite often, especially in the water. When this happens, the game sometimes even starts dropping inputs, which is just painful. The music is also not great, which is a shame considering Sonic games usually have a stellar soundtrack.

Overall, an enjoyable way to kill a couple of hours, if not much more than that.

3/5

Game #7! I've slowed down a little thanks to school and FFXIV releasing triple triad, but I'm still making decent progress. Aiming for one more this month!


Game #7- Long Live the Queen (PC) | 2/14/2015 [9 hours]
I started this awhile back when my now fiance gave it to me and I enjoyed it, but I got stuck towards the end and never finished it. I finally decided to come back and finish a play through as well as get all the achievements. It's a fun game where your choices really so matter and all sort of things can happen. Of course, that got a little annoying when going for achievements because it took a lot of planning to make sure you didn't proc some random event you didn't know about that led to your death. lol But, I managed!

Original post

Completion update: Games 10, 11, 12 & 13

Game 10



Infamous: First Light

Duration: 5:00 (2:40 in 2015).


Game 11



The Unfinished Swan

Duration: 3:00


Game 12



Tomb Raider

Duration: 11:00 (5:20 in 2015)


Game 13



Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Duration: 3:15


Original Post.

Managed to squeeze another game in before the end of the month, I started it back in January, but only now I've basically seen everything about it:

Game 13: The Stanley Parable - §/5 - 5:36 hours (26/02/15)

Of course I did not complete The Stanley Parable, after all the end is never the end is never the end... However I pretty much saw all of what can be seen, both by playing the game (90%) and watching some easter eggs and the art ending on Youtube (10%). I didn't give a meaningful score to The Stanley Parable, because The Stanley Parable isn't a game: it's an interactive statement regarding (mostly but not only) gaming narrative. It's basically a very well thought thesis, only it's not written in words, but with code; a thesis built around paradoxes and illogicalities, such as the clearly and purposedly paradoxical main ending, the one you reach following the narrator's instructions step by step, resulting in the only outcome permitting Stanley to obtain freedom. However there are also paradoxes created unwillingly by the developer: the Unachievable Achievement, something you literally can't achieve in game if not in a completely random way, with the developer changing the way the random process worked with each patch, ended up becoming the only real and practical achievement of the game when gamers collaborated in real life to find a way to activate it through cheating, something that ended up being very difficult in and on itself, as the developer had tried to block cheating in many ways.

This game is:

+

Click to expand...

Game #3 complete!

#3 - Donkey Kong Country (SNES VC on Wii U) (02:13:00 in-game time) - Downloaded today and did a quick 101% playthrough. Proof.

Click to expand...

Original post edited.

So this far I have beaten



Which breaks my record of games beaten last year

Axass said:

Managed to squeeze another game in before the end of the month, I started it back in January, but only now I've basically seen everything about it

Click to expand...

I've been really enjoying your comparison posts

Original Post

Dead or Alive 5: Last Round

Criteria: Story Mode completion
Time played: 8 hours

The time played for this isn't very accurate as there's a whole bunch of costume unlocking mixed in there. The story mode I'd estimate was around 3-4 hours of that.

Not much to say about this really. It's Dead or Alive... a pretty known quantity at this point. The port job is pretty disappointing, as it barely benefits from the generation jump at all (no AA whatsoever, dethroning Forza 5 for worst non-720p image quality I've seen this gen). Gameplay is as solid as ever (and a decent step up from Dead or Alive 4). The new music is generally pretty terrible, but fortunately you can just swap it out for all the great tracks from previous entries.

DLC is crazy in this though. If you happen to want all the costumes it'll cost you multiple times the cost of the game itself. Fortunately it's all purely cosmetic, so it doesn't negatively impact the game should you choose to ignore them (other than being teased by all the locked icons on the character select screen).

Overall I'm pretty happy with the purchase so far, and expect to be playing a lot more of this in the future. It's the closest I'm probably going to get to a new Virtua Fighter game after all....

Game #1 - Dragon Age Inquisition - (60hs in December - 60hs in January) 120hs.

The game is fantastic, the world is the main attraction here with tons of interesting things to do and discover (and tons of shitty filler though). Characters are good and the main plot is enjoyable although somehow generic. Maybe the best game of 2014.

Value: 8+

Game #2 - Infamous First Light - 5hs

I had fun playing Second Sun but after a while the memory I have from it is not very good, I played First Light with the same results, great gameplay but simple uninteresting story and characters and worst game design. I can't believe that these guys created their own super hero property and they can't get good villains and epic battles... I don't know.

Value: 6

Game #3 - Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 1 - 8hs

Well this piece is amazing, I just replayed the whole thing because the PS4 version doesn't sync with the saves from the PS3 version so in order to play the second season I needed it to replay it. Amazing story with great characters and emotional moments.

Value: 9+

Game #4 - Apotheon - 11hs

Pure gold sidescroller metroidvania game, I loved the art and level design is fantastic, combat needs work but It's functional and the story is nothing out of the ordinary but I liked that the documentation of the mithology is faithful. It remind me of Outland.

Value: 8

Game #5 - Tomb Raider Definitive Edition - 10hs

I started this back in March 2014 but only played it for a couple of hours until I got bored of it, I gave it a second chance and I had some fun, It's not the greatest adventure ever but it works and the production design is amazing, sadly the story and characters are awful, the gameplay is simple but it works and the set pieces are well done.

Value: 7

Game #6 - Telltale's The Walking Dead Season 2 - 8hs

It started kind of slow and I didn't like all the characters but damn this was good, I really love Clementine and many moments of the story were amazing but the moral choices were kind of dull, like you don't really had much of a choice. The ending destroyed me again.

Value: 8+

Game #7 - The Order 1886 - 9hs

I really loved it, got almost everything I wanted from it, the story (although quite simple and predictable) is expertly written and the characters are fantastic. The whole production level is off the charts, graphics, art, sound, acting, everything is superb. Gameplay is good but the encounter design needs some serious work.

Value: 7+

Game #9 - Valiant Hearts - I don't know... 6hs?

Cute game, kinda boring to me, was expecting something more depressing but it was really disneyish (until the heartcrushing end scene). Beatufiful art and nice story.

Value: 7 (noble intentions and the setting are a plus but it's actually a little less).

Game #10 - Injustice: Gods Among Us - Story Mode - 6hs?

Damn!! this game is awesome!!! I can't believe I had this much fun, the story is like a great Justice League animated movie, I played it on normal so I could pass through the story without problems and it was a great idea. For casual fighters players like me and super hero fans this is a must. Combat is spectacular and the story is fun, super silly but fun.

Value: 8

Game #11 - Bloodborne - 85+hs

Holy shit, this game is amazing, literally the best game I've played this gen, bringed me so many memories from my childhood. Art, music, gameplay, spectacular bosses, I wish some of the bosses around the middle of the game would had been better but still an awesome journey.

Value: 9+

Game #12 - The Witcher III Wild Hunt - 225hs

Value: 9+

Game #13 - Batman Arkham Knight - 30hs

Value: 9

Game #14 - God of War III Remastered - 10hs

Value: 9+

Game #15 - Journey - 2hs

Value: 10

Game #16 - Sound Shapes - 2hs

Value: 7

Game #17 - Everybody's Gone to the Rapture - 6hs

Value: 8

Game #18 - Until Dawn - 8hs

Value: 8

Game #19 - Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain - 98hs

Value: 9

Game #20 - Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection: Drake's Fortune - 6.5hs

Value: 8

Game #21 - Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection: Among Thieves - 10hs

Value: 10

Game #22 - Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection: Drake's Deception - 8hs

Value: 9+

Game #23 - Tales From The Borderlands - 10hs

Value: 9

Original Post

Game 15: The Swapper - 6,6 Hours
PC
I will start by admitting that I had to get help on some puzzles. I think the atmosphere of the game was very good and the puzzles were great. I scratched my head more than once. I didn't find all of the logs that give achievements. I only got 6 out of 10 and that was because of me searching with The Swapper wherever I could. The game is free on PS+ for PS4 and I really recommend people to try this out.

Beaten Game #22 Tales of Xillia (PS3) - 70 Hours
(Started 1/30/15 / Finished 2/26/15)
This was a blast! I haven't seriously played a Tales game since Phantasia in 2006 or 2007. As much as I enjoyed this, I need a break before trying Xillia 2, because too much of the same RPG is kinda killer. My only gripes with this game are the relatively boring open areas of wilderness, the missable stuff piles up fast, and there really wasn't a final dungeon...at all. The cast is enjoyable although one character makes my Hall of Fame of JRPG characters the party should have just strangled halfway through the game.


OG Post

Original Post

Game 10 - Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4): Story Completed on 2/27/15, 7 Hours
- I usually play every CoD campaign on veteran difficulty. It's kind of a weird gamer tradition of mine. As for Advanced Warfare, it had fun campaign missions (that estate-stealth mission was pretty sweet) but the story itself is pretty unmemorable. This CoD will be remembered as "the one with Kevin Spacey". I played a little multiplayer as well and enjoyed it. The slight changes and exo additions add some verticality and generally make for a fresher version of the typical CoD multiplayer, but as a CoD game it can only change so much. Definitely liked this installment more than Ghosts, but for me CoD peaked at Black Ops (for both campaign and multiplayer, zombies too) and I've greatly lost interest in each game since then. Still waiting for a WWII comeback!

Updated my post: http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=144699142
PSA: Editing this was a mess so there may be some serious fuck ups haha.

Backlogged Games
PT = Playthrough. So If something says  1PT it means its my first time ever playing it, 2PT then that means its my second time playing and beating the game. So on and so forth.
(lol) Means I am atleast 95% sure I'll never beat that game.
BOLDED STUFF IS NEW ADDITIONS SINCE LAST UPDATE. I MAY NOT UNBOLD ARE OLD STUFF DUE TO MISSING IT...

Games Beaten:
1: Ikachan (3DS) (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 (3DS/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 a2D 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 itmeant at the end. O_O *ahem* Now I must 100% Yoshi's New Island and Yoshi's Wooly World this year...oh noes.

3: Xeodrifter (3DS) (1PT)
Started playing Thursday December 18th 2014 8:34 PM
Finished playing Saturday December 20th 2014 5:37 PM
Started 100% playthough on Tuesday January 13th 2015 7:01 PM
Finished collecing all but one thing on Wednesday January 14th 2015 5:03 PM
Playtime: 2:31 - 100% Playtime: 3:41
Playtime for 100%/Playtime for 2015:1:10
Really great Metroidvania. A bit too short for its price, but I loved the fact that it was so short since it prevented me from getting lost unlike most Metroidvanias...

4: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (WiiU) (2PT)
Started Friday October 4th 2013 12:08 PM
Finished playing Thursday January 15th 2015 8:33 PM
Play Time: 24:58
Play Time in 2015: 11:31
Loved this when I first played it in 2003. Dunno why it took me so long on the replay, lots of little parts that just made me want to quit but overall I enjoyed it alot!

5: Castlevania (NES) (1PT) (Second Attempt. First was on Wii VC)
Started playing Friday January 30th 2015 9:07 PM
Finished playing Monday February 9th 2015 5:00 PM
Play Time: 1:15
Like the music and style but way to hard for me. Thank you based restore points.

6: Gunman Clive (3DS) (2PT)
Gunman Clive - Easy
Started playing Friday February 13th 2015 11:58 PM
Finished playing Saturday Friday February 14th 2015 5:23 PM
Play Time: 0:40
Retries: 9

7: Gunman Clive 2 (3DS) (1PT)
Gunman Clive - Easy
Started playing Saturday Friday February 14th 2015 5:23 PM
Finished playing Sunday February 15th 2015 10:22 PM
Play Time: 1:03
Retries: 29
Both Gunman Clive 1 & 2 are very short, but it never gets boring, it never stops being fun. highly recommended on both and play them in order.

List of ALL games per system. The bottom of each list as as follows:
Currently Playing is most recently started. (Without a date is not in order.)
Games I Want To Replay is most recently added.
Games I Own is most recently bought. (Without a date is not in order.)
Games I want to buy is most recently thought about buying. Will probably miss out on alot of those.

3DS:
Currently Playing:
1: Shin Megami Tensei IV - (30 Hours) Trying to get Jirae thing to start.
2: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) - Chapter 11
3: Mario & Luigi 4 - (17 Hours) Halfway through.
4: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (45 Hours) Day 4
5: Fire Emblem: Awakening Normal/Classic/No Grinding (lol)
7: Metroid Fusion (GBA)
8: 100% Yoshi's Island (GBA) (3PT) - 100% as of 01/04/15!
9: 100% Xeodrifter Beaten last year. Tried to 100% this year and got all but one collectable. Consider it complete.
10: Mario Golf: World Tour All Coins (lol)
11: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (lol) (Did all 2 Star Quests)
12: Super Smash Bros. 4 - Will count if I complete all challenges.
13: Gunman Clive (3PT) - Beaten on 02/13/15
14: Gunman Clive 2 - Beaten on 02/14/15
15: Pokemon Shuffle - May count as beaten multiple times due to updates. First will be if I capture all 150 Pokemon in base campaign to Mewtwo plus the Extra stages. DLC stages won't cont since they are constantly changing.
16: Woah Dave - Highscore game but has achievements so will count as beaten if I do them all.
Want to replay this year:
1: Super Mario 3D Land (5PT)
2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2PT) (1PT Hero Mode)
3: Super Mario Land (GB) (2PT)
4: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB) (3PT)
5: 999 (DS) (2PT)
6: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA) (2PT)
Own. Not Started:
1: Steamworld Dig
2: 1,001 Spikes
3: Starship Damrey
4: Attack of the Friday Monsters
5: 100% Skylanders Swap Force
6: Escape Vektor
7: Burger Time Deluxe
8: Mario Golf GBC
9: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
10: Bomb Monkey (Can't Be Beaten)
11: Ikachan - Started and Beaten on 01/01/15
12: Kerploosh
13: Bike Rider DX (Can't Be Beaten)
14: Mario Kart GBA (Meh)
15: Woah Dave Started on 01/31/15
16: Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters - Found out it was on at like 2AM on 01/18/15 on CN then registered a ton of games and finally had enough before the deadline. So now I own this.
Donkey Kong Land (3DS/GB)
Want to buy this year:
1: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
2: Code Name S.T.E.A.M.
3: Xenoblade (Who knows when I'll get a new 3DS tho)
4: Entrian Oddyssy IV
5: Fantasy Life
6: Wario Land III (GBC)
7: Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB)
8: Resident Evil Revelations (After I get new 3DS)

PSV:
Currently Playing:
1: 100% Dangan Ronpa 2
2: 100% Dangan Ronpa
3: 100% Tearaway
4: 100% Gravity Rush
5: Rayman Origins (Like, only at world 3. Not far after a couple years.)
6: Corpse Party (PSP) - Beaten on 12/31/14, so doesn't count. :/. (Started 12/27/14. I was really into it!)
7: Persona 4: Golden - Started on 01/09/15 - 85 Hours In. IT NEVER ENDS!!!!
Want to replay this year:
1: Virtue's Last Reward (2PT) (1PT Was on 3DS. Will go for Platinum.)
Own. Not Started:
1: Persona 4 Golden - Started on 01/09/15
2: Sweet Fuse (PSP)
3: Need for Speed
4: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows (PSP)
5: The Walking Dead: 400 Days
6: Patapon (PSP) - Just realized Patapon thru FFIV I own and wasn't thru PS+! :O
7: Final Fantasy IX (PS1)
8: Patchwork Heroes (PSP)
9: Final Fantasy IV/The After Years (IV would be a replay, TAY new.)
10: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 - Got from amazon on 01/22/15
11: Medieval - Bought on 01/16/15 during the PS Anniversary sale. Had enough money for a $3 game and choose this!
Want to buy this year:
1: PS+ FFS
2: Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode
3: The Walking Dead: Season Two
4: The Wolf Among Us
5: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 - Got from amazon on 01/22/15
6: Hyperdimension Neptunita Re;Birth 2
7: Bastion
8: Severed
9: Shovel Knight 100% (Replay, going for trophies.)
10: Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
11: Neptunia: Noire Game
12: The Firefly Diaries
13: Persona 4: Dancing All Night
14: Stein Gate

WiiU:
Currently Playing:
1: The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD - BEATEN ON 01/15/15
2: Earthbound (SNES) (Most likely not 2015) - Three Melodies In.
3: Edge (lol)
4: Bit.trip Runner 2 (lol)
5: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) (1PT) - At Third Dark Dungeon. Really just don't think I like this game. Despite being a huge Zelda fan. Oh well. Think I'll just give up.
6: Castlevania (NES) - Beaten on 02/09/15
7: Donkey Kong Country (WiiU/SNES) (2PT)  - At World 2. So excited to finally replay one of my favorite games!
Own. Not Started:
1: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) - Started on 01/16/15
2: Castlevania (NES) - Beaten on 02/09/15
3: Kirby's Dream Land 3 (SNES) (100%) (2PT, 1PT 100%)
4: Mega Man X (SNES)
5: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (WiiU/SNES) (1PT)
6: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble (WiiU/SNES) (2PT)
7: Toki Tori (WiiU) (1PT)
Want to buy this year:
1: Zelda U
2: Yoshi's Wooly World
3: Splatoon
4: Hyrule Warriors
5: A Castlevania GBA Game
6: Mega Man: Battle Network (GBA)
7: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse

PS4:
Currently Playing
1: Watch Dogs - On hold until I can hook up my tv. Playing with remote play is terrible.
2: Infamous: Second Son - 19% Done.
3: Skylanders Swap Force - 3/? Levels 100%ed Will probably just give up on this too. The console games are so much worse than handheld ones.
Own. Not Started:
Nothing. lol.
Want to buy this year:
1: No Man's Sky
2: Metal Gear Solid V
3: Until Dawn
4: Persona 5

Next Games I Plan To Beat Next:
1: Persona 4: Golden (PSV) - After 84 hours I don't know if I will ever reach a ending, but have enjoyed the ride. Really gotten burnt out but so close tha I want to finish it hopefully early March.
2: Corpse Party: Book of Shadows (PSV/PSP) - Probably in March. Won't start until after I beat Persona 4: Golden so...
3: Donkey Kong Country (WiiU/SNES) (2PT) - Will likely beat in March.
4: Code Name S.T.E.A.M. (3DS) - Getting Day One. Will likely be beaten in late March or early April.
5: Steam World Dig - Will try and start and beat it after I beat Code Name S.T.E.A.M.


Next Games I Want To Start:
1: Donkey Kong Country (WiiU/SNES) - Started Today!
2: Code Name S.T.E.A.M. (3DS) - Day One. (03/13/15)
3: Order Up!! (3DS) - Starting late March.
4: The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (3DS/GBA) - Starting in April, after I beat Code Name S.T.E.A.M.
5: Steam World Dig (3DS) - Starting in early April.
6: Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (WiiU) - Starting in mid April if I actually get it...
7: Donkey Kong Land (3DS/GB) - Plan to start in April.
8: Neptunia Re;Birth1 (PSV) - Starting some time in April hopefully.
9: Super Mario Land (2PT) (3DS/GB) - Starting early May.
10: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins - Starting early May.
11: Attack of the Friday Monsters - Starting in Mid May.
12: Splatoon (WiiU) - Day One. (??/??/??)
13: Sweet Fuse (PSV/PSP) - Starting late May.

StingX2 said:

I've been really enjoying your comparison posts

Click to expand...

Why, thank you!

Here's the very last game of the month:

Game 14: Mirror's Edge - 3/5 - around 8 hours (27/02/05)

Completed the campaign and one starred most of the time trials, didn't bother getting all the bags. The aesthetics are pretty striking, the use of white and light blue in contrast with other saturated strong colours, like yellow, red, blue, orange and green, gives the rather simple environments a clean and beautiful look. The gameplay is very interesting and unique, the controls mostly work as intended and when you manage to keep going for a long time without stopping or falling you feel a great sense of accomplishment, however, due to a few issues, that doesn't happen often enough. In fact the visual cues telling you the right route sometimes aren't enough, there are a bunch of areas where you get lost easily, not knowing where to go next; the combat is really underwhelming, it gives you too few approach and defense options, also it mostly breaks the pacing: you just wish you could keep running but you have to take cover, or worse steal a gun and fire back, something that shouldn't have a place in a game like this. Sadly a few freezes got in my way when playing on the PS3, it's unbelievable that not even the Chapter 6 glitch, which seems to happen to half the people owning the game, has ever been patched. The plot and characters are utterly worthless, Faith herself, for all the talk surrounding her realistic look, is boring and dull personality-wise: looks don't make a great character.

This game is:

+

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maxcriden said:

You saw the mice telling you not to jump on those blocks, right? I know that was a big sticking point for a lot of people. Did you 100% the game? Definitely gets harder in the post-game! Anyway, glad you enjoyed it!

Click to expand...

Lol just noticed this.

Yes, I'm working through the post-game in between playing Captain Toad because goddamn Captain Toad. Couple of pains but nothing like Grumblump.

Cheat Code said:

Lol just noticed this.

Yes, I'm working through the post-game in between playing Captain Toad because goddamn Captain Toad. Couple of pains but nothing like Grumblump.

Click to expand...

Yeah, tricky stuff! Haven't finished the last couple 3DW levels yet--super hard!

#8. Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3 (GBA) - 10½ hours
★★★★☆
Such a happy game. Looks great, sounds great, and controls amazingly well, especially considering there's no run button. Cool bosses, too. Only thing I didn't love were the nonlinear levels.

#9. Mega Man 10 (PS3) - 2½ hours
★★★☆☆
Classic Mega Man, you know the deal. Doesn't really try anything new, but I guess it doesn't need to because the formula still works.

Game #5



Platform: Steam
Duration: 2/27
Completed: 5 hours (100% and unlocked all Achievements)
Thoughts: This is the beginning of a loving relationship. I haven't felt this way since I discovered Picross. Granted there were some puzzles that relied more on luck than logic but it still didn't stop me from enjoying this wonderful logic puzzler. Gonna play its siblings next.

ramoisdead said:

Game #5

Platform: Steam
Duration: 2/27
Completed: 5 hours (100% and unlocked all Achievements)
Thoughts: This is the beginning of a loving relationship. I haven't felt this way since I discovered Picross. Granted there were some puzzles that relied more on luck than logic but it still didn't stop me from enjoying this wonderful logic puzzler. Gonna play its siblings next.

Click to expand...

There are no puzzles in either of Hexcells game that rely on luck. Every single puzzle piece's state can be reasoned from the information provided by the game.

Game #13:A Bird Story - 2/28/15(1 hour)
Honestly not sure what to think of this. The music was amazing and it did a good job at trying to get the emotional impact across without using any words, just it really felt too short when it came to conveying it's full message. I do think that it set the tone for it's sequel amazingly well and I look forward to the day it comes out.

Original post

I was originally planning to make one post per month, but real life got in the way last time. So here's all the games I've finished in the past two months instead.

Original Post
January

Game 1: Super Metroid - 10 Hours (1 Januari) [Wii U]
What better game to start off the year with than the supposed best game of all time? I'd never played Super Metroid before, though I did play Fusion/Zero Mission and enjoyed them. This game held up tremendously well and it's still great today.


Game 2: Legend of Grimrock 2 - 15 Hours (4 Januari) [PC]
The original Legend of Grimrock was fantastic, and the sequel only improved the game. Great real time dungeon crawler with very intriguing dungeons and challenging puzzles. I also loved walking around in the open air for once, and the final boss was a major step up from the first. Awesome game.


Game 3: Spyro 2: Ripto's Revenge - 8 hours (9 Januari) [PSV]
I always loved the original Spyro, but for some reason I never played the other two Spyro games when I was younger. After seeing the trilogy on sale for €4 I decided it was time to rectify that mistake, and I don't regret it. I had a ton of fun playing this game.


Game 4: Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon - 12 hours (11 Januari) [PSV]
This might be my favorite Spyro game yet. It takes everything the first two games did right, and added a whole bunch of new content. I loved the new characters and mini-games, and the sheer amount of content in the game. It's just such a shame they never made any other Spyro games after the PS1 trilogy.


Game 5: Crash Bandicoot 2 - 6 hours (13 Januari) [PSV]
Similar to Spyro I only ever played Crash Bandicoot 3 when I was young. I played Crash 1 last year and I have to say, Crash 2 is a major step up. The save system and bonus levels made Crash 1 quite a pain to play through, but Crash 2 fixed all that and made the game much more enjoyable.


Game 6: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - 8 hours (19 Januari) [3DS]
A short but sweet game. Great music and cool bosses. Very enjoyable.


Game 7: Volgarr the Viking - 8 hours (19 Januari) [PC]
I have mixed feelings about this game. It was fun and challenging, but I felt like a big part of the difficulty was trial and error. I was learning specific routes through the levels themselves rather than how to play the actual game. I did enjoy it but not enough to go for all the endings.


Game 8: Chrono Trigger - 20 hours (27 Januari) [3DS]
Awesome game, I can certainly see why people love it so much. This game is great from start to finish, whereas most JRPGs drag on or have dull filler. The unique cast of characters and unique plot made the game very enjoyable, and the battle system was way ahead of its time.

February

Game 9: Muramasa Rebirth - 40 Hours (3 Februari) [PSV]
It's rare for me to 100% games nowadays, but this game was just so awesome that I had to do everything. Great combat, music, artstyle and bosses. Awesome game.


Game 10: God Hand - 10 Hours (5 Februari) [PS3]
Fantastic game. The combat in this game really is something else. This game is just pure fun. The difficulty system is really well done too, it was always challenging, but it was never flat out impossible thanks to the dynamic difficulty.


Game 11: Sin and Punishment 2: Star Successor - 6 Hours (5 Februari) [Wii U]
I have absolutely no idea what's going on in the story of this game, all I know is that it's really fun. Great music too.


Game 12: Ghost Trick - 10 Hours (6 Februari) [3DS]
Wow.


Game 13: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner - Soul Hackers - 25 Hours (10 Februari) [3DS]
Great dungeon crawler, although it definitely shows its age. Still enjoyed it a lot. Being able to save everywhere made this game a lot more enjoyable. I'm not sure if I would have had the patience to get through this game otherwise.


Game 14: Danganronpa 2 - 25 Hours (11 Februari) [PSV]
Awesome sequel to an already great game. The ending wasn't as good as the first, but the characters and trials were a lot better. Enjoyed it a lot.


Game 15: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors - 20 hours (25 Februari) [3DS]
This is the best game I've ever played, or at the very least, the game with the best writing. The story, the characters, the puzzles, everything. The game just kept getting better as you unlocked more endings. What a crazy ride.


Game 16: Guacamelee - 6 Hours (26 Februari) [PSV]
I enjoyed this game a lot, although it was a bit short. The combat and boss fights were great, but the exploration was lacking and the game felt very linear.

Original Post



Game #14 - The Order: 1886 (PS4) - 21/02/15

The Order is a flawed game but not so flawed that it's genuinely bad or irredeemable. Where it suffers is in the pacing, execution of the story and stealth mechanics. But despite these, I'd still consider it a good game. The graphics are, of course, incredible, the gunplay is fantastic (especially when using the unique weapons) and the world they've created is genuinely interesting. So I'm really looking forward to a sequel. If they take all the genuine criticisms on board, I think we could be looking at another Uncharted 2 style leap forward for a franchise.



Game #15 - ICO (PS3) - 23/02/15

I've been putting off playing the HD remaster version of this game for years because I was afraid that it wouldn't hold up as well as it does in my memories. Turns out, my worries were pretty stupid. ICO is still an incredible game, with cool puzzles, a brilliant art style and a fantastically well done minimalistic story. And the best part of going through it now is that you can see the way it influenced the industry, from the art style and puzzles to the platforming and storytelling techniques, right down to the rotating elevators that became so commonplace in the God of War series. Easily one of my favourite games of all time.

Currently Playing

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut (PS3)
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PSV)

Right now I'm mostly on Deus Ex. I was hoping to get it done before the end of the month but that didn't happen, so I should get it done within the next day or two.

Next month is going to be monstrous for my backlog. Between Bloodborne, FF Type-0, the FFXV demo, Hotline Miami 2 and Helldivers, I'm not going to have much time for any other games.

Next Post: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=158096968&postcount=1405

Thought I'd give this a try since I might naturally end up at that number (I probably did last year). Since I'm starting a bit in there might be one or two games I've finished but forgot that I'll suddenly remember and add later (I'm definitely pretty sure there's one or two games I forgot in certain gaps). I'll also note that I'll count certain big mods I play for this, since some of them are longer than most modern games:

Game 1: Alien Isolation - Finished
I guess I summed it up elsewhere:

Mman235 said:

Survival horror with almost no combat (and what's there is almost entirely optional), a punishing save system (if still relatively forgiving by old-school genre standards), easy death, backtracking to forge a connection with the location it takes place in, very little handholding outside of map markers and (comparatively) massive periods of quiet time with very little happening unless you pretty much intentionally fuck up. I don't know what miracle got a game like this any sort of budget nowadays, but it's kind of beautiful that it managed to exist.

Click to expand...

Game 2: Castle in the Darkness - Finished 100%

An enjoyable and challenging Metroidvania-style game. I wish I had waited a week or two after release before playing it though, as there were a lot of minor annoyances that added up which got ironed out in patches.

Game 3: Gothic - Finished

I decided to start on this series. Even with modern patches there's a lot of eurojank (though one or two instances are a result of them, due to higher framerate screwing certain things up), and the backtracking gets irritating at times (warp spells come a little late) but it's ambition and commitment to a fully interactive world with multiple options still sticks out today, and there's some surprisingly good dungeon crawling as well.

Game 4: Dark Souls 2+DLC - Finished

Replay. I was going to wait for the proper release to check out the content, but in the end I couldn't resist another playthrough, and I got to finish up the last DLC content I hadn't finished too. The SOTS stuff feels comparatively minor though and I do hope the next-gen release has a few more surprises beyond the redone enemy placement.

Game 5: Brain Lord - finished

An enjoyable overlooked Zelda style game on SNES. It's definitely second-tier to Zelda itself, and some of the design is a bit repetitive (the translation is also pretty garbled at times, though it's mostly comprehensible), but it's still a good attempt, and has some interesting ideas for the time like equipment options that change your playstyle somewhat.

Game 6: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Finished 100%

Another series I've started on, though technically I've started this game multiple times in the past but never quite got to the point where it hooked me. This time I tried the Dreamcast version which is pretty much the definitive version, and I got through. I wasn't sure on it at first but I enjoyed the world in the end, as it's nature made everything feel like a secret hidden within a secret as you branched out. After modern games I also appreciate how few collectables there are, and how most of them actually involve puzzles and new content. While it felt primitive and empty at first as I got into it I also really started to appreciate the surreal weirdness of the art and locations, and the pseudo-Arabian style a lot of it seemed to have. I can see how the ending was a giant fuck you at the time though. The pacing also felt slightly odd as the second dungeon (the cathedral with the Spider-type vampires) was easily the longest, and still took me ages even though I had done it in a previous playthrough, then the rest of the game's flow felt more natural. I wonder if the stuff in Mama Robotnik's thread about the cut content is part of that, as the cathedral was initially intended to have two visits, so I wonder if they repurposed the stuff intended for the second visit and just threw it all in.

Game 7: Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - Finished

This game has kind of a weird structure; the actual dungeon areas are as strong as the first game, and I'd say many of the puzzles and challenges are actually better, but then most of the stuff in-between (that's the majority) is backtracking through pseudo-open corridors full of randomly placed enemies that there's little point fighting interspersed with long cutscenes. The PC version also has an annoying propensity for crashing unless you've set it up right, which isn't great for a game with unskippable cutscenes and somewhat far apart save points (though I seemingly managed to fix it in the end). It also ends up really short as the dungeons and cutscenes are the only parts with substance, and the metroidvania aspects are gone so you do everything in linear order despite the backtracking. However, there's lot of nice art, the story is interesting and those actual dungeon parts you do get are good. It's pretty flawed overall though and definitely weaker than the first as a game in general (though it's where the story really gets going).

Game 8: Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 - Finished

This is the black sheep of the series for being made by different developers and throwing away most of the style and story of the earlier games. Yeah, it's not very good, but it's not bad either, it's mostly just mediocre and not that interesting. The art is weaker, the story is much worse (and the standard shitty game story stuff really sticks out after two games that tried to move away from that) and despite being a bigger focus the combat feels more jank in certain ways due to stuff like inconsistent invincibility frames on enemies and weird weapon hitboxes, it gets better towards the end because your broken endgame abilities pretty much let you bypass it. Stuff like the way bloodsucking is handled so you have to stop after every enemy also feels like busywork. On the other hand it has it's moments, and the latter half has some story moments and use of powers that get dangerously close to being interesting, but it never really follows through with them enough.

Game 9: Legacy of Kain: Defiance - Finished

This game seemed to go relatively unmentioned compared to the first two Soul Reaver's, and as a result it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. In terms of gameplay it's essentially a poor man's DMC, but that's okay, and it means the combat in particular is a big improvement. The two character thing is also nice, although the characters should have been differentiated more as in terms of combat they felt near-identical, with Raziel feeling a bit slower (and therefore weaker), so fighting as Kain felt more enjoyable in general. The damage sponge enemies that barely respond to attacks also felt overused later on and got obnoxious. The level design is at least less corridor based than Soul Reaver 2, but there's still some major backtracking (not counting the parts where things actually change a lot which are well-done), and the Reaver shrines got really repetitive as they are very similar and you have to go through them all twice, even if the challenges are different. There's nothing as good as the shrines in SR2, but the lows aren't quite as bad either. In following DMC it also has the same semi-fixed camera, which can be annoying at times, although the game at least isn't hard enough for it to matter much in combat. After SR2 dropped stuff like boss fights and relegated so much to cutscenes I also felt this game did a much better job melding the story and gameplay, which made it my favourite story implementation in the series; the endgame is particular is one "shit just got real" moment after another and it actually ends on a vaguely satisfying note . It's also the one game in the series with a PC port I didn't find a minefield of crashes.

Overall I think SR1 is the best in the series, and fully deserving of it's status as one of the best games of the 32-bit era; the story and lore is comparatively worse than later on, but the world design is great and what story there is merges well with the gameplay. SR2 goes much further with the story and has some higher highs but the structure really harms it and makes it more akin to an interactive movie with occasional dungeons. BO2 is just mediocre with a few good parts, and Defiance might have been my favourite with a few changes to the combat and level design.

Game 10: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris - Finished (two player co-op)

I haven't played Guardian of Light for a while, so I'm not sure which I prefer, but this seemed like a good follow-up, and I like changes such as the pseudo-open level select design with the gradually expanding hub. The expanded equipment system is nice too, but could have had more presence than it does, especially as the later challenge items so heavily outclass the earlier ones. The bosses seemed better than what I recalled from the first and the puzzles make nice use of the new character abilities. It doesn't seem to build much on the first in terms of challenge (perhaps the level choice system doesn't help in that regard), but there's still some nice puzzles there. Good, although I want to do some more of the extra challenges and similar before I work out my final opinion.

Game 11: Hotline Miami 2 - Finished

(This was actually game 13, but lumping the RE games together feels more natural) I haven't played the original in ages so I can't remember the specifics much or compare them, I do see the complaints about this game being much more gun focused though as I definitely remember less of that in the original. What frustrations I did have seemed to come more from interface type things though, such as how picking up weapons always seems to prioritise grabbing the least desirable thing. There's also some bugs I don't recall in the first, like enemies circling in place or getting stuck in doors. Beyond that though it had everything I recall from the first, like the high (yet ultimately rewarding) challenge, great music and unique aesthetic. I did want more time to play with the masks though, especially as you barely get to use awesome ones like chainsaw+gun unless you replay. I'll wait for a patch or two first but I'm probably going to check out hard mode, as well as seeing what further story details people find.

Game 12: Resident Evil 1: Director's Cut - Finished (both characters)

All the Remake praise and hype (without owning it yet, although I played it in the past) made me want to go back to the original Playstation Resident Evil games after not playing them for years. RE1 is actually the one I was least familiar with compared to the sequels, as I found them more appealing in the past. Replaying it now I do think RE1 has a few things over them though; in particular it has the best feel of an unravelling world, and the purely linear parts are smaller than the sequels. I also think that the return to the mansion with the Hunters is an "oh shit" that's a clever play on your old knowledge which the sequels never replicate (it helps that I played on advanced mode the first time, which just amplified things when there are ~3 Hunters in every other room). Also, while the sequels are superior for fight or flight adrenaline thrills and jump scares I think the first still manages the best unnerving isolated horror atmosphere, and the more primitive renders almost help with that as it gives an abstract edge to things; I still have no idea what the hell the courtyard basement is supposed to be, but I like that. Really it's the small interface things that drag it down most compared to the sequels; all the small animations and unskippable text add up fast when it comes to convenience, and the sequels feel quite a bit smoother just due to that. In the end I definitely gained a new appreciation for this game. As for the classic tank controls I got used to them even quicker than I thought I would, and was fine with them within about five minutes.

Game 13: Resident Evil 2 - Finished (all four routes)

Resident Evil 2 definitely has a major focus on escalation; it amplifies almost everything from the original, and generally succeeds; the scale is bigger, there's more monsters, more scares, the two characters are differentiated more etc. The only thing that really gets lost is the unravelling world stuff; the police station itself handles it as well as the original, but then the rest of the game is more linear. In terms of structure it actually reminds me somewhat of Metal Gear Solid 1; the first half is mostly pure gameplay based on the structure of it's predecessors, then the second half is a roller-coaster of one-off setpieces and boss fights. I think it works though, and gives the game a nice sense of varied pacing and escalation.

The multiple routes thing is also really cool (despite the contrivances in terms of puzzles and scenery damage), especially once you start going to places you never went on the "A" route. As an extension of that I think this is the one original PS RE where the story mostly works; it's still full of cheese, bad acting and nonsensical character reactions, but the links between the characters and stuff like the surrogate mother relationship between Claire and Sherry give it an emotional core that the other two don't really have bar one or two moments. While it lacks that return to the mansion moment (I guess the twists on the "B" route almost count) I definitely think this is the best of the three PS games; it has the most varied pacing and design, and fixes most of the worst interface stuff of the first (too bad it took until 3 for skippable cutscenes).

Game 14: Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - Finished (couple of playthroughs to explore other choices)

Three is defined by Nemesis, in both good and bad ways; compared to RE2, which improved everything, you can definitely see the rushed development here, with lots of reused assets, and, while the game does a good job making the puzzles fit the new city streets setting (the less logical stuff only happens in the few buildings you spend notable time in), it feels less inspired and lacks the sense of mystery and weirdness that the first two have. "Live Selection" is nice, but not as cool as the multiple characters of the other two. I'm not sure on the randomisation aspect either; I understand why it's there with no character choice, but it feels weird to have certain areas be wildly different in difficulty depending on luck. Also, as great as Nemesis is, there's basically only one other boss encounter that isn't him. Nemesis however is the one excellent idea that holds it all together, and provides most of the tension the game has. What really makes it is the meta-aspect though, as fighting Nemesis for the rewards is like playing another game compared to just running away, and adds a whole layer of depth on top of things.

I'd say this is easily the weakest of the three, but Nemesis' presence makes things more complicated; he manages to elevate the comparatively lacking source material and be one of the most memorable game villains ever. There's also the new control features, like the quick turn and dodge. The dodge is a bit temperamental though as the animations are so random and the timing is all over the place; Sometimes it moves you right into an attack and sometimes the game seems to dodge for you even if you just hold the trigger. Still, given RE4's infamous development it's interesting to think that this mechanic was likely a building block of Devil May Cry, and in general you can really see the action element start to reach the forefront in this game. Finally being able to skip cutscenes is also nice.

I'm hoping to move onto some of the later classic RE's like Code Veronica and Zero as I've never properly played them, but I don't know when as I don't own them.

Game 15: Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - Finished (best ending)

I've played the GBA CV's but not the DS ones so I thought it was finally time. This is a balanced entry with nothing especially wrong (though fuck soul grinding, especially as you need a few for the best ending), but in that regard it also doesn't really go too far beyond the established Metroidvania formula, and ends up a bit derivative as a result, even it's very well executed, and I did like the more divergent weapon design/upgrading. It's good but it's mostly based on what's come before. It might be my favourite of the post Symphony of the Night games that strictly follows that style though.

Game 16: Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - Finished (best ending)

I like certain things about this game, like the callbacks to Bloodlines (which is the classic Castlevania I'm most familiar with), the varied locations and the team mechanics, and in general it tries to mix up the formula a bit. However, it also has some major failings, like how much recycled content there is (including having to redo early worlds but a little different later), and it feeling like the mechanics are buckling a bit under so many systems; there's so many things at this point it's resulted in something that basically impossible to balance, and while mostly easy it felt like some bosses were basically "balanced" by doing a ton of damage to you with little else extra (contrasted with Order of Ecclesia, where bosses hit like trucks but also frequently have interesting features to them). I did like how the best weapon was handled though, with it being your skill and knowledge that determines how soon you get to use it in the endgame, and it was satisfying to work out a strategy and get it before you were presumably "supposed" to get it. Also pushing a train was kind of awesome. Overall I consider it the weakest of the three DS Castlevania's but it certainly has it's moments and, comparing with the weakest of the GBA games, it's still far better than Harmony of Dissonance.

Game 17: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - Finished (best ending)

This finally goes out it's way to completely mix up the established Metroidvania formula, and IMO it does a very good job. The early levels are much more linear than the other games, but it also gives the game a more deliberate pacing and the challenge curve and ability provision is more balanced because you can't go off in crazy directions. The way the damage types are done also gives motivation to do something other than just use your highest DPS weapon all the time, and the combinations allow for more variety in your approach on top of that (although it still ends up pretty broken by the end). The boss design is much improved too, and while the game is much tougher most of the bosses also felt fairer with patterns I knew I could conquer if I just learned a little more (as opposed to earlier games where it felt like you may as well just tank things a lot of the time), even the puzzle (like the infamous Crab) and joke bosses are much better. Overall the challenge boost is just what was needed, especially as it felt like it came with better general design as well. Also, finishing the first half of the game and While they still involve plenty of grinding even the sidequests felt toned down a lot, and I ended up doing all of them (though I got pretty lucky with the last couple of bullshit ones). Not just my favourite DS Castlevania but maybe my favourite game in the series; having played a game that's surpassed Symphony of the Night for me I can definitely say that the prior handheld games I've played don't.

This went over the character limit; see the top of this post for my continuations.

New archive post! This one will cover games 21-40.

Games 1-20

Game 21: The Last of Us Remastered

I'd played the original PS3 release with Left Behind already, so I'd done all this before. The up-res and frame rate improvements were much appreciated, though the downside is perhaps that some of the environmental geometry doesn't hold up now that it's being viewed in sharprer focus. I tried the played the main campaign on Hard, which provided the perfect challenge, but it was a little stressful, so I put it back to Normal for Left Behind. Special mention goes to the multiplayer, which is surprisingly brilliant (never tried it on PS3). When the Remastered version came out, I started by dipping my toes in that, and ended up not going back to the SP until this week. One of the best, most well-rounded games of the last decade.
If you liked Telltale's The Walking Dead or Uncharted, you'll like this

Game 22: Rayman Legends

When Rayman Origins came out, I thought it was pretty cool. Rayman Legends being announced as a Wii U exclusive was actually one of the things to sway me in to buying the console at launch. Of course, things didn't turn out that way, and I sort of forgot about it until it came through my door on Saturday from my rental list. I wasn't really in the mood to start something else from scratch with so many "in progress" games in my pile, but curiosity got the better of me and I popped the disc in. I couldn't put it down after that. This game, guys. Holy shit. So gorgeous, with amazing character and level design and near-endless variety. I haven't seen a game this well made in years, and with a seriously generous amount of content. Now, I don't doubt this is mostly due to the lengthy post-production period Ubisoft forced upon Ancel's team, but given their recent output, maybe this is the answer? Anyway, I loved this. Definitely the best game on Wii U and maybe the best platformer I've ever played.
If you like Super Mario World, or Rayman Origins you'll like this

Game 23: Last Window: The Secret of Cape West

I remember Hotel Dusk as a flawed experience. It was so fresh that it was really enjoyable for the first few chapters, but when the novelty wore off the game just became a slog, then a chore. And by the end, I kind of questioned whether I'd enjoyed it at all. It's been ages since I played it, so imagine my surprise when I discover that there was a sequel I had no idea about. And sure enough, the first few chapters I'm in love, and by the end I'm wondering why the hell I even bothered. Now, the storytelling is among the most mature in any game, but the story itself is just boring garbage. By about chapter 8 I was thinking that if this were a film it wouldn't have lasted even 2 hours without cutting a single bit of the experience. Kyle Hyde is an asshole, and his neighbors seem oblivious. The puzzles are contrived bollocks and the "gotcha" game overs are just terrible. What was I thinking.
If you liked Hotel Dusk, you'll like this

Game 24: Mortal Kombat X

Truth be told, I wasn't terribly excited to play this. I loved MK9 to bits, but when this was announced I thought that a flashier version of the same thing wasn't necessary, so I tuned out completely from all the pre-release coverage. I saw it picked up some good scores, and saw it available on PC for less that £20, so I thought, "why not?". Fuck. ME. I had severely underestimated how good this would be. The story was a blast of nonsensical comic-book fun and I wasn't expecting so many new characters, let alone for almost all of them to be great. Cassie Cage has probably shot straight to being my favourite of the whole damn series. Sure, it doesn't have the depth and longevity of something like Street Fighter in multiplayer, but I'll be damned if this isn't the greatest single-player fighting game of all time.
If you liked MK9 or any superhero movie, you'll like this.

Game 25: Blackrock Mountain: A Hearthstone Adventure

First time back playing Hearthstone regularly in a couple of months. You can't fault that Blizzard polish, yet the price still stings a little. But it's offset by the rest of the game being so damn good and free that there's no real cause for complaint. Naxxramas had probably a greater effect on the meta with its cards, but there was still some cool additions in this. If anything, BRM got me to take a closer look at the G&G additions because, unlike with Naxxramas, my go-to deck couldn't cut it all the time. I ended up building a Paladin Mech deck that I've been taking to ranked matches with moderate success. This is from someone who only ever played Hunter. There were a lot of fun twists on the formula throughout the campaign (the "everything costs 1" match being a highlight), but the difficulty was a little uneven. Everything up to the end was pretty easy so long as you didn't bring in the wrong deck, but that 3 stage final boss with the wipe before the final form just felt straight-up unfair. Overall, though, it was a fun little diversion from Ranked and Arena and I'm eager to get back to tweaking my decks to leverage the new cards.
If you like Curse of Naxxramas, you'll like this

Game 26: Broken Age Act 2

This was not how I expected them to follow up Act 1. Essentially a retread of the same environments of the first act, but from the other character's perspective, the focus here was more on throwing puzzles at you in an environment full of familiar faces. I liked seeing all the cast again, because they were all great, but the increased focus on puzzling seemed a little reactionary to the criticisms that the first half was too easy. And when I have to walk the whole way back to the beach from Meriloft because I didn't have the right knot diagram with me, I was experiencing two emotions the first act never evoked: frustration and anger. Also, while the first act could be done basically one character at a time, this required you to keep their progress in sync at certain checkpoints, with no indication that you should switch over and get the other person caught up. All the stuff it did great in the first act, it continued to do great here. The dialogue and characterisation are all fantastic and it looks great. It just has some ugly little additions (plus one adorable one in the safety hexa-gal). It's still a sweet game, and the little closure sketches in the credits left me smiling and content, after all the frustrations that came before.
If you like Grim Fandango, you'll like this

Game 27: Ori and the Blind Forest

This was one gorgeous, fun game. The watercolour visuals and twee setup mask what is actually a difficult and often brutal game. The checkpointing system is similar to that seen in They Bleed Pixels, which I thought was great, but having to manually trigger it with a button press rather than simply standing still meant you get the lesson to do it all the time beaten into you by long, repeated sections. The ability levelling system was a nice addition to the regular metroidvania template, and because upgrades become few and far between in the second half, much time was spent contemplating which would help me *more* from the three choices I had. Unfortunately, though, there were some things that let the experience down. No teleport or quick-travel was a glaring omission, and the checkpointing system should really have restored health when you died. On more than one occasion, I was stuck in a dangerous area because of an ill-thought-out checkpoint that I had no way to undo. The framerate dips when things got hectic tarnished the otherwise impeccable presentation, and every single escape sequence ruined the pace when it should have boosted it. It doesn't control as well as something like Guacamelee, but if you've got an Xbox One or a decent PC, you seriously must play this game.
If you like Guacamelee, you'll like this

Game 28: Bloodborne

This is actually the first "Souls" game I've ever beaten, so I guess it's the one I enjoyed the most. The story was a little incomprehensible. I got some of the broad strokes and finished with the true ending, but there wasn't much resolution, and I didn't actually understand what had actually happened until I read the trophy description. I reckon that, throughout the game, I probably called for help for about half of the bosses. Mostly the earlier ones, after the Lecture Building's farm spot got seriously exploited and I got a little overlevelled. It took me 40 hours and it was all memorable, so there's not a lot I can do in a mini-review to pick highlights. A wonderful, Lovecraftian fever-dream that I'm unlikely to ever forget. Loved it.
(Special mention goes to the online community, who are mostly great. I was invaded a few times in Mensis, and most of them wouldn't engage until I bowed to greet them and begin the duel. I only got to the final shortcut because they were good enough to sit back while I worked my way to it. I almost let him win as thanks. Almost)
If you like Dark Souls, you'll like this

Game 29: Wolfenstein: The New Order

Started this from the start at the weekend because I got real tempted to pick up the Old Blood, but I couldn't do it without beating this first. I bumped it down to the second-lowest difficulty so I could breeze through it without hitting any hurdles and that's pretty much exactly what I did. I don't know if it would work for every game, but the act of Nazi-killing with some crazy weapons is something that doesn't need to even be challenging to be a blast. I took the Wyatt timeline because I felt I owed him more than I owed Fergus (he saved BJ from that dog when he tossed the grenade, Fergus just asked him to do shit over and over). I must confess, though, I spent a lot of the game anticipating a twist that never came, because of the dead-eyed characters. Everything looked just a little off, so I was expecting it all to have been a dream or some shit. Anyway, great game. Stupid, fun story. Dual. Wielding. Auto. Shotguns.
If you like Bioshock, you'll like this

Game 30: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

I'd owned this for ages but swore I wouldn't start it until I finished the original Witcher. The glowing reviews for Wild Hunt caused me to reassess that and I decided earlier in the week that the first game was a lost cause, but that I'd definitely get through this before I bought the new one. So this was a bit of a rushed playthrough. I did little of the sidequesting, and the tutorial arena told me I should be playing on Easy, so I didn't argue (though, it was a little ridiculous during some of the key fights that I'd absolutely whup someone's ass then cut to cutscene where Geralt is struggling). I went down the Iorveth path and have no regrets about any of the decisions throughout the game. It was a fantastic experience, with some of the most impressive world-building I've ever seen. The whole place feels alive, and the plot was packed full of enough double-crosses that it never lost its intrigue. The last chapter felt like the weakest, though. Almost as if it was rushed itself. I think most of the additions in the Enhanced Edition were here, but because I didn't seek out sidequests, I missed them and can see why they felt more content was needed. It thought it was a bit of a shame that you could basically ignore traps, bombs and signs, though that's probably down to it being on Easy. I'll bump it up for the Wild Hunt, for which my hype is now at fever pitch. Can't wait to pick up this story.
If you like Dragon Age or Game of Thrones, you'll like this

Game 31: Fez

Strange one, this. While it looks and sounds great, and it doesn't really do anything wrong, I can't say I had a lot of fun with it. I finished it with 28 gold cubes and 4 anti-cubes and I felt that, for a puzzle-platformer, there was very little puzzling or platforming involved. While the "no death" mechanic felt too lenient by putting you right at the platform you fell off of, I certainly would have thought restarting the area would have been too punishing due to Gomez's slow movement. Working out what to do to reach the various cubes and cube bits was rarely anything other than, "rotate to this perspective", and I couldn't help but feel the game was confidently expecting me to be more impressed with the perspective mechanic than I actually was. However, I do appreciate that I only skimmed the surface. I only got half of the available cubes by nearly exhausting what I could find, and if you have the time to sit and decipher a new alphabet or whatever I'm sure there's loads of stuff to solve, but I simply couldn't be bothered doing all that.
If you like Crush or Echochrome, you'll like this

Game 32: Batman: Arkham Origins

In preparation for Arkham Knight, I set my other games I had on the go to one side and worked my way through this. I had a lot of fun with it, and the combat was as great as ever. The collectible stuff, I largely ignored. I got all the stuff in the first area at the start of the game, but after that I just couldn't be bothered. I'm glad, though, because I didn't want to burn out on it before AK. The story was garbage and Bruce Wayne is an asshole. I actually wanted Batman to get the shit kicked out of him in the final acts, so good job on that, Splash Damage. I'm someone who preferred Asylum to City, and this wasn't as good as the latter, so it's the worst of last gen's Batman games, as most people would tell you. However, being the worst Batman game doesn't make it a bad game. It was actually very good, it's just in unflattering company.
If you like Darksiders, you'll like this

Game 33: Her Story

Honestly, I'm not sure how to even talk about it without spoiling it all. I'll say it was a novel experience. And thoroughly unenjoyable. I guess I did kind of enjoy it on a meta level where it was interested in seeing how a story could be told like this, but I gave up when the credits rolled. I don't care about this story, nor do I care for the purposeful obfuscations along the way, so I just couldn't be bothered to hunt down the missing clips. It's hard to recommend it as an enjoyable way to spend an evening, but you should probably try it for yourself.
If you like Gone Home, you might like this

Game 34: STEINS;GATE

A textbook case of a slow-burner. When I started this, I wasn't really feeling it. The main character was totally unrelatable, and it was much too embroidered in anime tropes and otaku culture to suit me. When Mayuri, Faris or Lukako were speaking, or it indulged in "fanservice", I'd damn-near cringe to death. I guess it says something about the quality of the story, however, that it kept me from putting the thing down. Because it was magnificent. Half of the endings were just weak game-over screens, but any time you made it to chapter 10 it was gold. The time-travel experiments and voyage of discovery really reminded me of the movie Primer, and I really appreciated how it weaved real life stuff in there to help with the plausibility. What I didn't appreciate, though, was the moments where the player character was either violent against or contemplating sexual violence against some of the female characters. Left a sour taste in my mouth, that the sweetness of the true ending couldn't quite make me forget.
If you like Zero Escape, you'll like this

Game 35: Journey

I'd played through this on PS3, but only once, so it was interesting to take the trip through it again on PS4. The funny thing is, there were main narrative beats I could remember from the first playthrough 3 years ago, and I assumed there were missing bits I couldn't recall. But it turns out I remembered pretty much the entire thing, so it was shorter than I was expecting. That being said, I found it massively more affecting this time around. Journey is a game about life, love and loss. It's about personal growth and friendship. It says so much without uttering a word, and it does so with such perfect weight that it doesn't even feel like it's doing anything. I'd played this before. Hell, I could even remember the entire thing. But since the credits rolled yesterday, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Flawless.
If you like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, you'll like this

Game 36: Grand Theft Auto Online

I remember I played GTAIV Online once, got killed 10 times from 1000 yards away in the space of a minute, then swore off it completely. I didn't touch it when I got GTAV on PS3, and I didn't really think it was all that popular, but we had an intern in with us at work that wouldn't stop talking about it, so I swore I'd give it a shot with the PS4 release. That also didn't happen, but when the PC release came around and had the heists available, I finally gave it a go. The build-up to level 12 gave me a taste of the other GTA Online activities, but the only one that seemed any good was the racing. Everything else was only fun in the way that idly playing cards while you chat to your friends is - it's just kind of there as a way to pass the time. The races, though, were a lot of fun and had impressively well thought-out courses, for something built on the existing city locations. When I got on to the meat of the game, the much-hyped heists, my initial optimism after the first mission didn't take too long to turn to disappointment. The writing was a load of shite, and the concepts for the heists were often much better than the execution. And given there was only 5 of the things, that stupid fourth mission and anticlimactic final one were showing some creativity issues.
But the biggest issue of all I had was that I was in a group of 3 and matchmaking a fourth in was torturous. Then when they showed up, the stingy life pool meant they'd often quit out when we got wiped. Which meant another 25min+ wait for someone to do the same. Especially annoying on the missions where you really have to question if one player on their own couldn't have cleared it. I would say "thank god I didn't have to wait all that time for these disappointing heists", but with those matchmaking times, it feels like I did.
If like Grand Theft Auto and have a full group of 4, or alternatively like watching paint dry, you might like this

Game 37: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

I'd played through the Ground Zeroes mission of this on PS4 already, but with the imminent release of The Phantom Pain, I decided to give this a run through on PC. This time, I cleared all the main mission and all the side ops (but not the extra ops). The gameplay is still as impressive as when it released. The enemy patrols and AI routines are on another level any other entry in the series, and to go for a full-stealth approach is much more difficult. It's pretty daunting, actually. The side ops are also as much fun as the main mission. That action-packed agent extract was a great way to mix things up and the stealth-only assassination was an inspired challenge. It's pretty amazing how densely designed the base is, and how they managed to keep it feeling fresh with each mission. I even started warming to Keifer by the end. My hype levels for TPP are through the roof now.
If you liked Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, you'll like this

Game 38: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

It took me two attempts to get through Dear Esther. The first time, I was expecting something else and was immediately turned off. The second time, I loved it. Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is an improvement in every regard, and due to having my expectations in check, I enjoyed it all the better. A part of the reason this resonated so much is that I've been to places very similar to the setting in this. It is an utterly accurate representation of a little village in the English countryside. The layout and scale, and the much-criticized (yet accurate) walking speed, all go a really long way to giving it a real sense of place. It no longer felt like I was running around an environment admiring the graphics, but that I was actually walking around this village, working out who lived here once and what happened. The stories themselves were great and the characters felt like they had real personalities (helped out by the excellent voice acting), but I found myself more interested in the day-to-day lives being affected by the supernatural rather than intrigued as to the nature of the thing that caused everyone to disappear. In my mind, all the sci-fi stuff was simply a means for The Chinese Room to tell the story in a deserted location, and to put an extra bit of stress and impending doom on these characters. Simply put, it's about the people who lived there, not what happened to them. And I got really choked up on more than one occasion, so I certainly felt something. It's not for everybody, granted. Loads of people will hate it through unmeasured expectations, or it not resonating with them. But it got me, and I thought it was fucking brilliant.
If you like Dear Esther, you'll like this

Game 39: Rocket League

So, I bought Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars for PS3 when it came out, but very few people on my friends list played it, and a lot of them were simply too turned off by that name to give it a go. So as a result, I didn't play much of it myself. Putting this on Plus was a damn masterstroke. It doesn't do much on the surface (it's just cars playing football), but the finely tuned physics and controls give it such an incredibly high skill-ceiling that it immediately feels like an actual sport. I've played it almost every single day since it came out over a month ago, and I feel like I'm improving all the time. Some of the shit I can do in this game now I couldn't have dreamed of doing on day 1, and that's what makes it so great. You have the freedom to express yourself with ridiculous aerials and stunts that, maybe you only nail it one time in 5, but when you do, it's the sweetest feeling in the world. I may have finished Rocket League (as in, the Platinum Trophy unlocked for me last night) but I don't think I'll ever truly be finished with it. I think this is the greatest multiplayer game I've ever played. Believe the hype.
If you like Haxball, you'll like this

Continued Here

Game 11: Riptide GP2 (PC) - 6 hours
I needed a racing game, and this one had decent reviews, trading cards and it reminded me of WaveRace. It isn't as good as Nintendo series, but it's still a fun, well-done jet ski game. My main problem is that skills never seem to matter much. Driving is pretty straightforward, but you never really feel your driving is really important. It's more crucial to make tricks in order to be able to use boost. Probably because it was designed as a mobile game. Would have liked a few more tracks, especially more extensive ones and less walls everywhere. Multiplayer is basically dead, so don't count on that mode to extend your experience.



Game 12: Hero of the Kingdom (PC) - 5.5 hours
Started this game after it got cards. A I really liked it. And I can't really explain why. At first, it's so underwhelming, you're only clicking on some icons to execute some tasks. But it's so captivating, charming and relaxing (you won't die, no stress), plus the mix between point-and-click and RPG is really well done. The game major strengths are its simplicity, settings and story. Length is pretty much perfect, and don't expect do replay this game. Hero of the Kingdom probably has a little too much back and forth and backtracking. Visually average. In the end, a great surprise.



Game 13: Shadowrun Returns (PC) - 13.3 hours
If this was launched in the 1990's, it would have felt like the first chapter of a grand scale tactical RPG, or an expansion pack for said RPG. It's quite short for that kind of game, and the mechanics aren't quite fleshed out enough. Basically the typical Kickstarter game. Still, it's a really good game, great setting and atmosphere, nice interface and good story. The start is quite strong, and it leads you to believe you'll be able to explore Seattle as you wish. However, the game is 100% linear and after 2 or 3 hours, you're basically teleported from one place to the next. It's obvious Harebrained Schemes didn't have yet the ressources to create a huge expensive world. There aren't a lot of side stuff to do. Even with all it's flaws, you must play Shadowrun Returns because it's a good start for a promising studio.


Original post.