11. Metro: Last Light Season Pass (Steam, 2015/03/06, 7.5 hours)
Four DLC packs containing roughly 2-3 sub-missions each. I especially enjoyed the scavenger hunt mission (Kshatriya), because it was very Dark Souls like. Leaving base, looking for artifacts of a lost civilization, probing deeper
and deeper into hostile environments while being extremely limited with air filters and ammo, lots of daring risk and reward going on. My second favorite mission was the Spider Lair, pure horror and suspense. Nothing of the DLC is
crucial to the main game's story, although it expands the Metro universe nicely from different perspectives like other fractions or characters. There are a few stinkers though, I totally didn't cared for the AI Arena, the VR Comb
at Sim (read: single player horde mode) and that freaking shooting gallery.
12. Block Legend DX (Steam, 2015/03/21, 12 hours)
Match two+ puzzle game with RPG elements, 16bit visuals and nice chiptunes. The game was released a bit too early in my opinion, lots of bugs, lack of polish and traces of its mobile origin like prompts to tap and what feels like
in-app-purchase hooks. Unlocks in-game are paid with stars earned in puzzle runs and it all reeks of IAP to pay-skip endless grinding. The puzzle gameplay is fun, but there's little depth and the pricing for unlocks is unreasonabl
y high. Just "purchasing" all characters already managed to burn me out. The dev already patched a few things, but there's still lots of room for improvement. Bummer, this could have been a really neat little game, lackluster in i
ts current form.
13. Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland (PS3, 2015/03/22, 45 hours)
First game in the Arland Trilogy: Rorona, Totori and Meruru. Long story, but it ended up being the last game for me and became an origin experience in the process. Messing up the play order turned out to be a blessing though. Gust went back, revamped the 2009 original with lots of improvements found in later games of the series and re-released Rorona in 2014 with the Plus suffix. I had a blast with this JRPG, such a delightful coming of age story, character grows and friendships. There's definitely a learning curve with the alchemy system, but as a seasoned veteran I had little trouble acing all in-game assignments with tons of time to spare and cleared my first play though with the true ending aka good ending. Beautiful character designs by Mel Kishida, one of the few series that managed to provoke nostalgia for fictional characters simply by social bonds developed by playing the different stories and resulting intersection of sets.
14. Forward to the Sky (Steam, 2015/03/26, 3 hours)
Adorable doujin inspired 3D platformer, some brawling, lots of environment puzzles and nice level design! Lovely little gem, that didn't overstayed its welcome.
15. Jazzpunk (Steam, 2015/03/27, 2.5 hours)
70s 1st person cyberpunk espionage adventure, loaded with references and random silliness. The experience can be pretty brief if you rush rough the objectives, but they added so many mini games and discoverable jokes which really reward playful exploration of the Jazzpunk universe. I'll keep this one installed for another replay, missed a lot looking at my cheevos after the first play through.
16. CounterSpy (PS4, 2015/03/28, 6 hours)
Really neat 2.5D platformer with a cold war premise and lots of fresh ideas, the art direction straight out of The Incredibles credits. While I enjoyed the game for most of the time, there was one moment when I painted myself into a corner by picking my guns/skills badly and then got screwed over by a procedurally generated stage. It's really one of those "haste makes waste" games and being not considered enough can leave the player in quite a pickle, forcing you to start over or to replay stages.
Awesome doujin bullet hell SHMUP, but pretty tough: even on easy there's no credit feeding in arcade mode. Luckily there's the conquest mode that let's the player save progress after each stage, although that only helps a little since the last stage requires 15-20 minutes of continues bullet hell survival. It's all manageable though, the gameplay is very polished and balanced. Unlocks allow to customize shooting patterns, which helps to aid individual play styles while keeping replays fresh. Big ups for the story, lots of cute characters, good sense of humor and an epic quest for pudding.
18. The Stanley Parable (Steam, 2015/04/06, 2 hours)
Existentialism the walking game, peppered with humor, corporate and gaming tropes. Good fun for 1-2 hours, but after 5-6 endings the "game" started to overstay its welcome.
90s nostalgia the beat 'em up remake, super fun game with a funtastic soundtrack.
20. Bloodborne (PS4, 2015/04/16, ~60 hours)
What a bloody good game. Streamlined in many ways when compared to previous souls games: less micro management of carrying load, character stats, less reek of RPG, etc. The leaner administrative overhead is the perfect fit for the combat changes, which reward more aggressive and nimble play styles. Major props to the world and level designers: most of the Bloodborne universe is connected, areas seamlessly flow into each other and are even heavily nested. Unlocking certain location shortcuts resulted in mind-blowing epiphanies. More amazingly the art direction is as strong as the rest of the games design: locations, characters, monsters, bosses, not one weak link in the chain. The resulting experience and atmosphere definitely made Bloodborne a GOTY contender for me.
Not as challenging as Machinarium, but that's not a bad thing. I really enjoyed this whimsical point'n'click adventure. Amanita Design once again managed to create a delightful experience: adorable characters, quirky soundtrack and doable puzzles that make you feel smarter than you are.
22. Out There Somewhere (Steam, 2015/04/23, 2 hours)
Lovely 16+bit puzzle platformer with stellar sprite work and chiptunes. Its gameplay twist: a teleportation gun, pretty much Portal meets Cave Story.
23. Lili: Child of Geos (Steam, 2015/04/28, 4 hours)
Tropical vacation, the videogame. Its presentation and art direction quite literally popped out of screenshots, stunningly pretty and very inviting. The game itself ended up being a casual 3rd person adventure, heavy on exploration, no platforming and a big dash of collectathon. Gameplay is inoffensively unchallenging, you just run around in the most gorgeous tropical island setting, talk to quirky characters, help said characters, save the world, flow through the story by conversations and wittiness Lili's coming of age . Delightful little game for kids of all ages with a warm life advice meta message.
24. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club (Steam, 2015/05/03, 6 hours)
I was never able to get into visual novels, gave the genre another shot since it's #VNMay and cleared CTHCC. Nothing changed, still not my cup of tea. The story, and its characters, was enjoyable, but the presentation vehicle made the whole thing a chore.
25. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3, 2015/05/05, 22 hours)
Sanzaru did a great job, nothing groundbreaking, just a super solid addition to the series. Smooth 3D platforming with pretty much no input lag and therefore insanely responsive controls, loads of mission variation and many new characters with their own perks. The whole Back to the Future meets Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure story line was the icing on the cake. The amount of content was almost overstaying its welcome.
26. Never Alone - Kisima Ingitchuna (PS4, 2015/05/06, 4 hours)
Neat puzzle platformer with beautiful presentation, pretty unique way of combining indigenous story telling with edutainment bits about Alaskan folklore, lifestyle and tradition. Too bad, that the gameplay itself was the weakest link and could have used more polish.
27. Hard Reset Extended Edition (Steam, 2015/05/08, 20 hours)
Revisited this gem for two reasons, #1 because it's a fragging awesome cyberpunk shooter with mix, match and maximize weapon system àa Ratchet&Clank; #2 the dev extended the original digital release when they went retail and provided said new content as free DLC for existing customers. Unfortunately the locations of the DLC left the Blade Runner like environments behind and played in the outskirts of the city, a garbage dump ruled by machines. They doubled down on the gameplay though and created memorable gun battles that require players to bring their A-game, maximizing the damage per second and utilizing the given arsenal to its fullest.
28. Hohokum (PS4, 2015/05/09, 5.2 hours)
Whimsical and delightful in a Keita Takahashi kinda way, I wouldn't be surprised if the dev team are major fans of Katamari or Noby Noby Boy. I enjoyed everything: the soundtrack, sound design, animation, puzzles and playful gameplay. Exploring the Hohokum world and finding all the friends was a LOT of fun.
29. Shantae (GBC, 2015/05/14, ~12 hours)
I've noticed the game first because of its stellar sprite work, then the sequels piqued my interest. Might as well start with the first game, pretty impressive title considering its platform. WayForward crafted something special, although far from flawless. Grand 8bit action platformer with lots of metroidvania, dungeons and puzzles. I really didn't enjoyed the combat and enemies. The journey to new locations was tedious and a chore at times. Story, scale and presentation managed to keep me playing, but the negative stuff almost made me quit.
30. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2010 (Steam, 2015/05/23, 11 hours)
Great arcade racer, not without flaws though. The licensed cars, stunningly modeled, pretty much handled all the same. The racing, while fun, wasn't really challenging. I managed to finish first on most attempts and cleared all events before reaching the highest wanted level. There was rubber banding, but the CPU was so horrible, that it never became an issue. The CPU drivers would often overtake, only to crash 5 seconds later. Overall nowhere near as good as Burnout Paradise, the king of modern arcade racers, but still plenty fun. I enjoyed the vistas, car porn, road design and driving model (especially the drifting).
Game #14: Pokemon Omega Ruby (Started April 6 and finished May 24, 18 hours 50 minutes)
- Played through this relatively quickly with a planned out team simply to catch the version exclusive legendary pokemon. As a kid I had Sapphire so I've never had a legit Groudon in my life. Team was Lucario, Salamence, Starmie, Houndoom, and Beedrill. Used four megas and my old standby Starmie. Hoenn is my favorite region but I'm sad I need to have a permanent HM slave with me. Main story is cleared. I'll blast through Delta Episode and go on the legendary hunt. Pretty happy with my team and definitely enjoyed a second run through the Hoenn region this gen.
Game #15: BioShock (Started May 24 and finished June 3, 13 hours)
- Played this on the 360 and got to the final stage but never finished it. That was quite a few years ago now. Got pretty much every trophy other than the difficulty ones since I wanted to have fun. Game is top notch and definitely one of my favorites. Going to be playing 2 and Infinite shortly.
Game #16: Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (Started May and ended June 13, 45 hours 44 minutes)
- Started this game in 2014 but it was so long that I played the majority of it over the past month or so. First M&L game I've actually finished since I got to the final area of Bowser's Inside Story but never finished. This game was fun in parts and frustrating as fuck in others. Touch screen/gyro control boss fights are bullshit. Sometimes things don't control right. The gyro is so bad that on the last of those fights I had to let the game make that segment easier because I had failed it about 8 times. The game is very long and at times very wordy but the gameplay at it's core is fun. It's the same old fun battle system and zany Mario & Green Stache Luigi antics. Solid 8/10 game that was about 5-10 hours too long but still really fun. Doubt I ever play it again but I definitely got my $25 worth.
Game #17: New Super Mario Bros 2 (Started June 9 and ended June 19, 6 hours 40 minutes)
- Another replay. I got hyped for Mario Maker and decided to start playing some 2D Mario games to get ideas for levels. Completed 8 worlds with all exits and star coins. Probably the third time I've played through the game. My gold Mario amiibo was also a little bit of an inspiration to play the game again. Game is a little easy but very fun. I love the climbing aspect of the tower levels instead of them just being castle levels that don't end with a Koopaling. The Koopalings were in this game after not being in the original NSMB. I love them and they are fun. Some of the battles here aren't the greatest but Larry is definitely the best of the bunch.
24. Vanquish (PS3) Main campaign completed on Normal.
It's weird to play Vanquish after Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, PlatinumGames' side entry into the Metal Gear universe. Both games share a sensibility that's part Bayonetta-style wackiness and part cybernetic-soldier sci-fi romp. Both share major characters named Sam in oddly similar cybernetic suits. Both share a bullet-time mechanic (though, to be fair, so does Bayonetta). And unfortunately, in a direct comparison, it's Vanquish that comes out the loser.
As a shooter, Vanquish feels pretty good. The only thing I never quite got comfortable with was Vanquish's unique selling point, the sliding. Sam's suit allows him to slide along the ground, assisted by rockets. This sounds great in theory, as it lets you get around the battlefield quickly and evade fire and enemies alike. In practice, though, it's not the easiest thing to use, and I never quite got the hang of it. There would be times where I'd run into a piece of level geometry, or be unable to change direction the way I wanted to, and die as a result.
I also never quite got used to how easy it is for AR mode to trigger when you're dying, and how you can't quit AR mode to, say, save some suit energy for sliding around (the two use the same meter). It often meant that after your five or ten seconds of death-defying AR mode, you'd be even more vulnerable than you were before because you had no way to slide out of trouble. That's not an issue with the game, though--the risk/reward balance with the auto-AR activation makes sense to me--but it did screw me a few times.
The plot, characters and setting are mostly forgettable, so you're really just playing for the action here. While I liked playing Vanquish, I don't know that I'd ever come back for more, and I'm perfectly fine with the fact that we'll never get another sequel. Honestly, I think I'd rather have another Binary Domain.
It's pretty much Shadow of the Colossus with a slingshot instead of a stabby dagger, the aesthetics and soul of Thomas Was Alone. You have to fight a series of bosses, which all behave very differently.
Platform: SNES
Duration: 4:50 on 5/23/15
Thoughts: Completed the game as part of Mega May. Mega Man 7 must be my least played MM entry in the numbered series, hence why it took me a bit longer to beat it. I didn't own a SNES until before it got discontinued for the N64. It was nice to see Mega Man come to the 16-bit era. Still I couldn't quite put my finger on why I didn't like it so much. It's not a bad game. It still plays well. It just doesn't hold a place on my heart when it comes to the top MM games of all time. Also that Dr. Wily boss can suck eggs. Took me a long time to figure out his pattern.
Game 15: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - 9h 30min | Started: 5/21/15 - Completed: 5/25/15
Much longer than I expected, The Old Blood was a fun return for B.J. and all his Nazi friends. Stealth felt really good this time around and seemed to be the go-to option most of the time, though pulling out twin shotguns and mowing down some Nazis worked well and transitions between the two were great. Way more occult driven this time with its premise, at least in the 2nd half, I was fine with what it offered as far as plot. I will say it was a bit lighter on this side, but works as a prequel to The New Order.
I found this to be a decent, though relatively short game. Combine a little bit of Puzzle Quest with poker mechanics and Norse mythology and you have the ingredients for this game.
Though Runespell is enjoyable, it just feels a bit sparse and rushed. Where Puzzle Quest excelled at diversity of style built around the game mechanics, Runespell is much more limiting. This is true throughout the game; a predetermined main character, linear quest lines, few enemy types, less game mechanic modifiers, on and on. All of which combines into the biggest drawback for the game; it's overall brevity and lack of replayability. In the short amount of time it takes to reach the end of the game, you've seen everything it has to offer.
As far as presentation goes, it's quite pleasing. Visually and aurally, everything has a nice polished finish and complements the game well.
The only technical difficulty found was a persistent crash when leaving the first "village". A quick search and disabling of the Raptr gaming app solved the issue.
Final thoughts. If you are looking for a casual diversion for a weekend, give Runespell: Overture a try. If you are looking far a bit more depth and have much more free time, go for Puzzle Quest instead.
Criteria: All routes completed
Time played: 3 hours.
3D Super Hang-On
Criteria: All courses completed
Time played: 4 hours.
These are probably the best ports I have played of any arcade game anywhere... I'm not generally fond of the 3D on the 3DS, but it's like it was incoporated specifically for these sprite scaling games. Worth the cost of the handheld on their own for me. Will likely grab the entire set.
Game #18. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES VC)
- Time played: 08:05 hours.
- Completion reached: 102%!
After beating DKC1 I had the urge to beat its sequel! There's not much I can say here, DKC2 is essentially an expansion of everything that DKC1 did. First, the controls feel more precise and make controlling the Kongs awesome. Second, the level design is even better and more creative. Third, DKC2 added new Kongs to the universe, Dixie being the highlight of course. In DKC1 you controlled Donkey and Diddy who were very similar, with Diddy being a tad lighter. Now, you control Diddy and Dixie and the main difference is that Dixie can float with her ponytail. I'm not sure if Diddy has anything over Dixie but IMO he feels faster. Fourth, DKC2 greaty expanded on the animal buddies. Though Expresso and Winky were removed, the addition of Rattly, Squitter and playable Squawks adds a lot of variety to the game. Fifth, the presentation is even better than in DKC1, with cooler backgrounds and enemy designs and a masterful soundtrack.
Many people claim DKC2 is either the best platformer ever or the best DKC game (no small feat.) and there's good reason for that. One of the best games of the SNES IMO and I recommend it to anyone. Only warning I'd give is that the game is hard, but mostly fair.
Rating: ★★★★★ - Platform: PS4 - Developer: United Front, Square Enix
One of my favorite game of all time and definitely my favorite open world game of all time. I just love everything in this game, playing in Hong Kong is great, the music is excellent, the story is actually very good and, the best part, the combat is fantastic. I realize the game has flows and the framerate on PS4 is not that great but this game just has many things I really like in gaming and real life.
I'm the only one that its really lazy to uptade my post?
I already played and completed more or less 20 games but i cant muster energy to post here.
Anyways claiming the second part of my post... someday i will uptade here... someday.
Did my 52 so will start posting more regularly as I beat games now
Game 53: Ultratron (Xbox One) 25/05/15
A fun twin-stick shooter, had a good time with it. A lot more achievements on XB1 than other platforms apparently, one is bugged and doesn't unlock (although its being patched) but I consider it "complete" as I got all the rest.
Game 54: Tales From the Borderlands Episode 2 (Xbox One) 27/05/15
Really getting into it now. I wish I had played the mainline games a bit now though as I have no knowledge of the world etc but I like it a lot, characters are alright too
Might as well post the games I've finished. You'll notice that almost every single game is a VN. Finish dates may be inaccurate as I haven't kept track of when I finished all of them, so it's mostly based on memory.
Game 31: Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - 14:00 - COMPLETED
I was a huge fan of the original Revelations as I thought it did a great job of reminding me of the classic series where there's more of a tilt toward horror than action, so I was really excited when this was announced. It's still handled similarly to the original where it takes place in episodes and with two different playable characters. This time those characters are Claire and Barry. You also have companion characters with you, Moira and Natalia. What's unique about them compared to other co-op characters in RE is that they aren't really offensive characters. Moira only has a crowbar that she can fight with while Natalia can only pick up bricks to hit enemies with. But they bring other helpful things to the table. Moira has a flashlight that she can use to spot things in the environment that Claire can't see. She can also use it to blind enemies so that Claire can do a follow up attack. Natalia can also spot things in the environment that Barry can't see, but her main ability is that she basically has a permanent detective vision mode. This allows her to see enemy locations as well as weak spots one enemies as some of them need to be hit in a specific place to reveal the point where you can kill them. You're able to switch to them at any point during the campaign. Both Claire and Barry's gameplay are still very much classic RE. There are four episodes since it's episodic. Each episode has a section for both Claire and Barry, and the episodes are around two hours in length. One of the cool things is that while each character has unique sections to their playthrough, you'll also go through sections that the other character went through. And there are even circumstances where you can do something that'll help the other character reach something that they couldn't if you hadn't done that. The pacing for each chapter is really good. The balance between action, puzzles and overall downtime feels just right. You're not constantly put into sections filled with enemies, which allows them to have moments where you're running through just wondering if enemies are going to attack. On the downside, there isn't a ton of enemy variety in the game, although there are different enemies in Claire and Barry's campaigns. There aren't any typewriters in the same to save since you have an autosave function, and that you can unlock and level up abilities. These range from weapons having higher damage when you're crouched to charge attacks on stunned enemies. You can also level up the damage that Moira and Natalia do with their melee attacks. As far as extra content goes, there's a Raid Mode that works just like you'd expect if you've played them in the past. And there are two extra story modes. One for Moira and one for Natalia. They'll let you see certain story moments from their perspective. So even though it started out as an episode game on digital services, there's actually a lot of content in the game. It's definitely highly recommended for anyone that likes RE and in particular those that are really fond of the older games.
Game 32: The Unfinished Swan - 4:00 - COMPLETED
This was a pleasant surprise. I'd been meaning to get around to play it, but I guess the Plus offering pushed me over to finally doing it. It's sorta hard to talk about it without getting into spoiler territory as it does a lot of things mechanically that I wasn't expecting. But the basic controls are that you have a jump button and any of the shoulder buttons will shoot paint balls. Those paint balls are the main mechanic in the game. When you first start out you're in a completely white space and all you can see is a reticle. When you fire a paint ball it'll splatter and paint the world. And that's how you begin to navigate the world. You have an infinite supply of paint, so you can go crazy with it if you want. So your main goal, at least initially, is to use the paint to uncover the world so that you can find your way through it. Along the way you'll complete puzzles and do some platforming. The platforming is fairly basic and if you don't make a jump you'll just be reset at your last location. As you progress through the chapters (there are four in total) you'll unlock new mechanics. Those include
your paint gun turning into a water gun that can water plants to help them grow, which will then allow you to climb them. The ability to use create platforms to help you travel through the world.
There are also collectables in the form of balloons that you shoot to free as well as golden letters spread throughout the world. Shooting the letter will cause a storybook page to appear. Those are all actually really important to the story as whole as otherwise you really only get any narrative between chapters. Freeing balloons unlocks extras. It's a really enjoyable and relaxing game.
Game 33: Never Alone - 3:30 - COMPLETED
Another Plus title. It's a 2.5D puzzle/platformer. You play as a young girl and a fox. She has the ability to jump, brace (which you'll do to prevent the wind from blowing you back) and throw something called a bola, which is a little weapon you'll use to break things in the environment to progress. The fox can jump, climb walls, wall jump and can illuminate spirits for you to interact with. While you can die in the game, the checkpoints are very frequent so you aren't going to be pushed too far back into a level. The controls have a sluggish feel to them, particularly when platforming. The platforming also feels glitchy with your characters failing to latch onto areas or simply going through them, which forces you to figure out a way to drop off, which almost always leads to death. I good portion of my deaths in the game came from just the glitchy nature of the platforming. This along with the sluggish platforming can get somewhat annoying toward the end of the game when you're doing a lot more platforming that does lead to death if you mess up. It's a shame because the game is pretty enjoyable, and it's quite nice looking as well (aside from some tearing issues). It's still worth checking out as it is unique in its setting and story. And the platforming isn't too annoying since the checkpoints are so frequent.
Game 34: Valiant Hearts: The Great War - 7:30 - COMPLETED
This is a game that takes place during World War I. Surprisingly it's a war game where the emphasis isn't on killing. In fact there's very little combat in the game. It's a sidescrolling adventure game so you'll mostly be completing puzzles while evading confrontations. Most of your contact with enemies will be hitting them over the head so you can move past them. But even those situations are rare. You'll take the role of various characters in the story as well as a dog. Each have their own abilities like medic support, digging etc. The dog is able to retrieve items from tight spaces that your characters can't get into. The medic sections are handled with QTE's. These are easy for a number of reasons. If you fail it, the game will just let you restart the QTE again, and there's a generous input window, so you don't have to press it exactly when it's required. Digging is usually straight forward, although sometimes you have to dig through sections that have artillery shells embedded in them. Hitting one of those means instant death. But the game autosaves frequently, so you're never sent back too far from where you died. During some of the chapters (there are four in total) you'll also have a taxi section where your taxi is driving toward the screen and you have to move left and right to dodge bombs and gun fire. The game runs on the UbiArt engine, so it looks gorgeous. The only real knock against it is that there are some extreme closeup scenes, which doesn't do the visuals any favors since it doesn't seem like the assets are really high res. It's a fantastic game and should be a good pickup for those that are looking for something different in the war genre.
Game 35: inFamous: Second Son - 15:00 - COMPLETED
I actually started this around the time that it was released last year, but stopped playing after maybe being 5% into the game. It's not that I was bored with it, I just ended up getting distracted by other games. Mechanically it's still quite similar to past inFamous games. Which is a good thing since I think that the series has some of the best controlling games out there. This time around you're giving a greater variety of powers. While the basics of them tend to be similar in the sense R2 is your main attack, square is your melee, R1 is your heavy attack etc., they all function differently. Your smoke ability can be upgraded so that nailing headshots has a chance of subduing enemies, which will award you with hero points. While your neon ability will cause the head and feet of enemies to glow whenever you press L2 to target them. Shooting them in the head will earn you evil points while shooting their feet will earn you hero points. Which leads me to the moral choices, they're still black and white like in the previous games. Blue is the hero side while red is the evil side. Your side events on the map are marked with the colors. So busting drug dealers or freeing suspects from security pens will earn you hero points while attacking protesters or street musicians will earn you evil points. The core story choices in the game work similarly. You're given two options (blue and red) with descriptions of what they'll do. So you'll never make the wrong choice if you're attempting to go the hero or evil route. I do hope that if they make another inFamous that the choices aren't so clear cut. I guess with superheroes in general the choice between good and bad are usually blatant, but I do hope that they expand on it in the next game. They could keep a similar system while having other elements also impact your rating. The new powers in particular address one issue I had with previous games, which was that it was often times felt slow to traverse the world. The new powers seem built to address that. Smoke gives you the ability to dash through the air multiple times when upgraded. Neon gives you the ability to run up the side of buildings. When upgraded you can do this forever. It ended up being my preferred power because of that. And fast travel has been introduced as well. You have to be at billboards to do it, but every section of the world has them, so you should always be close to them. There are also other powers aside from smoke and neon. The main mission variety is pretty diverse. Some of it dealing without being all about combat. I especially liked that there were some investigation missions. Each section of the map also has its own set of special missions. These involve taking down D.U.P (the main enemy group in the game) command centers. Once you do that it'll reveal all of the other special missions for that section. These involve destroying D.U.P cameras, finding and killing agents, doing graffiti etc. You'll eventually unlock a District Showndown that'll let you control that area of the map once you've completed it. There are also of course blast shards, which you expect from the series. They're much easier to come across now since they're all displayed on the map once you take down a D.U.P command center. The command center itself spreads out four shards once you blow it up. The rest are found in drones that are flying around the map, although some are just sitting on rooftops. Overall it's a fantastic game and has become my favorite game in the series.
Game 36: inFamous: First Light - 10:00 - COMPLETED
First Light takes place before Second Son in terms of story. But I really won't go into that. As I mentioned with Second Son, Neon is my favorite power from that game (and in the series in general), so I was really excited for FL since it stars Fetch. The first difference is that FL takes place in the northern half of Second Son's map. You never go to the southern section. But it's still a large play space. The second difference is in how Blast Shards are handled. There aren't any in FL. Instead they're replaced with something called Neon Lumens. They're basically pink bubbles scattered around the map. Collecting them in handled differently as well. In inFamous and inFamous 2 they're just scattered on the sides of buildings, and in SS they were drones or found inside of D.U.P command centers. But they were all collected the same way in those three games. In FL there are two types of Lumens. One that you find through races. These races have you running through neon speed boosters along the way in order to try to crash into the lumen. The second way is that they're usually hanging above buildings. Which means that you have to find a way to boost and jump to grab them. Just in terms of platforming I found it more enjoyable to grab them that way than the way it's been handled in the rest of the series. Her basic moves are a more fleshed out version of the movesets that Delsin receives. One example of that is that she's able to air dash in a straight line multiple times while Delsin would drop whenever he'd use Neon running. So the way her ability works makes it much easier to navigate the city. The mission structures have changed as well. The game introduces surveillance and escort missions. The escort missions aren't as bad as you may immediately think simply due to the checkpointing and Fetch's powers. The biggest addition to FL is the battle arena. This is important as it's where you'll find a lot of your upgrade points. You need to complete various challenges in the arena to unlock them. There are over 60 challenges in total. These range from specific scores to things like killing airborn enemies or saving a specific number of hostages. Some can be completed in the overworld, and three in particularity have to be completed there, but most of them are easier to complete in the arena since you have a large supply of enemies. The two types of arena battles are survival, which is just you against waves of enemies, and Rescue where you have to save a hostage before they're executed. The Rescue missions are wave based as well. Overall i'd say that this is my favorite inFamous game. I hope that they continue the series with Fetch.
Game 37: Splatoon - 5:24 - COMPLETED
This is just for the single player. I haven't really put much time into the multiplayer at this point. I think the most important thing to note about the single player is that it's not a reskinned multiplayer mode. Many worried that like a lot of multiplayer-centric shooters that the single player would just be a bunch of multiplayer maps put together and passed off as a single player mode. But that's not what this is. It's a complete single player mode. Most of the stages are unique, the enemies are unique, it has mechanics that are only available in the single player (at least as far as I know) and there are bosses. The single player is a cross between a platformer and a shooter. The platforming mainly comes from doing squid jumps (diving into your ink and jump across to another location). They allow you to get more distance than your standard jump. None of it is terribly difficult as long as you have a good understanding of squid jumping as well as making sure that your paint is on the platform that you're jumping to so that you can dive into it even if it's on a corner. The aiming for shooting is done with either the Wii U pads gyro or analog sticks. I personally don't like the gyro control, so I went the analog route. The enemies are various types of octopus in pods that help them get around. They have ink guns attached to them as well. There are also Octolings, which are the octopus version of the Inklings. They have the same abilities as you. You'll generally encounter them in multiplayer-style arena levels. The level design is fantastic, which is what you'd expect from Nintendo when it comes to platformers. I still think they're the only developer that can consistently put together a high quality 3D platformer. And the bosses are all memorable. Which is refreshing for a shooter since they tend to be throwaway designs whenever there are bosses in a shooter. This was the most fun i've had with a shooter in a long time.
Game 38: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - 7:00 - COMPLETED
The concept is really where the game shines. It's about a bounty hunter telling stories of his travels in the old west. Meaning a lot of stories of him having run ins with famous western figures whether through battle or teaming up with them. It's hard to talk about since it has nice twists and some of the mechanics are based on how he tells the story. The shooting mechanics are very solid. There's also a bullet time mechanic. The most interesting gameplay mechanic is the Sense of Death. When that meter is full it means that you'll get a chance to dodge the bullet that's going to kill you. If you can dodge it you'll regain full health and continue fighting, and of course if you get hit then you die. It's a nice feature since the game does have some sections that would become very frustrating without it. There are also boss fights throughout the game. Most of these are handled through duels. These involve you moving a retical with the right analog stick to concentrate on a target while moving the left analog to move your hand in a position to draw faster. You're giving two draw options, one honorable and the other dishonorable. The honorable option is to wait until they draw, while the dishonorable option is to wait until you hear a heartbeat and then draw. There's also you standard upgrade system. Although it can lead to unlocking special weapons that you'll then find around the campaign. The level designs are fairly solid. They're linear, but the combat sections tend to be very wide, which gives you a lot of options. It's a fun game as long as you're in the mood for a pure shooter.
Game 39: Batman: Arkham Knight - 18:00 - COMPLETED
For the most part this is more Arkham gameplay. There are a few differences, but those differences really aren't going to make you enjoy the game if you haven't previously been able to get into them. The first change is the addition of the Batmobile. It's not some minor addition as it's something that you're going to use regularly in missions. There are tanks spread around the map that you'll often times have to find as well as certain Riddler missions that will require you to complete a race along with some other things it's able to do. The main issue with the Batmobile is that it basically handles like it looks. It's basically a fast tank and handles like one. That wouldn't be a big deal if there weren't race and chase sequences. That said, I didn't hate it like others seem to. The car definitely takes some time to get accustomed to, but it has it's enjoyable moments here and there. The other major change is that
there really aren't many boss fights in the main campaign. And the boss fights that are there aren't particularly memorable.
There are a variety of side missions that range from using your Batmobile to overload mines to finding firemen that have been kidnapped. Some of these side missions are tied to stories involving supervillains. There are also AR Missions where you complete races or combat objectives. I think it's the second best game in the series with Asylum still being my favorite. I just think that the smaller world did the game a lot of good. The open world just doesn't work as well in my opinion.
Game 40: J-Stars Victory Vs + - 25:00 - COMPLETED
The main mode in the game is called J-Adventure. It's the story mode that takes place on a small old-school JRPG inspired overworld map. There are four Arcs in total for the J-Adventure, Dynamic (Luffy), Hope (Naruto), Investigation (Toriko), and Pursuit (Ichigo). All of the Arcs follow the same basic plot and mission structure, although you'll get different core members to your group each time. You'll use a boat to get around the world. There's no actual on foot travel as you just need to go to the area you want on the map and it'll start the next story sequence or side mission. The side missions consist of going around the map to find certain items for people or fighting specific people who you may be able to recruit on your team afterwards. The mainline mission design is similar to that structure as well. That combat is the main meat of the game. You're typically put into a group of 1 or 2 characters with one assist character. The assist character won't be on the battlefield with the rest of the characters, they'll just come in when you call them for an attack. Afterwards they're put on a cooldown timer to prevent you from spamming them. The actual combat takes place in large arenas where you have completely free movement. It's similar to Power Stone in that sense. That basic attacks are pretty much what you expect from the genre like light and medium attacks. There's also tag attacks that you need to initiate by launching your opponent into the area and then hitting the character button when a teammate of yours is near. All characters also have an ultimate attack which can deal a lot of damage if it hits. Aside from that you can win and buy cards that can give your character buffs. Cards also have negative effects, but you can nullify those if you find cards that connect together in some way. You can also buy upgrades to your ship to make it go faster as well purchase both combat and support characters. There are also treasure maps that you can purchase. Once purchased you'll then see a dot in the sea on your world map where the treasure is. The first playthrough is the one that took me the longest as I was doing every sidequest I saw and fighting enemies on the overworld. If you cut those out the Arcs will take around two and a half hours to complete. In general I thought it was pretty enjoyable. But like I said earlier, the Arcs are all basically the same so you may just want to go with whichever character you like most if you're only planning one play through.
19. Virtua Tennis 4 (Vita) - 24th May - maybe 15 hours total
I bought this game a couple of years ago when I got my Vita, but recently went back to it on a whim and completed most of the single-player content and got a bunch more trophies. It's a very enjoyable tennis game overall; certainly among the top-flight of those I've played, although I play tennis games so infrequently (usually in the run-up to Wimbledon) I wouldn't like to order my favourites in a list. Visuals are great, controls make a lot of sense, I found the world tour mode very addictive with a neat training and progression system, and generally it's a very enjoyable game excepting a few hitches in controls where it didn't do what I was expecting. I played a few games online and while it was reasonable I found a delay of about 0.25 seconds which made a hell of a lot of difference in a game like this and it was maddeningly stodgy as a result. I probably won't be playing it again but think it's a damn good game for fans of the sport. 8/10
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
I had very similar feelings about Fez. It was a game I admired, but not one I enjoyed. I didn't reach the end; my interest just kind of petered out and I really hated the map which made me feel like getting around was much more of an effort than it needed to be.
Game Beaten #53: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days - 4 Hours
This 'game' was a movie with trophies....uh glad my 52 is done cause this is kinda silly
Game Beaten #54: Kingdom Hearts: Re-Chain of Memories - 60 Hours
(Started 5/14/15 / Finished 5/26/15)
I bought the original back when it first came out and it was my first Kingdom Hearts title because I didn't own a PS2 at the time. The plot confused me, the card system made me constantly groan, and I just didn't get it. Somehow I beat it and years later I'm playing it again. Well with the memory of how much I hated this game I decided to do it on beginner and I don't regret it. That being said I totally could have done this on normal. The plot making sense aside, I knew how to tackle the card battle system. Spam enemies, and then just turtle bosses waiting for them to declare an attack and constantly cancel it out. I struggled with a few bosses when my timing was off but I was able to completely shut down most bosses this way. It isn't as terrible as I remember but it is very boring with only the Organization XIII scenes being interesting, the rest is an amnesia fest recap of KH1's Disney visits.
I'm never making 52 at this rate but it's all good fun.
Game #13: Demon's Souls - FROM Software Format: PS3 Completion State: All mandatory and optional Demons beaten, all black and white world and character tendency events completed, good and bad endings seen (97% trophy completion - I'm not grinding for Bladestone) Completion Date: 22/May/2015
Great game. I'd heard a lot of good things about this game but no real details so I went in relatively blind and now I simply regret not playing it earlier! Moment to moment gameplay, level design, perfectly weighted challenge, impressive atmosphere, pretty much all of it was perfectly done. My only real criticisms are the somewhat obfuscated stats and the huge frame rate issues when smashing environmental objects but beyond that all other complaints would be nit-picking (don't get me started on Bladestone).
Game #14: Never Alone / Kisima Inŋitchuŋa - Upper One Games Format: PS4 Completion State: 100% trophy completion Completion Date: 23/May/2015
Very average gameplay and level design perked up by an interesting backstory and some good little snippets into Iñupiaq life. It's never going to stand out on the strengths of the platforming and mechanics but it is well worth a playthrough just for the subject matter. Given the inclusion of the cultural insights it would have been nie if these were a little longer, too many were finished just as they were getting started.
I am currently playing FFXI (first time in like 10 years!) and my thought was to count each expansion I complete as a separate entry for the purposes of this challenge. I am looking for some opinions on if that seems like cheating or not. Since I would have counted these as individual "games" if I played them when they came out (like the upcoming FFXIV expansion) so it seems ok to me. Anyone have thoughts on this topic?
Dragon Age: Inquisition (PC) - 27/05/15 (Story and extra quests: ~74 hours)
Usually with videogames we don't remember how hard is a game to do, the time spent for programmers, designers, engineers, etc. With Dragon Age this doesn't happen, this game is really huge and hardwork comes in to the mind everytime I was playing it.
I enjoyed a lot this game, I love exploration and this game give it to you, as well as land exploration either story with the tons of books and texts Inquisition have (it may seem a contradiction hahaha).
The game is large but not boring if you love exploring new areas and dive into the world of Dragon Age. One of the bad things this game have is that some quests are fetch like, I understand that this for a lot of people can be really annoying.
Obvious must have for RPG fans, but it may be hard to follow for people who isn't into this genre.
Game 8: Bloodborne [PS4] — 26:39:09 (Level 77) [Finished: May 26]
Another great Souls game. I'd put this one ahead of the Dark Souls games, but behind Demon's Souls. I've always leaned towards being a magic user in these games, so it was a bit jarring getting used to a more limited range of combat possibilities in Bloodborne, essentially all revolving around melee combat and evasiveness. I adapted fairly quickly, though, especially since I barely relied on shields in the previous games, and I found it to be a rather fun change of pace. I found myself getting lost less often than in the Dark Souls games, which is a plus. I feel like there's a fair amount of content I missed during my first playthrough by not following a guide, so I'll obviously need to go back to it eventually to see it all. I also barely explored the chalice dungeons, and that's something I'll be interested in visiting once I go back to the game. I wish there were more viable and different ways to engage with the combat, like being a pure gunslinger or having better access to arcane attacks; it would give me more incentive to go back into it. All in all a great game, with another odd and relatively incomprehensible story.
I will updating this post from now on since I ran out of room on my original one
Game #24: The Fall (PC) - 3 Hours
I first bought this game just for the scenery and eerie atmosphere from what I seen from the trailer. It definitely delivered on that department, it was able to bring a creepy environment that was unsettling without having to resort to cheap scares. The puzzles were pretty good and requires you to be observant with the environment to figure out some of them. Aiming felt really weird on the mouse, and it works better with a controller. Overall, its an interesting game that I will come back for when the sequel comes out.
Game #25: The Wolf Among Us (PC) - 8 Hours-
Another fun game from Telltale. The game seems to focus more on dialogue and QTE choices rather than exploring places. The first 3 episodes are pretty darn good with each ending on a strong plot twist (although one of them has more effect if you haven't read Fables yet) while the last two episodes are kind of a let down when you find out the truth behind the game's events. I really like it when choosing between which places to visit visiting certain places, that the order you choose to visit them actually matter. For example, going to one location first might let you prevent an event from happening, while going to that same location later means you have to deal with the aftermath of the event. Anyways, its a pretty good game early one, which sort of falls a little flat at the end. I look forward to a sequel, if they are making one.
Game #26: Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix (PS3) - 31 Hours
Yup, this game is still as fun as I remember it being, visiting fun worlds and just slashing every enemy they throw at you. Although I forgot how slow the beginning of the game was. It also feels weird to not have a dodge roll in this game (Although Final mix gives you the ability for one of your drives after you level up your drives a bit). I only got through some of the extra bosses that Final Mix adds, but the ones I fought were pretty fun and challenging. Anyways, im really excited that I will be playing Birth By Sleep pretty soon.
Game #27: Murdered: Soul Suspect (PC) - 9 Hours
This game just oozes out mediocrity, it seemed like this game had potential to be good but falls flat on most of its features. First of all i really like the environment of this game, having buildings from the past meshing with today's buildings in the ghost world made the main hub area interesting. At first it seems like there is nothing much to do in the hub area, but it is jam-packed with collectibles with some interesting info attached to them. Although, the ghost story collectibles are a pain to get as you need to collect multiple items to unlock some mundane ghost story. This game is more of a "enjoy the ride" kind of game where anything you do in the game is simple enough and doesn't require much though. The stealth sections felt sluggish and I felt the QTE stuff was unnecessary. I couldn't care for most of the story, but it does have some nice twists near the end. Overall, I would just stay away from the game.
Game #28: Space Channel 5: Part 2 (PC) - 2 Hours
I thought this would be a walk in the park, but boy was I wrong. Having a rhythm game mixed with a complex form of "Simon Says" felt like it was going to be a bad time for me, but I felt that the difficulty curve was pretty generous. Later in the game you will also get some visual cues for long combos which i found crucially helpful. Although during the first two bosses I had a tough time trying to figure out what direction they were saying, but it only took a few tries to get that down. Its a short game, but it is packed with some fun moments.
Game #29: Jurassic Park: The Game (PC) - 7 Hours
I put this off for the longest time because of all the bad reviews it got, but its actually not that bad. Not great, but its still enjoyable.
The game could of used more puzzles in it. There were only about 3-4 puzzles in the entire game that required some thinking. All the other puzzles only consist of the player just clicking on things until an event happens. QTEs in this game were just poorly executed. Some of them go by too quickly, causing the player to always fail on their first try. Although,seeing the different death screens for failing them is really amusing. Getting achievements for perfect runs requires memorizing the whole sequence. There are other QTE segments where they show you the prompt ahead of time, but you can't press the key until the prompts signals you to. Which pretty much defeats the purpose of QTEs
The story is a-okay. If it weren't for the fact that the game takes place during and after the events of the first Jurassic Park movie, it would of been a typical average survival story. Its worth checking out for any Jurassic Park fan, just wait for a sale.
Game #30: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Final Mix (PS3) - 27 Hours
For the longest tme, this was the only game from the Kingdom Hearts series I haven't played yet. I have to say this is game has my 2nd favorite KH combat system behind KH II. I had a lot of fun combining commands together to see what new attack and passive abilities I would get. The game gets pretty challenging in the later half, even on normal difficulty as the boss fights require remembering patterns a lot.
Story isnt all that special, especially if you follow the series. You basically know whats going to happen in the end (opening sequence even spoils a lot of it) and you are basically wondering how long it will take to get there. Being able to play and see the game through 3 different perspectives is a neat idea. Each character plays a little different when you start out but by the end of the game they all start to play the same as each character doesn't have much moves that are exclusive to them.
Birth By Sleep is a great addition to the series. Although its not the most polished port, as frame rate drops in some cases, it still pretty solid.
Game #31: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker (3DS) - 55 Hours
I had a blast playing the original game, and im glad that that this enhanced finally came out. A lot of neat features are added to the game which includes voice acting (which I think is a lot better than the first game), a choice of difficulty (easy or normal), free DLC via Spotpass (includes new fusions and fusion add-ons to enhance your fusions), the entire script has been re-done (it has its ups and downs), and new skills being added.
The main new feature of the port is that it adds a new arc which takes place after the events of the original story. Its kind of a shame that the new arc doesn't take the route you chosen in the original arc into account like Overclocked does, but its still enjoyable. Players who choose to go through the new arc first will find it just as challenging as the original, and those who play the first arc first will spend a decent amount of time for the new arc (it took around 12 hours to finish it using my New Game+ save file). I'd say the new arc justifies buying the game if you already have played the original.
Game #32: HarmoKnight (3DS) - 7 Hours
Finished every stage including the bonus world. Harmoknight is a game that is very simple and yet does enough to keep you engaged. You start off by doing simple tasks by jumping and attacking to the beat, but later it starts to add new features such as: New characters (who play differently), new enemy types, tons of "stage modifiers" ( Camera angle changes, Smokescreen, branching paths, etc.). While the main game isn't too challenging and can be wrapped up quickly, the meat of the game lies with the bonus world that you get from collecting 5 hidden birds throughout the game. ( it sounds like the collectibles are a pain to find, but the game is nice enough to tell you which stage they are at). Each stage in the bonus world really takes it up a notch and pushes the player to their limits.
My only gripe with the game is that every time you have to switch to a different character within a stage, the music just stops and the game just pauses and you have to watch the characters exchange places. It would be nicer if this was just one continuous motion.
Game #33: Harvester (PC) - 7 Hours
One of the more compelling adventure games I ever played. This game has an amazing 1st act with its game play. Right off the bat, you are just thrown into the game with no explanation and expected to start exploring. The great thing is that the entire city of Harvest is available for you to explore (with the exception of the obvious final dungeon area) that allows the player to take in the sights and start learning about the world in the game while it gently nudges you to your objectives. I also love how the game uses a day/night cycle to reassure you that you are progressing in the game. The icing to this cake is all of the messed up scenes in the game, it is packed with a lot of instant death scenarios that just ends with a bloody mess. On top of that there are a couple of cut scenes that are just really grotesque. Near the end of the game it focuses a lot on combat, and its not the most comfortable controls to use. The combat felt really finicky and at first it felt that winning a fight required luck. The good thing is that its only a minor part of the game, but it does ruin the pacing a little bit. Overall, a really fun adventure game that holds up for the most part. The story alone is worth the price for admission.
Game #34: Talisman: Digital Edition (PC) - 45 hours
I was originally going to just play this for a weekend with a friend while we were at Anime Expo. As i was playing it before AX to sort of get gist of the game, I really got into it. I spent a couple all nighters just playing the game with that "Just one more turn" feeling. Its a pretty straight forward board game that is easy to pick up and play. Plenty of characters to choose from in the base game, each with their own unique skills. I do recommend having some friends to play with, the enemy AI didn't seem to be great from when i played by myself. I didn't encounter any bugs, except for an AI that was taking forever on their turn because they were stuck in a loop with one of their usable items, but the game did correct self, asking me if i wanted to skip the AI's turn. If you do buy any DLC, I recommend getting any of the ones that add a new region to the board. They come with new ways to play, new characters, new cards, and etc. Don't buy the season pass as well, it doesn't cover all of the DLC content.
Game #35: J-Stars Victory VS + (PS4) - 12 Hours
I'm still shocked on how this game was able to make it here to the west. When i first played the game, I was having a blast. Playing as characters from my favorite Jump franchises was a blast and it was everything i could have wanted in terms of fan service. The roster is pretty decent, but fans will clearly see some series are absent. As i played more and more, i quickly started to get tired of playing it. The fighting wasn't everything I wanted it to be, it felt clunky, a little slow, and just not that complex. Every battle pretty much felt the same. They do try to give you a lot of things you do on the single player side, but it really just felt like fluff that didn't need to be there. Story mode is a slow, painful journey which didn't need to have 4 different arcs as they were all similar except for which characters you are starting out with. Local split screen was terrible as you needed to sit close to the tv to see what was going on. The game is fun in small chunks, but i can never see myself playing this in the long run.
Game #36: Professor Layton and the Arzan Legacy (3DS) - 24 Hours
This was the perfect way the prequel trilogy could of ended. I was feeling a bit tired of the series after playing Miracle Mask but Azran Legacy definitely picked things up again. The story, charactes, and soundtrack are all great. Navigating has improved as instead of having once huge area to walk around, you get to visit several separate regions while being able to switch from region to region with ease. Puzzles were great this time around, very light with the math puzzles and also few with trick answers to mix things up pretty good. Overall, a great way to end things. I would love to see a spinoff starring Emmy.
Game #37: Gunman Clive (3DS) - 2 Hours
I wasn't expecting much going into this, and for the first few stages it seemed like it was going to be an average platform shooter. As the game went on ,I enjoyed it more and more. The game has a pretty great difficulty progression as each new stage adds more challenges in your face and is able to keep adding without having to repeat any of them in later stages. You also have the feel of a NES platforming difficulty with having to start over from the start of the stage if you die, but the stages are fairly short enough that this feature doesn't become a pain. You start out with two playable characters who have different features about them and one unlockable character who changes the way you play the game. For such a cheap price, this game feels like a steal.
Game #38: Card City Nights (PC) - 10 Hours
Fun collectible card game that is surprisingly deep. Its hard to describe the gameplay in words but its like playing a "Match 3" game but with a lot of more going on. A lot of thought has to be put into making your deck from making sure you cards have good synergy or if you want your deck to be offence, defense, or balanced orientated. On top of that, you have two ways to win a match which opens up a lot strategic options. I have only two major problems with the game: First i have a problem on how you place cards on to the board via drag and drop. It's very easy to misplace the card and screw yourself over. Second, the final boss is a huge pain as their deck pretty much breaks the rules. On a last note, the soundtrack is fantastic. Gotta see where I can pick up the OST.
Game #39: Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword (3DS) - 5 Hours
Got this game from the final Club Nintendo reward, and only got it as i heard the game get mentioned a few times from all the podcasts i listened to. While I did enjoyed all the neat parts about the game, the majority just feels like fluff. Most of the levels you play just involves throwing you in a single area with a bunch of enemies with the goal of defeating every single enemy. Instead of hacking and slashing your way through, you actually need to dodge and counter each attack if you want to do any damage The game gets a bit repetitive as the differences between each stage is very minimal. The best part are the bosses, which pretty much plays like Punch-Out, except that you have a 3D arena to move around in. I feel like the game would of been better if it just had the Punch-Out layout with you just fighting bosses instead of having to work through repetitive stages. Also the game looks a little gross, it looks like someone smeared Vaseline in the background. Overall, fun game in short bursts. Once you are done with the game you probably won't feel like tackling all the extra gameplay modes this game has to offer.
Game #40: Sweet Memories Blackjack (3DS) - 8 Hours
This was just something I played while listening to podcast, and I was generally surprised that there is actually an end goal to reach for. Its good old blackjack.. well a sort of dumbed down version of it with anime girls to look at while you play. The way this game stands out is that instead having the player vs dealer scenario, the dealer is removed and you are just facing another player. If you are looking for a true blackjack experience, you are not going to find here. You can tweak the settings to make it close to it. There are multiple girls you can play against depending on the time of day, each having varying AI difficulty settings (they all act the same to me). There are collectible artwork you can collect via achievements, but good luck trying to get them all.
Game #41: Marvel Trading Card Game (DS) - 26 Hours
Beaten Hero Side only, I don't think I have it in me to go through the Villain side knowing there's a really annoying final mission at the end. Anyways, this trading card game features the VS system which i personally feel that it is one of the easier CCG games to get into. Getting through the initial tutorial is more hassle than its supposed to be, but you can get the gist of it pretty easily. The AI in this game is pretty good for the most part, they will play their hand to the fullest extent every time, without feeling like the enemy knows what your cards are. Sometimes i will get lucky and be able to finish off a mission easily because the AI got a bad draw. The single player mode is pretty decent until you get to the last one which sets you up into a "near impossible" situation that requires a lot of luck. The UI is also a pain, and you can easily screw yourself over by skipping a vital phase of your turn. I do recommend picking up either the PSP or PC version rather than the DS version.
Game #42: Mario Golf: World Tour (3DS) - 11 Hours
A real solid golf game, that has a couple flaws but nothing huge. This game has a lot of content to go through outside of the single player campaign that will keep you busy for quite a while. Although the single player is pretty short and not as deep as i would of liked, took around 5 hours to beat, but it was a good starting platform to get used to the controls. I loved playing as my Mii throughout the single player mode , but I wish there was a way to turn off the Mii's voice which can get annoying. The Nintendo themed courses are really fun to play, and varies a lot from the standard courses you get from the single player mode.
Game #43: Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~ (PC) - 5 Hours
Went into this game fully expecting a waifu simulator cringefest, but what I actually got was a nice informative journey through some tourists spots around Japan. Of course, by the end of the game you get into a relationship with one of the girls, but it was actually more heartwarming than i was anticipating and just enjoyed the ride the entire time. Throughout the game you will get detailed explanations of popular tourist spots (cool facts and history). The game also keeps track of how much you spend (in USD or EUR) so you can get a feel of how much you would spend. Most of the background art was taken from actual photography pictures which you can check and compare in the game if you wanted to. Overall, it was a visual novel that took me by surprise. Sure the writing isn't the great and the main character is the biggest idiot, but it was still a great time
Tsundere sister is the best
Game #44: Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (PC) - 14 Hours
Usually not a big fan of any games with time management. I don't mind them if its a minor part of the game, but I usually stay away if its a main feature. Nevertheless, I decided to take a big leap and step out of my comfort zone with this game. What I liked most about it was the fact that everytime you get a game over, you start the game over with all your unsold inventory, merchant level, and store size. This makes it really easy to beat the game on your next try. Anyways, I had a lot of fun selling things, stocking up on inventory when buying prices were cheap, making mad cash when someone calls in an advance order of treasures, kicking out all the little girls out of store because they are too cheap to shop, and going to dungeons whenever the prices were bad. Surprisingly fun game for me, and will continue to keep playing until i get through all the dungeons.
Game #45: Lost Dimension (Vita) - 37 Hours
100% Completed. My most anticipated game of the summer. The concept sounded incredible to me: Seemed like it played like Valkyria Chronicles with something akin to the Destiny Plume feature of the DS Valkyrie Profile game. Have to sacrifice one character to move on as there are traitors among your group. Each play through has random selected traitors so your game and your friend's game are unique experiences. Although the actual product didn't live up to my hype, it was still a decent game. Combat felt pretty good, the game gives you enough flexibility to tackle the mission any way you see fit. Also each character has a deep skill tree that's fun to dive into. My biggest gripe is that none of the characters really interact with each other. When one character dies, you just have generic sad responses from each character as if they forgot the name of the person who died. The dialogue after the first chapter just feels like lines being shouted one after another without any rhyme or reason. Another one would be that the vita version does suffer from poor framerate (PS3 does not). Anyways, haven't gotten the true ending yet, hopefully the RNG is nice to me.
Game #46: Mighty Switch Force! (3DS) - 3 Hours
Neat action/puzzle platformer where you can switch blocks in and out of a level in order to complete your objectives. Game is pretty challenging without being overwhelmingly difficult. You get only 3 hits until you have the start the level all over from the beginning. Although, the levels are short enough that its pretty easy to speed your way to where you left off. Best part of the game (for this version) was the 3D effect. It gives you great depth perception and you can see the blocks going far into the background whenever you switch them out. And the effect works well whenever you hit yourself/an enemy and it hits on to the screen. Game is short, but there are bonus levels to do afterwards and a weapon unlock. Really fun game to play for the weekend, I highly recommend it.
Game #47: Bastion (PC) - 5 Hours
What an experience. I was expecting this game to be good, but I wasn't expecting to blow it out of water. From the start when you first experience the narration to the choices you make in the end, it was an incredible journey that i will most likely go through again and again. Combat is pretty simple and it controls well. You do get to unlock a variety of weapons, each one having its own upgrade chart which you can switch upgrades at any time in case you aren't satisfied with your upgrade. You can level up which gives you perks, and if you find the game to easy you can mess around with the in-game modifer to give yourself the perfect challenge.
Story seems pretty simple at first glance, but it really takes off once you get the later part of the game. The way the story is told through the narration is done superbly well. Even if I was messing around the level the narrator would actually comment on it, which blew my mind. Fantastic game, definitely will be the one top ten games I played for this challenge.
21. Final Fantasy XIII-2
[Finished 27/05/15]
I'll be honest, I didn't actually finish this game, but you know what, I wasn't prepared to sit there and grind for 8 hours just to beat a slew of final bosses that quite frankly spike up the difficulty to a level of stupid that is just unfathomable. I wish the trope of 7 boss battles in a row would just go away, because frankly it is absurd and no fun for anyone. I got to the 3rd fight with my underleveled characters then couldn't beat it. I'll just watch the final cutscene on youtube (that's if I care enough to remember because honestly the story was getting pretty shitty in its own right). I've practically beaten this game anyway, so I don't have an issue counting it. Yes, XIII has an equally annoying final boss, but I actually kind of cared about the characters and story in that game, here it is frankly beyond me.
21. Final Fantasy XIII-2
[Finished 27/05/15]
I'll be honest, I didn't actually finish this game, but you know what, I wasn't prepared to sit there and grind for 8 hours just to beat a slew of final bosses that quite frankly spike up the difficulty to a level of stupid that is just unfathomable. I wish the trope of 7 boss battles in a row would just go away, because frankly it is absurd and no fun for anyone. I got to the 3rd fight with my underleveled characters then couldn't beat it. I'll just watch the final cutscene on youtube (that's if I care enough to remember because honestly the story was getting pretty shitty in its own right). I've practically beaten this game anyway, so I don't have an issue counting it. Yes, XIII has an equally annoying final boss, but I actually kind of cared about the characters and story in that game, here it is frankly beyond me.
Main post
Doubt I'll be beating any more games this month so here's my May update;
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Game 36: Devil Survivor: Overclocked Playtime: 66:34 Start/Finish: Mar 28th, 2015 - May 3rd, 2015
// Ended up getting this to prep myself for Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker and it was worth it. Most fun I've had with a strategy game since Fire Emblem Awakening. The story and (..most of) the characters were great too.
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Game 37: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Playtime: 11:00 Start/Finish: May 4th, 2015 - May 7th, 2015
// Due to the hype surrounding Bloodstained, I ended up finally trying a Castlevania game. Went with this one and it was a great game, I certainly see the appeal in the series now.
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Game 38: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Playtime: 25:00 Start/Finish: May 12th, 2015 - May 18th, 2015
// I had bought this so long ago and I finally started it just so I could understand more about Witcher 3. Geralt's looks bothered me through the whole game since I was so used to seeing him with a beard from W3 promos. Game was enjoyable in the end.
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Game 39: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All Playtime: 18:28 Start/Finish: May 10th, 2015 - May 19th, 2015
// Not the best Phoenix Wright game I've played.. (only played the first one and dual destinies besides this one) The third case almost made me quit, it was so tedious and boring.. Glad I didn't though since the 4th case was amazing. The soundtrack wasn't all that great either besides like one track. Anyways, glad that's done and that I can start the third game now.
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Game 40: Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millenium Girl Playtime: 48:24 (2015: 20 hours) Start/Finish: June 14th, 2014 - May 22nd, 2015
// Yes.
I thought I'd never finish this game but I ended up doing so. I'd always get fatigued from the game similar to how I did with Persona Q. The story wasn't anything special until like the very end. Gameplay was alright though it got boring really quick. I switched to auto-mapping like halfway through the game since it just ended up losing its appeal.. I still did enjoy the game somewhat though, will probably get Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold next.
Man, I need to get things into high gear, it's almost June and I've only finished 19 games so far.
19. Stretchmo (100% Completed on 5/27/15 - playtime 34 hrs 1 min) - I decided to pick this game up the day it came out (bought the $10 bundle) because it had been a while since I had played a game in the series (played Pushmo when it first came out and got as far as Challenge S -11 before calling it quits) and I felt that the stretch mechanic was good enough to help change things up from the first game. Overall I enjoyed playing this game and found that at times some of these puzzles were quite challenging, so much so that I would spend at least 30 mins or more on them (before smacking myself upside the head when I realized I was so stupid, the solution was right in front of me) in the last 2 "areas" (NES Expo & Perilous Park) of the game.
Game 26 - Nayuta no Kiseki - Started 4/27/15, finished 5/27/15 - 26:51
This game came out of nowhere for me, as many of Falcom's games tend to. And being the Falcom nerd that I am, I had to play through it right away, especially when I found out it was an action RPG. Nayuta is Oath in Felghana's long-lost cousin, including the platforming that I've missed from the later Ys entries (although battles aren't nearly as difficult as Oath, alas). Other positives include striking art design (especially for the PSP) and effective music (although nowhere near Falcom's best). Unfortunately, it drowns in JRPG tropes (including one of my least favorite, the amnesiac girl) and the characters frequently refuse to shut up. The poor fan translation I used probably didn't help in this matter (although I've heard from those who understand Japanese that the source material is very poor anyway). By the end, it went on at *least* ten hours longer than it should have but I still had fun.
7h-ish. Completed all quests and DLC Grubbins on Ice. If I had to describe this cute little game with only two words, they would be "palate cleanser". It's an ideal game to unwind between more "meaty" offerings. Don't expect a fleshed out JRPG though - the game can be completed in two sittings, one if your sittings are long, and I've completed it without dying once.
22. Valiant Hearts: The Great War [Finished 28/05/15]
Valiant Hearts is a beautiful game. Not only is it artistically gorgeous, but it is able to evoke more emotion with 2D hand drawn art than most realistic looking modern games ever do. The puzzles are simple but elegant and just when you feel like a section is outstaying its welcome, it ends and moves you onto a different area. In many ways I wish that there wasn't any voice acting involved as the story is so well told from a visual perspective, however, the ending convinced me that such an addition was necessary. Valiant Hearts is a game everyone should play, and it is most certainly one of the best things to come out of Ubisoft in many years.
Game 17: Proteus - 1h | Started: 5/25/15 - Completed: 5/25/15
Really nice, short game with some very interesting bits to see and do. Very chill game. Might go back to it from time to time if I just need a break and want to relax with a game.
Game 18: Hotline Miami - 12h | Started: 5/25/15 - Completed: 5/28/15
First off, this game is no walk in the park. I died and died and died some more, but I sunk way more hours into it than I thought I would and lost track of time a bit too easily over the past few days. Pumping soundtrack, interesting levels, really weird plot, and a few zen moments bring this all together. I was cursing and loving the game by the end of the game (both times). Well worth the time sunk into it just for the challenge and experience. Also, this game definitely rewards skill and severely punishes mistakes made, but it's always your fault and restarts are quick and you almost forget about how often you end up doing it.
Neat puzzle platformer. The gimmick is being able to take photos of boxes/creatures/fireballs etc to remove them from the level and then deposit them somewhere else. Since you can rotate the photos and they conserve momentum it's a mechanic that lends itself to a lot of variety. The capturable elements mostly stay contained within their own world, or set of levels (the game is structured so that there are 9 courses of 3 levels in each of the 4 worlds) but they're used pretty well. The soundtrack's nice too. I wouldn't say it would be amazing enough to pull anyone out of a puzzle platformer funk but it's a good time.
Games 13 - 15
A Wolf Among Us episodes 3-5
PC, Steam
Finished up the series I started forever ago. Enjoyed the way it wound up, but I had to restart checkpoints frequently in 4 and 5 due to prompts coming up "This Choice is Blank" repeatedly.
Game 16
Long Live the Queen
Steam, PC
Cute little game, I only played through it twice though. Once where I got assassinated and once where I got coronated. Lots of fun however.
Game #19. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES VC)
- Time played: 08:25 hours.
- Completion reached: 103%!
Well, after DKC1 and DKC2 I had to go for the black sheep of the franchise: DKC3! Like, DKC2 before it, DKC3 attempts to make everything in the game bigger than its predecessor which lead to some design decisions that make this game a very divisive one among the fanbase. First, this game introduces a new member to the Kong family: Kiddy Kong. Kiddy isn't very appreciated by fans (I think because of his looks?) but I honestly don't mind him since at least he's different from Dixie (the other playable Kong in DKC3) so he adds some variety to the gameplay. Second, in one of the positive changes IMO, the overworld was vastly improved, turned from a level select screen to a more open top down explorable world. It's not really that explorable, but it's a nice change of pace from DKC1 and DKC2 and actually has some neat secrets. Third, and one of the controversial changes I believe, DKC3 added even more collectables to the game, starting what would eventually lead to DK64's crazy collect-a-thon. To recap, DKC1 had bananas as the only collectable. DKC2 added bonus coins, DK coins and banana coins to the mix. Over that, DKC3 adds banana birds and items that you use for mini sidequests. While this doesn't bother me, I can see it bothering some people.
Despite all of that, the big "change" from DKC1 and DKC2 is how the levels are designed. In the DKC series (and that includes Retro's DKCR and DKCTF), each level usually introduces a new idea at the beggining and starts developing it through the stage, reaching an epic "conclusion" at the end. DKC3 does this exact same thing, but many of the ideas introduced in new levels are very "gimmicky". For example, there's a level (actually one of the last ones) where the gimmick is that left and right are reversed, which is super lame. I don't want to spoil the whole game here but there are a lot of levels where the gimmick is totally unrelated to platforming, which can be a tad annoying. In comparison, most gimmicks in other DKC games are platforming related so they tie up well with the regular gameplay.
In any case, I really like DKC3. It's a tad different from the other DKC games with some strange and questionable gimmicks here and there, but it also has some genius ideas. For example, there's a level where you must climb a tree as a saw is cutting it from below. There's another similar one involving burning ropes. In general, verticality is pretty well handled in this game, which is cool since most platformers involve horizontal movement more than vertical movement (that is, levels are usually left to right instead of climbing something). I recommend this game to any platforming fan, since being the black sheep of the DKC family doesn't really mean much considering how high quality the franchise is!
3h-ish. I'm going to start going through all Kairosoft games I have purchased and never even touched (so, most of them). Anime Studio Story was a bit disappointing - it's basically Game Dev Story with a coat of paint, but less interesting. The need to constantly create characters and reuse them and the inability to use more than one is confusing.
And yet it's a great timewaster. Like pizza (and Pokémon) even the worst Kairo game is still good. But this is perhaps the worst one I've played so far.
Game 23: 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure (3DS): Great platformer though maybe a bit too easy. Liked the 3D effect, the music and the level design was great. Looked good, too. Really have to change my perception of NES games. Game 24: Donkey Kong Land (3DS GB VC): Had a little bit eShop money left and bought this because I went away for a few days. Sadly the 3DS does emulate the screen of the GB with white instead of the greenish so I didn#t get hit with nostalgia. That aside Donkey Kong Land had nice level design where you could play into a flow but it wasn't anything special. And there were some terrible ideas, too. I liked the soundtrack though it were like 5 songs but the game isn't really long with 3-4 hours. The sprites are pretty detailed for a GB game imo. In the end I liked it and I didn't waste money or time playing this during the trip. Game 25: Azure Strike Gunvolt (3DS): I consider the game beaten eventhough I haven't beaten the final boss yet. His life bar was empty and one last attack killed and I had to do the two fights again. But this seems beyond my ability. Maybe I'll give the last guy a shot again once I have cooled down but as of now I'm finished with this game. And I liked it. Never played an Mega Man game before and liked the twist with tag and shock Azure Striker offered. The sprites are beautiful crafted, the soundtrack is good and the stages are imo pretty good designed. The bosses look cool so that I can overlook the lacking enemy design. It even has money and a crafting system which both are useless as you only need money to craft some equipment but for that you need materials that you only can get after missions and are randomized. But overall a good game. And just as I typed this I gave it another try and beat it in my first try... Game 26: Mighty Gunvolt (3DS): Short, little sidescroll-shooter. And with short I mean short. You see the credits in less than an hour but it are enjoyable 30 minutes. It's some bits of the above game reimagined as 8-bit. Adds a double jump, drops abilities, the useless upgrade/money system. I don't know what more I can say about it. It's good but nothing special. Game 27: Murasaki Baby (Vita): Got it rhough PS+. It was okay. The art style is similiar to some Tim Burton movies or Little inferno. The main gameplay mechanic is dragging the Baby and its ballon through various worlds to find its mommy. There are different puzzles for which you must use front and rear touch. Most of the time it works well but sometimes it doesn't recognise your action and you have to restart or touch the screen multiple times to finally get the action that you wanted. I'd say give it a try if you have a Vita and grabbed it through PS+, otherwise wait for a sale. Game 28: Chrono Trigger (DSi): Amazing game. Great battle system, detailed and fantastic looking sprites, a good story which doesn't feel confusing even if it stretches over tenthousands of years (though you only visit 5-6 different ages). And for the first time I noticed how things I did in the game influenced other parts. Something you'll change in the past will make a new location or event in the future. I can say nothing bad about the game. I only regret not playing it earlier. Game 29: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD (PS3): I'm missing one chapter and the missions for the true ending. But I just can't play it any longer. The game pisses me just off and I like all the other MGS games. I made it to the first Peace Walker battle. I disliked it as much as the other vehicle and AI battles. After I read that I have one more battle with the Peace Walker I decided to abandon the game. I put too much into it to not consider it beaten so it is my game 29. Will watch the remaining parts on Youtube.
Currently playing: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PC), Splatoon (Wii U)
Don't think I'll finish the Splatoon singleplayer this month even it is shorter than I expected. And I definitly won't finish Trails in the Sky in the last two days of May. So here's my May update.
Game 17
Freedom Wars. Vita
Not sure how many hours I put into it but it was a lot. Loved the hell out of this game, but it actually ended a bit earlier than I thought it would. Might dive into the post game content later, but for now I'm done.
Not played anything I planned to play lately (like Grimrock 2 and Witcher 2). Suddenly wanted to play a quick Nuzlocke and then even more Pokémon. After that I had a desire to start clearing out the few games I have left on a couple of older consoles like PS1. Don't know what to play at all now and I have started around 10 games. Buh.
05-24-15 - Game 53: Pokémon LeafGreen - 30-ish hours
Yeah I remember that I called Kanto boring when playing FireRed earlier this year... but this time I remembered more and had a couple of nice extra rules (Alphabetlocke!) to make the Nuzlocke more interesting. I really wish there was a Gen 4+ remake instead tho. That lack of special/physical split kills me
05-28-15 - Game 54: Pokémon Y - 20-ish hours
Wanted more Pokémon but didn't wanna bother with a Nuzlocke so I ran through this one to get all the version exclusive stuff and transfer them to my main Gen 6 game. This game is sooooo good. I just love Gen 6.
05-29-15 - Game 55: Croc: Legend of the Gobbos - 5 hours? No idea!
Guh, talk about rose-tinted glasses... I sort of remembered this game as almost as good as Spyro from when I was little and loved "3D platforming games with animal protags". The clunky control/camera makes it almost a pain to play. It's better when you rush it a bit but still not at all the enjoyable experience I remember from my childhood.
Platform: PSP (via PS TV) Duration: 4:07 on 5/29/15 Completed: on Normal mode Thoughts: Completed the game as part of Mega May. I must have played Mega Man Maverick Hunter X more times than I did the original SNES game. Even then, it's still not enough compared to the replays I've done across other Mega Man titles. It was a great game nonetheless...though I wish you had access to the various robot parts X uses to upgrade from the very beginning. I like how defeating certain robot master directly affects another master's stage. Also wall climbing was a great addition. It eased the pain of losing Rush. Overall, MM:MH X was a nice remake to the beginning of a great Mega Man spinoff series.
Didn't get to finish a lot of games in May due to finals, ugh.
#28: Mind: Path to Thalamus - Steam
Gorgeous puzzler, breathtaking scenes.. everything else was pretty bad. 4/10
#29: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood - PS4 ($18)
Boring shooter, weak gunplay, and a terrible, terrible last boss. 5/10
#30: Torne - PS4 ($9)
An ICO-esque puzzler, very short, and very bad. 3/10
#31: The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt - PS4 ($58)
A really, really well made open world RPG and easily one of the best titles of current gen. The combat system was so-so tho. 9/10
#32: Halo: ODST - XBO (free)
Nice freebie for the MCC owners, still the worst Halo. 6/10
Since I've gotten this for free on my 3DS, I usually grab it when I'm bored and I've been doing several replays hunting high scores in the main game. Now I've finally gotten through the main game without a game over or warps, scoring somewhere around 600k. It actually wouldn't be that hard anyway, there's only some crucial moments with hammer bros. screwing things up. Fuck em, they might just be the only real challenge in the main run. Anyway, the limited camera is annoying in a few occurences, but I much prefer the tighter controls over the NES original and the level design lends itself really well to speed running.
28. Super Mario World (SNES replay) - 6 hours;
I randomly decided to start this during a hohum afternoon too and it's as great as ever. In fact in my last run it felt a little worn out, but now after a slightly longer break it felt great again, with its highly varied level design, which was still embedded into an actual (intertwined) world, not least because of the tons of secrets it has, plus timeless sprite work and music bringing it to life. 95 exits is now the best I've gotten on my own and for some reason until now I've always overlooked that there's another special world within the special world... The challenge is still decent even with the cape and I like how it gets easier if you actually take your time to unravel more of the world.
