09-17-15 - Game 74: Grandia - 61 hours
Another one of the oldest backlog games cleared and the last PS1 game at the moment! Charming game! I got sad about having to lose party members so often tho. Strange to adventure with someone and then not see them for the whole rest of the game :O The ending was horrible but the way there was fun.
09-23-15 - Game 75: Golden Sun: The Lost Age - 39 hours
I dunno what to think of the fact that it's pretty much just the second half of the whole game. Wasn't a fan of playing with a completely different party but they grew on me. Other than that it's pretty much just the same good game as the first part.
09-26-15 - Game 76: Mean Streets - 8 hours
This was a surprise. Expected something like what the second game ended up being and got positively surprised. I liked it a lot even tho it was a bit drawn out and the travel was mostly dead time. It's old and it shows, of course, but it's really charming.
09-27-15 - Game 77: Martian Memorandum - 7 hours
I liked the story a bit better than the one in Mean Streets, I think, but the gameplay was a letdown after the interesting first game. It also felt older somehow. The sound was worse and the pointy-clicky bits sometimes annoyed me to bits due to pixel hunting. Then we have the hoverboard section... ugh. I'm glad that's over ;D But it's still a good game, just not as cool as the first one was.
Game 47: Antharion - 36 hours
PC
Turn-based rpg with focus on building up your characters' skills and attributes. Finding cool and better items as you quest through big dungeons or in the wilderness. Kill, persuade, barter, pick pocket, lock pick, create potions, identify items or put points in foraging to find more loot or points in lore to find hidden passages. I made 4 custom classes, two handed guy, black mage/archer, gray mage/white mage and a sword and board fighter.
The story is nothing to write home about, but then again the game doesn't take itself all too seriously.
There aren't many tracks, but what's in there is decent. I only wish the tracks were a bit longer.
The environments feel samey for a long part of the game, but you end up in swamps, fiery caves and snowy landscapes. The exploration part and building up your characters is the most fun part of the game. These two aspects of the game raises above decent to very good.
Game 48: 1954 Alcatraz - 5 Hours
PC
Adventure game set in the 1950's. The story is about husband and a wife, trying to get the man out of the prison. It has decent writing, solid soundtrack, nice backgrounds and fairly challenging puzzles that should be possible to complete without much headache. I'd say that this would be a decent entry game if you are interested in trying out the genre.
Well, I've had an unexpectedly busy year but I'm going to try to see how many I can get finished by the end. I've got a few additions...
Game # 13: Ganbare Goemon 3
Super Famicom, 1994
15 hours
2/5
After playing through the completely stellar Legend of Mystical Ninja in one extended playthrough with a friend, we decided to pursue the rest of the Super Famicom games. Some tenuous importing later and we've beaten 2 and 3. My feelings towards 2 were decidedly a lot more mixed than those towards its prequel -- the removal of the quasi-3D sections really hurt the game, in my opinion -- but it was still a good game with some very creative platforming segments.
Ganbare Goemon 3 decided that what this franchise needed was an incredibly boring overworld. That's all there really is to say about it; where Ganbare Goemon 2 was a lesser game than Mystical Ninja by limiting itself to 2D platforming, 3 is an even lesser game than that by adding something that is worse than nothing. There is some very good 2D platforming in here but it's buried under a whole lot of crap that I can't imagine anyone wanting to play.
Game #14: Hyper Bishi Bashi Champ
Arcade, 1999
??? Hours (a lot.)
3/5
This game is a fixture at an arcade in my area, and after several years of casually feeding it quarters a couple of friends and I decided to put in a concerted effort to "beat" it. This, as it turns out, is actually quite challenging, even though the game is essentially just different variations on mashing buttons.
As you might expect, it's not very deep, but there's something about the sheer physical nature of the game that makes it very satisfying. We were also able to track down...
Game #15: Super Bishi Bashi Champ
Arcade, 1998
5 Hours
3/5
...The prequel, which is in many respects a better game. For starters, the minigames themselves are generally of a higher quality, with lower duplicates and better versions of some of the games from Hyper. There's also a grading system and a much more rational lives system -- it is actually possible to 1cc as a group, for example, where Hyper is not because losing lives is based on relative and not absolute performance -- both of which serve to make the game more interesting to play as a whole.
Having said that, you're still just mashing buttons at the end of the day. It's not too much more than an hilarious way to waste an hour and a couple of bucks.
Game #35 - Diablo 3 - 9/12/15 (30+ hours)
This game went from a terrible loot grind for a few extra pennies, to something that I believe almost rivals D2 in terms of replayability. The story sucks compared to D2 but the loot grind just keeps getting better with each new patch. Looking forward to what they have planned for the next expac.
Game #36 - Danganronpa - 9/16/15 (22 hours)
This game had me hooked within the first hour of starting it. I liked the school setting and the majority of the characters along with the entire premise being a huge murder mystery. Most of the killings that I thought would have been obvious who the killer was, ended up always surprising me when things weren't that obvious. I ended up being spoiled on who the mastermind behind it all was about halfway through the game, but in the end I don't feel like it ruined anything, I actually really enjoyed the final hour of it even though the reveal was obvious.
Game #37 - Demon Gaze - 9/29/15 (50 hours)
For the first 2/3rds or so of this I honestly felt like I couldn't stop comparing it to DT and it's gameplay. This wasn't bad exactly, just it left a lot to be desired when it came to how battles played out. The last third actually added some amount of strategy to things and required you to plan battles for a few turns before hitting triangle to just auto everything until something bad happens. I actually ended up platinuming this because there wasn't all that much left after the final boss.
Nice, added to the Hall of Fame for 2015, thanks Viceralbowl!
Game 53: SWAT 4 (PC) - September 17 - 9 hours
Out of Irrational's wheelhouse, SWAT 4 has no real story, humour or characters for that matter. What it does have is top-notch tactical gameplay, each mission is a self-contained puzzle, some very quick with 1-2 perps, others full blown shootouts. A very good thinking-man's shooter.
Game 54: Escape Plan (Vita) - September 21 - 5 hours
Puzzle / Platform game with excellent black & white graphics and textures. 80+ levels, but all are quite short and sweet, ideal for little bursts here and there. Another PS Plus Gem which I may have overlooked otherwise.
Game 55: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3) - September 24 - 10 hours
Would have preferred more exploration levels and less gunplay, but overall a great experience. Solid enough gameplay, but the real star is the characters, voices and the setting and the closest thing to Indiana Jones and Allan Quatermain in gaming to date. Perfect length for this sort of game as well.
Game 56: Ankh (PC) - September 26 - 9 hours
Adventure game that's light on puzzles and long on humor. Too many modern references for my tastes, but this reminds me of a cross between Money Island and the Runaway games and was silly throughout. Had some issues finding stuff on the screen and had to reference a walkthrough.
Game 57: Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (DS) - September 28 - 13 hours
Oh yeah. Layton is now 2 for 2, these games are absolutely perfect. Fun, fast puzzles, charming graphics and characters, I smile every time I load the game up. Puzzles were a notch below the Curious Village (and really easy), but the story cut scenes and voices were more frequent, somewhat evening things out. Anyone with a 3DS/DS needs these games.
One of the first SNES games I owned, On the Ball is the SNES version of Cameltry, which can be roughly summarized as the bridge between Marble Madness and Super Monkey Ball: You move a ball through an environment as quickly as possible by rotating the world around the ball (instead of moving the ball itself).
This is a game that lives and dies based on the quality of the level you happen to be playing. There are a lot of them (almost a hundred) and most of them are good, although many of them are forgettable. Once you get through the first quarter of the game, the mechanics are more or less set in stone; this isn't really a detriment, however, as many of the later stages prove that there is plenty of potential with these tools. When you are playing a good level, this is the kind of game that makes you forget to blink. You may be tasked with making several difficult maneuvers in succession while contending with an always imposing timer. The last level is the epitome of this, being far too long to complete with the given time and therefore requiring you to stop and obtain bonus time along the way. Many of the game's levels are simply too easy to be a real threat, but their inclusion is necessary as they serve to give you the extra time necessary to complete the harder levels.
The game's bad levels are few but they're a real drag when they come. Almost all of them use a mechanic that limits the angle at which you can rotate. On these levels, it is often the case that hitting a time penalty or rolling backwards for a long period of time without any way to put on the brakes is nearly unavoidable. There is some level of unpredictability in the controls and hitboxes; while this unpredictability is generally palatable, it manifests itself in these levels because a single error is often enough to scrap the whole attempt.
You get three credits to complete a given course, which is anywhere from five to eleven stages. Three credits is fairly generous for most of these courses, although this is only because the game allows you to play a lottery for more time whenever you finish a level with only a small amount of time banked for the next one. Without the three credits and the occasional free time, this is a reasonably challenging game, especially the final plus-sized course. It's also pretty replayable, especially if you have someone who wants to compete for time with you. It's ultimately not compelling enough to really justify being called a great game, however, and it'll probably be a few more years before I feel the urge to play through it again.
37: Until Dawn (PS4) - 29th September - approx. 9 hours
Absolutely loved this. I've written a much more detailed breakdown here, but the short version is that this is best application of the David Cage (Quantic Dream) style of game design I've ever played, it's gorgeous, wonderfully acted, brilliantly paced, and it plays up horror clichés to just the right degree without being outright cheesy. Absolutely loved it; my favourite horror game in the last few years. Look forward to replaying it around Halloween. 8.5/10
Now playing: I need to get back to Dark Souls and House of the Dead Overkill on PS3. Also playing some Driveclub on PS4 and I will probably continue with that until I have the Platinum, and I don't know what to play on my Vita at the moment. I am sort of playing GTA; Vice City Stories but I'm finding the controls real hard work and I may just quit that one.
58. Amnesia: The Dark Descent - ~4 hours # The game lacks any tension once you realize that if you're killed by a monster the monster doesn't respawn near you; therefore, the game becomes a game of sprinting around the monster with no real consequence of it killing you. The first few times you encounter a monster, yes, it's quite scary, but the effect wears off towards the end of the game. Also the sanity meter doesn't make things more spooky, just nauseating as the screen warps and blurs, obstructing view of the atmospheric castle. It's disappointing. Hopefully, A Machine for Pigs or SOMA can resolve my issues. Status: Beaten - 9/30/2016
Game 46: Hotline Miami (PC) 4 hours
I've always heard rave reviews about this game. Back when it came out it was one of things that made me want to get into the indie scene. The game is okay. I feel the controls are a little awkward at first and be very unfair since the enemies kill in one shot and have perfect accuracy while the autoaim locks onto the least threatening enemy, the manual aiming is tricky and some enemies take more than one hit. Still, I thought it was okay, the story was stupid IMO, I skipped through most of it. Pretty decent game but no where near the level of excellence to justify the hype.
Game 47: Journey (PS3) 3 hours
Now THIS is a game that lives up to the hype. I was entranced the entire time. The visuals, the world, the gameplay, it's all a top notch presentation. Obviously it's a little too easy, I don't even think you can die and it plays out more as a visual novel. But what it does it does well. I can understand why people are so into this game. I don't take the whole "videogames are a work of art" argument seriously but this game makes me rethink that.
Game 20: Civilization 5 - 10 hours I love this game and I played a game and they're so long but worth it! Beware once you start ill consume you! 9/10
Game 21: Destiny: Takken King (PS4) - 15 hours I'll admit the game story is better, more characters and cut scenes but it's still destiny, there are improvements and I'm happy I tried it again. 7/10
Game 22:Tearaway unfolded: (PS4) - 12 hours This game was amazing! It was so charm and the ending made me incredibly sad/ happy. This is up there with my sack friend but with a few annoying camera angles and dragging on a bit it didn't over through little big planet. 8.5/10
Game 23: Batman arkham knight batgirl dlc (PS4) - 2 hours I may be one of the few to say I liked this a lot, at it's core it's traditional arkham gameplay. No batmobile to ruin it but a bit short and an actual boss fight! 8/10
Game 24: Amnesia: Machine for Pigs (PC) 6 hours okay so I started playing this a year or two back and stopped but started playing it again and man... I found it pretty boring and not that fun. 4/10
Game 25: Evolve (PS4) 5 hours Let me get down to it, I think the game has potential but it fails on many things. The first the matchmaking is terrible, can barely get into a game and drops half of them, as well the game modes for causal are all together! I wanted to play hunt but nope 75% of the time it was arena. The game is also not friendly for new people, I hate playing as the monster and guess what! Every game I was the monster! This game is not worth more then $20! 6/10
Game 26:Resident Evil: Revelation 2 (PS4) -5 hours Well I played through both of these games since I borrowed them and man I actually dislike this game a lot! I got to chapter 3 and quit, the game just is lacking the fun and is a drag. I tried to play it all the way through but can't. I will say for a $20 episodic game its long and okay looking. 4.5/10
A charming little non-linear 2D puzzle-platformer with a nice artstyle and great soundtrack. There are seven stars for you to visit with one or two planets/points-of-interest each. Each star system is a self-contained set of puzzles, using clues from around the system figure out how to get to the items located on the main planet (the game tells you how many there are). Then find the ship battery charger in it to give your ship enough power to move to another one. There are three different kinds of items you need to find, one of each is enough to finish the game but you need the best three to get the good ending. All up there are six different endings, most of them bad or bittersweet but the way they're presented makes a lot of sense.
I have some things to say that aren't really criticisms because I didn't mind them, but I did see some people that have complained about them so it's probably worth mentioning. The resolution is stuck at a boxed or windowed 480 and there's a lot of timed platforming challenges in the game.
Game #17: Darius Gaiden
Saturn, PSX, Arcade, 1995 (I played on the Saturn)
8 hours
4/5
DISCLAIMER: I beat this under somewhat... tenuous circumstances.
I am not a SHMUP player. I have beaten a handful of them over the course of my life, but I would call myself a neophyte at best. This is one that I've owned for a long time and have always somewhat liked but never put in the required effort to beat until now.
I'm really glad I did, because this was a very satisfying game to play. There's a lot of level variety (not to mention a ton of levels due to the branching structure, giving the game added replayability) and a ton of interesting enemies to fight. There are stages where you are bombarded by asteroids and stages where you must carefully navigate odd underwater mazes with few thematic repeats across the 26(?) levels. They're all relatively balanced in difficulty, too, and I never found myself in a situation where I'd screwed myself by picking a level that was too hard for its placement. The only exception to this is on the final tier, where one of the levels I picked was almost certainly a lot easier than the others I'd tried.
As to be expected, this is a pretty difficult game. You are restricted to three credits on the Saturn, and I definitely really needed them; I had one life remaining by the time I saw the credits and no bombs. There's a lot of shit flying at you, and the game is a very dangerous place past the first couple of levels. The game is insultingly generous with powerups (which increase the difficulty of the game when you pick them up, by the way), and it's probably because if you do any dying at all it's pretty easy to lose all of your lives in a snowball effect. In fact, the time I finished the game I had only lost one life in the whole game and died something like eight times on the last boss.
...The other thing I did the time that I beat the game was use the apparently controversial autofire cheat on the recommendation of someone who was a regular player of games in the genre (if you google this problem, you'll see that a lot of people, perhaps the majority, seem to recommend using this autofire cheat). The default fire rate in this game is slow. So slow, in fact, that you will probably spend the whole game mashing the two fire buttons as fast as you can to get the kind of damage output that's necessary to not get bodied by the thousands of deadly fish the game throws at you. I'll be honest: I was getting stonewalled because I couldn't figure out a way to play this game that wasn't incredibly painful. The autofire cheat definitely gets rid of this problem, but it fires so fast that it renders some of the early bosses a joke and makes some situations where a lot of things are thrown at you at once more manageable. Incidentally, the game is still tough as nails for a guy like me and it was only after a fair amount of practice that I was able to beat it even with the autofire enabled.
I've heard that you can use certain emulators to control the cycle rate of the autofire, and I'll probably check this game out on one of those emulators somewhere down the line. Using the ridiculously fast autofire that the cheat gets you feels a bit like cheating and the game is a little more tense without it, but compared to the actual physical pain of playing without it? It's no contest that the game is more fun with it on.
This is a game that I would probably call a 5/5 if I didn't feel like I had to cheat to beat it.
Side note: Before anyone calls me out on calling mashing buttons "incredibly painful", I have pre-existing wrist issues that make me particularly sensitive to this problem. I suspect that many people find the mashing tolerable and even enjoyable, but it was a bit too much for me.
#47. 10 Second Ninja (PC) - 0.5 hours
★★★☆☆
It's a time trial game in which levels are completed in a matter of seconds. The goal is to kill every enemy on screen using a sword and three shurikens. It's a twitch platformer, but also a puzzle game since you have to find the optimal path and the best use of your limited projectiles to finish on time. Much like each individual level, the game is over quickly, but it's fun while it lasts. If you're into getting the top rank on every level, you could spend a lot more time with it.
It's a one (sometimes two) button auto-platformer that's played in reverse. Moving backwards through time is a pretty interesting concept, but the game does nothing interesting with it. You have to un-collect coins and un-kill enemies to prevent a time paradox from occurring. There are also some coins and enemies that you have to avoid for the same reason. When you break it down, it's just a boring, restrictive platformer that fails to capitalize on its only gimmick. The game doesn't even follow its own logic at times. There are blocks that break when you walk over them (shouldn't they reappear?), enemies shoot at you in ways that don't make sense when reversed back to forward time, and the difficulty increases as you get closer to the "start". It's just totally uninspired.
It's sort of a twin stick shooter, but instead of total freedom of movement with the left stick, you can only jump between two points. It's very simple and doesn't have much depth, but it's fun to play. The game is very energetic and features some great pixel art. It definitely earns its $2 price tag.
Game 40: Super Time Force Ultra
Steep learning curve but once you learn how to use the system there is fun to be had with this game. Not a huge fan though.
Game 41: Final Horizon
Short tower defense game that actually tries something different with the formula. Fixed scenarios with a couple of options available but with levels that last around 60-90 seconds which promotes quick thinking and tactics. A game that actually surprised me a lot.
At the recent pace and with new games coming out, I'm starting to doubt the 52 games in a year objective. Sports games don't count which also don't help considering how much of them I buy and play. Also not enough time available to play...
Post 5 progress as of 11/21/15: 98 games completed versus initial target of 52 games (+46 games over target)
My personal ground rules (copied from my OP):
1. If I own all episodes of an episodic game when I start playing, then beating them all counts as just one game.
If I own just the one episode (ex. Game of Thrones, Republique) then that counts as one game by itself... But subsequently buying and finishing more episodes (if I liked the first) will not add to my completed game count.
2. Games finished in 2015 all count, regardless of when I started them. This is supposed to be backloggery!
3. No "re-finishing" any short games I've already beaten for purposes of padding my stats, unless i'm revisiting the game for Platinum run.
Note: the entries listed below without a "finished" date listed are stubs, representing half-finished games; I'm using this as a work-in-progress checklist. I'll be editing the post to reflect completion as I progress.
Game 85: Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, Enter The Dominatrix DLC, How The Saints Save Christmas DLC (PS4) - 22 hours
SR4 and both DLC packs finished 10/3/15
I have a love-hate relationship with this game, despite being a huge fan of Saints Row 3. It still is packed to the brim with lots of fun toys to mess with, from flexible superheroic powers (in the vein of Crackdown) and the wackiest weapon set in any open-world game ever.
But the way it's executed is just so ham-handed - it's incredibly obvious that Volition is just making work through a long checklist of the same mission archetypes, repeated ad infinitum (Yes, guys, even if you joke about it in the actual game script, this doesn't make it OK). I struggled to get this one out of the way... It doesn't help that they made it a requirement to finish all the side content to see the "real ending", which is a really scummy way to discourage early second hand sales.
Also, PSA: this PS4 version is a quick and dirty Iron Galaxy port. If you're looking for appreciable improvement in visual fidelity, try the PC version, I suppose.
Game 86: Saints Row: Gat Out Of Hell (PS4) - 5 hours 15 minutes
Finished 10/4/15 Counted this as a separate game from SR4: separate trophy list, different mechanics.
Surprisingly, I loved this so much more than its sister game, SR4 - the flight mechanic is absolutely fantastic and makes getting around a lot of fun by itself. It's soothing - like a glider that allows you a finite amount of "boosts" to keep your speed up and prevent you from stalling out.
It also has one of my favorite weapons in any game ever - a weaponized La-Z-Boy with miniguns in the armrests. And when you pull on the "recline" lever, it shoots out Macross-style missile volleys. Fabulous!
Game 87: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered (PS4) - Around 6 1/2 hours
Finished 10/11/15
Man, Drake's Fortune really didn't hold up very well.
I admire the technical improvements that Bluepoint implemented to make Uncharted 1 look more modern, but the gameplay is still straight up 2007, and it shows. The fixed aiming and 60fps presentation do a lot to push this toward decency though... Had a fun enough time rolling through Crushing again and nabbing all the treasures. It was pretty funny realizing that I still knew all the cheap tricks required to get around choke points like the cathedral and the end game section, those strats must have been permanently burned into my brain due to the trauma, LOL.
I'll save the Plat run for later though, as I really wanna get into Among Thieves again.
Game 88: Persona 4: Ultimax (PS3) - Around 10 hours
Beaten 10/24/15
Did not enjoy this at all... As a noted non-fan of Arc System Works fighters, I forced my way through this just to say I had finished it. Its really strange, as I enjoyed the first P4A quite a lot - the story mode of this half-sequel just seems a lot more repetitive and asinine for some reason.
To add insult to injury, I hated most of the new characters as well - Yukari, Junpei, Marie and Rise (oh God, especially Rise... WTF) were all disappointing. Adachi is pretty fun to use though.
Game 89: Persona 4: Dancing All Night (PSV, American copy) - 10 hours, 15 minutes
Finished 10/25/15
After beating the Japanese version earlier in the year, I didn't have high hopes for DAN... Got roped into playing again after I impulse bought the Disco Fever edition. But I gotta say, I enjoyed this RTTP much more than I expected... The plot's nowhere near as bad as P4A, and the gameplay has actually grown on me! I'm concurrently playing Superbeat Xonic and Rock Band 4, and P4D just might still be my personal rhythm game of the year.
I now have only one more game to go before I can say I've beaten every Persona 4-related game ever created. Unfortunately, it's a doozy: Persona Q. *shivers*
Game 90: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (PS3) - 6 1/2 hours
Finished 10/25/15
Been meaning to get around to this as I've heard excellent feedback from trustworthy sources... Was not disappointed.
Perfect length for a arcadey FPS, 6+ hours... The middling frame rate didnt cripple my enjoyment very much, which surprised me. The game's dual wielding revolvers are officially one of my favorite weapons, most enjoyable guns I've had the pleasure of using in an FPS. Eat lead, motherf***ers!!! So fun.
Game 91: Super House of Dead Ninjas (PC) - 2 hours as per Steam
Finished 11/1/15
A palate cleanser after playing so many AAA games concurrently, I bought this game off a GAF recommendation thread and was not disappointed. One of the best twitch action platformers I've ever played, SHDN is incredibly challenging but equally rewarding. I've basically only scratched the surface (beat the game on normal, with additional bosses available in the "hard" tower, and plan to come back for more playthroughs every so often.
Game 92: Treasures of Montezuma 4 (PC) - 4 hours as per Steam
Finished 11/1/15
Treasures of Montezuma Blitz on the PSV is my favorite puzzle game of all time. Yes, it was F2P, although I never actually indulged. But there was just something about the way it forced you to make ridiculous combos to keep your streak alive that ticked my lizard brain.
I've been buying the shit out of TOM games ever since, trying to find something that would give me the same "hit", but it's just not happening... TOM4 was yet another failure. They locked the superfun quest mode behind an odious "story" mode that has little redeeming value, with themed stages no one asked for and poor game balancing.
The rub? When you finally do unlock the quest mode, you're so OP from all the XP you gathered in Story that you can walk through stages like they were nothing. Freaking A, Alawar!
Game 93: The Bureau: XCOM Declassified [DirectX11] (PC) - 13 hours as per Steam
Finished 11/5/15
I thoroughly enjoyed The Bureau! Absolute shocker as the feedback has been universally mediocre.. Looked and ran fantastic on my rig, and that Mass Effect "feel" of roadie running into cover is spot on.
I think this game was unfairly crushed by the weight of A) living up to the XCOM name, and B) living up to the expectations of being an ME clone, neither of which it does particularly well. But taken on its own, its a pretty respectable B-level game that does smart things with the retro setting.
Wait for a sale (I got it for like 2 bucks) and give it an open-minded shot - you might be pleasantly surprised.
Game 94: Mafia II (PS3) - around 12 hours
Finished 11/14/15
Found this while slashing away at my PS Plus junk (to make room for SFIV AE!), and gave it a chance. Great fun, incredible sense of place. Am considering buying Mafia III on PS4 as a result.
I finally finished it on November 14th, and my opinion didnt diminish in the slightest. If judged as an open-world game, you can see its faults - the size of the city isn't all that big, and despite the small scope there's little in the way of side content. However, judging it as a story-based cover shooter, it's actually pretty damn good. Maybe my love of The Mob in general is overriding my common sense here?
Game 95: Shovel Knight (PS4, retail copy)- Around 7 1/2 hours
Finished 11/15/15
I shouldn't have waited for a retail copy.
I shouldn't have waited for a retail copy.
I shouldn't have waited for a retail copy.
I shouldn't have waited for a retail copy.
Not because the retail package is anything less than awesome (it's so awesome), but if I had played this in 2014, I could have called it Game of the Year.
This was a shock to the system for an old school gamer like me, as it rips liberally from many 8-bit sources (spoilers, obvs) while still maintaining a wonderful personality all its own:
Rockman: Eight "robot masters", the Dr. Wily stages after the fact, the jump physics in water, the disappearing blocks you have to time, the climbing and attack animations while on ladders
Mario 3: The world map, the way wandering enemies move one space when you exit a stage, the propensity for hiding secret paths at the top of the screen
Castlevania: Hiding items in the walls
Ducktales: Being able to pogo, natch
And many more I'm sure i missed.
I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH! If you liked Mega Man back in the day, you need the shit outta this.
Game 96: The Lord of The Rings: War In The North (PS3) - 15 hours
Finished 11/18/15
And the Plus games continue to fall like dominoes! This was surprisingly enjoyable, albeit janky as hell... Ostensibly an action RPG LOTR, Snowblind Studios left most of the RPG stuff on the kitchen sink.
I began playing as the magic using elf chick and wasnt feeling it all that much... Then I switched over to the Gimli-clone dwarf guy and immediately started having a lot of fun. The feel of the combat is impressive - sword swings feel like they have a lot of weight and result in showers of gore in the vein of Shadows of Mordor. (Given that I didnt even bother to remember the character names, you might assume the writing was pap - you'd be correct).
Game 97: The Starship Damrey (3DS) - 1 hour 52 minutes
Finished 11/19/15
What the hell did I just play? :-(
Ostensibly a puzzle-based horror game from Level 5, this was an absolute chore to get through. The controls and interface are extremely clunky, and the gameplay is as simple as it gets.
TSD also falls into the same pit that Capcom ran into all those years ago (when they tried to port Resident Evil 1 to the Game Boy Color) - It's extremely difficult to induce fear if the hardware a game is running on is unable to convincingly set up that horror atmosphere.
Game 98: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux (PC) - 3 1/2 hours
Finished 11/21/15
I was hesitant to buy VoEC because I heard it was a walking simulator - I was lukewarm on similar titles like Gone Home (although i did enjoy The Stanley Parable). I eventually gave in after Redux came out, because I wanted to see how Unreal Engine 4 ran on my laptop.
After finishing the game, I'm happy to say my fears were unfounded - there's enough exploration and puzzle solving involved in this to validate it as a "real game". Quite enjoyed the story, it has a
Lovecraftian
feel to it...
One caveat: It's probably because I've been spoiled by the hand-holding nature of modern games, but damn if I wasn't lost a lot. Ah well, at least I got to look at some awesome scenery while meandering around.
=========
Targeted for completion (running tab, subject to change):
Game 99: Code: Realize -Guardian of Rebirth- (PSV)
I gave this otome game a shot just to see what it was like, and have been pleasantly surprised thus far. Beat the game using one path yesterday, but will add to the completed list after I clear them all.
Game 100: The Last Tinker: City of Colors (PS4, retail copy)
In my quixotic quest to eventually finish every platformer ever, I have to begin wading through the crap eventually. The Last Tinker is part of that crap.
Game 101: Psychonauts (PC)
I never finished the PS2 version back in the day, as the framerate was making me sick. This PC port is much more technically agreeable, and its been fantastic so far - One of my favorite Tim Schafer games, and that's saying a lot. 8 hours in..
Game 102: Resident Evil Revelations 2 - Disc Ver. (PS4)
Done with episode 2!
Game 103: Ultimate Marvel VS. Capcom 3 (PSV) -
I totally missed the boat on this at Vita launch, as I was still salty over Capcom giving us UMVC3 so soon after vanilla MVC3. This is AMAZING for a portable fighter.
Game 104: Grand Theft Auto V (PS4) - DURATION PLAYED
The PS4 run.
Game 105: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Premium Edition (PS3)
Downloadable backlog
Game 106: Destiny (PS4) - DURATION PLAYED
Stopped midway through (distracted by MP), will push through to the end.
Game 107: If My Heart had Wings (PC)
Another title that I have been chomping at the bit to play, but have been unable to until now due to its PC exclusivity. Visual novel goodness!
Game 108: Tales of Monkey Island - Ep.1-5 (PS3)
Bought off the flash sale weekend of March 21 for $1. Just finished 100%ing ep1 (3/21/15).
Game 109: Jurassic Park - Ep.1-4 (PS3)
Bought off the flash sale weekend of March 21 for $1. Just finished 100%ing ep1 (4/18/15). Not looking good.
#12 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES VC onWii U) (06:25:00) - 100% run. All Heart Pieces, all weapons and items, and all Bomb & Arrow upgrades. No dying either, thanks to VC letting you suspend. Proof.
4h-ish. Completed game in Normal mode. Do not be fooled by the fact that I spent 4h on this game - it's a 90 minute game, tops. It's just that I spent like 2h stuck on the BRUTAL final boss. Astebreed is a great game, frenetic, action-filled and with hints of an underlying good story, but it's way too short to fulfill on that premise - and the difficulty curve consists of "Easy, enjoyable game > Hellish final boss", which is not that hard compared to other bullet hell titles, but it's enough of a departure from the usual pace up until that point to catch you off guard.
50. Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Vita) Completed Story Mode on Standard/Normal with all Brilliant scores, completed Free Dance on Easy and Normal with a mix of Brilliant and King Crazy scores.
Dancing All Night is an odd beast. On the one hand, it gets many things right. It sounds good and it looks good. That's all you need, right? Unfortunately, everything else is a bit lacking. First, Story Mode. I'm still torn over how much I dislike Dancing All Night's story, and discussing why is a huge post in itself. Suffice it to say that there were plenty of moments where I was distracted by other things while the story was going on. There's too much repetition around the enemy encounters, too much repetition of the game's central theme of "expressing your feelings to each other through the power of dance," and just too much weightless positivity all around. That said, there are things I really liked about the story as well (telling why could be considered a spoiler), so it's not all bad.
Second is the actual gameplay. I had an inkling that Dancing All Night could potentially be the rhythm game I liked the least out of this year's bumper crop. My premonition is coming true, but for unexpected reasons. Having the notes fly to the sides of the screen instead of one general area in the center is troublesome, yes, but not as bad as I thought when I first saw footage of the game. Instead, the problem is the note charts themselves. Better people than I have articulated these problems, but if you asked me to sum up the problem: the note charts have no swing.
Where other rhythm games like Project Diva f or IA/VT will generally map to actual sounds in the song or follow its beat, Dancing All Night stubbornly sticks to a rigid meter even when the song doesn't. It'll also make up its own patterns that vaguely track the song it plays over top of but don't actually match the song. This not only makes it harder to sight-read charts, it also makes it harder to rely on the sound of the song to play, as doing so will often lead to mistakes. To me, the reason why I like rhythm games is because when you get in sync with the music, it feels like the notes just flow naturally through your fingers into the game. Dancing All Night almost never feels like this, and that's a huge problem for me.
Dancing All Night will likely be the last Persona 4 game, and frankly I'm kind of glad. Thanks in part to the final chapter of the game
that you unlock after finishing Free Dance on any difficulty
, I do feel like we've given the cast a decent sendoff. More to the point, I'm not sure I want another game of note charts that make me hate myself. So maybe don't make a Persona 5: Dancing All Night unless you get some better charts, Atlus.
Being that I hated Arkham City, I wasn't expecting much from the last Rocksteady game, and I bought into the negativity surrounding the Batmobile. Imagine my surprise when in fact I loved this game, and quite liked the Batmobile segments. There were a few too many tank shooting parts and way too many Riddler trophies but beyond that, this actually surpassed Asylum and Origins for me. I felt like it had direction and focus where City was haphazard.
October
49. Undertale / 14 hrs
WOW. Beat it twice to get the True Pacifist ending, absolutely loved it. Such a surprise!
50. A Beginner's Guide / 2 hrs
AN interesting little experiment that I quite respected.
51. Armikrog. / 5 hrs
Ugh. Visuals are so lovely, but really there's barely anything else here. It feels like Act 1 of a 5 act game, there's barely any narrative to speak of, and just the barest veneer of character and dialog. But I didn't back this and I got it for very cheap, so I am not too upset. Just so much wasted potential.
52! Corpse Party / 10 hrs
Really loved the narrative and sound design, mostly hated the trial and error gameplay. It would've worked better had I played it back before VLR and Until Dawn did similar type of gameplay much smoother with less repetition. Will still continue with this series.
1227 hrs / 52 games
And I made it to 52(and will keep going)! FF14 definitely inflated my hour count and took away my whole summer!
Forgot to write an update in like months. Original post with links to all my impressions here.
Game 33: Rocket League - 20+ hours - August 23rd, 2015
Rocket League is in every way, a joy to partake in. Whether it's actually playing the game, sharing highlights, talking shop or watching "Pro" matches, there's an infectious thrill that pervades the game. I showed it to a friend and he asked, "Is this the PS4/PC's Splatoon?" meaning "is this their weird, unique multiplayer title?" and for me, it has been that. The game provides a multiplayer scene that is more addictive than anything I've played in recent years. Perhaps part of the appeal centers around that old adage "easy to play, hard to master." Getting into a game of Rocket League is easy as pie. But mastering spins, flips, boosts and all those "MLG" worthy moments is hard as nails. And the best part is that the game makes me want to chase those skills. It's intimidating, but it manages to still be welcoming. The game is just plain fun. Everything works in tandem to create those aforementioned thrills...but more importantly, it creates a sense of fun. Personalizing your car with wacky accessories. A pulsating and awesome OST. Bright, vibrant colors. A sense of speed, and a sense of achievement. The whole game works as an amazingly complete package. I'm marking it as "completed" because I got the Platinum trophy and feel like taking a break now. Mind you, I'm not done with the game, but I need a breather.
- 10/10
Game 34: Until Dawn - 7+ hours - September 7th, 2015
This game is way, way, WAY better than it had any right to be. I was excited for it but kind of expected it to be an average game, maybe one that bordered on the old "so bad it's good" trope. But lo and behold, the game isn't ironically good. It's legitimately good, full stop. Instead of taking itself so seriously that it became a self-parody, the game seems to have a healthy awareness of the cliches and tropes that it's pulling from 90s horror movies. And the self-awareness is charming. The game never seemed intent on swaying me to believe in some self-serious story. It knows that its primary goal is to stay fun. I was also impressed by Until Dawn seeming to be comfortable with you actually not liking the characters (at least at first). The characters really play into the awkward, horny, vulgar teenager cliches, and the game is alright doing that. And it just works, so damn well. So what really stands out then, is the well done writing. Also impressive though is how good the game looks and sounds. The Killzone Engine did wonders for this game, although the whole "uncanny valley" facial issue crops up here. In some scenes that should have been tense, I found myself examining character's faces and commenting on how weird they looked...rather than appreciating the tension. But perhaps more important than "dem gwaphics" is how they manipulated the engine with camera work. I love how Jim Sterling described what they accomplished:
What I love most about Until Dawn is how it’s taken that “look behind you” urgency from the movies it apes and transferred it flawlessly to the videogame medium. Except here, you’re screaming “I need to look behind myself,” and you can’t. You’re controlling a character who has no idea they’re being stalked, and you feel like you’re leading a lamb to the slaughter. It’s an astoundingly disarming and creepy thing to deal with.
I ended up playing the game with three other friends through the night for hours straight. It made for a brilliantly fun experience as we switched off the controller when character perspectives changed, and had group debates on which choices to make. Personally, I'm not someone who really enjoys horror games or horror movies. But Until Dawn instilled a healthy appreciation for both in me. On top of that it also strengthened my adoration of "interactive movie" type games. Until Dawn really made me feel justified in believing that interactive movie-games can be something great.
- 9/10
Game 35: Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain - 60+ hours - September 18th, 2015
Disappointment. That's the first word that comes to mind when reflecting on MGSV. Actually, that's not totally true. The first thing that comes to mind is the voice in my head going "UGHHHHHH." I'm probably one of the people with some of the most negative impressions of the game. Of course, there's all the obvious complaints. Quiet is ridiculous. The story's pacing is absolutely terribly conceived. Chapter 2 is terrible. Motherbase management is a chore at best. The missing Mission 51, and possibly other missing Chapters leaves an unfinished product behind. But my feelings of disappointment went deeper. The core gameplay that is so touted, is indeed...well, great. But there's not enough substance engaging that gameplay to keep me interested. Sure, there's a myriad of routes and equipment pieces and such. But there's not enough interesting content to use it on. Main missions range from fantastic to blah. Side op missions are nearly without exception, blah. More importantly, I feel that the game is too easy. Much like my experience with TW3 earlier this year, after the tense first 10 or so hours, the difficulty just fell off a cliff. In the first 10-15 hours, I was weighing the risks of fultoning a good soldier, tracking my suppressor durability, worrying about weather and generally feeling really immersed in the tactical infiltration. Then by mid to late game, I had better suppressors, wormhole fultons, silenced non-lethal snipe rifles and buddies that can sniff out every enemy and/or kill them. The game became a cakewalk. And I've been told what I think is frankly a lazy excuse, like "just equip less powerful gear." Why? Should I have just removed some of my armor or one of my swords in TW3? Why should I handicap myself to make a game interesting? A well-designed game (at least in my mind) should give me more powerful equipment and then give me appropriate consequences/cost for using them. A well-designed game challenges me as a player and force me to adapt to novel situations. Sure, soldiers will adapt and throw on some gas masks or wear helmets. But by and large, they seem to do the same stupid stuff at the beginning of the game as they do at the end. It seemed like they could have done so much more with the AI than what they did. The only time I really felt a sense of accomplishment was when touching Subsistence missions, but even that felt contrived. It's amazing that the shorter experience of Ground Zeroes feels more memorable and worthwhile after TPP. Maybe I'm being overly harsh, but I think it's interesting to contextualize my disappointment with the fact that I'm not a long-term, hardcore MGS fan. I went into the game having played part of MG1 and MGS1. And I expected more and I guess I just didn't find it here. Still a good game, but not one that's not for me, and I'm at peace with that now.
- 7/10
Game 36: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - 5.5+ hours - September 26th, 2015
This game was a great linear follow up to the gigantic, overwhelming sandbox of MGSV. The unique narrating style was a breath of fresh air, and I absolutely loved how the narration itself would result in level design changes right in front of my very eyes. There were touches that felt absolutely brilliant, such as the dialogue between Silas' audience while he goes to pee and the game becomes basically paused. The artstyle was surprisingly nice and the gameplay just felt satisfying. Nailing combos and headshots just felt good. The thing that made me really love the game though was that it respected my time and it knew when the hell to end. Too many games try to get long in the tooth, but Gunslinger knows when to close up shop. My only complaint was that there were times when it seemed like the game could use a few less corridors and maybe a few more "arena" type areas in between corridors. If the game had been any longer, the simplicity of gameplay mechanics and fewness of weapon types might have been a problem as well. But with its perfect length, that's not a factor at all. Highly recommended.
-9/10
Game 37: The Beginner's Guide - 81 minutes - October 5th, 2015
The entire review is spoiled because there's no way to talk about it without spoiling something of it.
I've played a lot of games over the years, but I don't know of one that has actually made me feel as physically discomforted as this one. I understand that Coda isn't real, but I still don't know if I'm settled on how I think Davey relates himself to Coda. Is it his subconscious, his artsy side? Is it all just bullcrap made up to create a game? I dunno. But to some extent, that's not totally important. Whoever's struggles were being described, they felt real, almost too real. They made me feel literally uneasy. At times I looked away from the screen while the narration rolled, not because I was bored but because I was feeling awkward. I felt like someone, whoever they were, was opening their soul to me. And without actually knowing the individual, I just felt wrong. More importantly though, the issues being described hit home. The depression. The loneliness. The need for validation. The creative dead ends. The destructive clamor for me to create more, more and more stuff. The closing people off. I've been there. I get it all. And I say that as someone who doesn't work in game design. A lot of my free time is spent doing graphic design work. And I've felt almost all of those things. And it burns and it hurts, and it's uncomfortable being reminded of that. This isn't a game that is meant to be "liked" per se, but one that's meant to be experienced and reflected on. And in that regard, I'm glad it was made. I don't think I can ever give it a score though.
A few brilliant moments of either gameplay or narrative bogged down by the most generic AAA game design and redundantly stupid story bits.
Fighting and sneaking is still fun enough, batmobile driving and a few puzzles later on with it were cool, but not only is the overdrawn batmobile fighting tedious, but it also completely breaks immersion. It's so dumb.
Worst part might be the sidequests though, which are needed for the ending. At first you might be encouraged by a couple of encouners, until you realize how repetitive the sidequest structure is. Almost all of them become fetch quests which are repeated over and over in almost identical fashion, while a few others on the other hand were barely a single cutscene and 1 minute of gameplay for certain villains. Only the Riddler line was worthwhile, maybe a few others for the first time, but not after repeating the same mission 3-5 times. And speaking of villains, the only boss fights are batmobile tank fights later on. Way to waste the IP.
They finally got much better character designs, but the environments have become a little too generic. And that comes from someone who loves both night and rain to look at. It lacks the fantastical Batman feeling, now it's some pseudo nolan-esque take, in which the supernatural stuff feels more out of place than ever. Scarecrow is awesome, yet he takes the backseat for that redundant Arkham Knight plot, which is not only reason for that immersion-breaking drone drama, but it's also completely trite and oozes with generic tropes. The other games were also cheesy, but this is also full of such trite ,,twists" at every corner, featuring the most annoying Batman villain ever conceived. I also don't know how it is in the comics, but Joker is also a little devalued by the mythology in here.
I was having a lot of fun with this game until it became evident that it was physically impossible for me to mash hard enough to beat the fourth or fifth boss. To say that it ruined my fun would be an understatement. Why is the counter beam mechanic tied almost entirely to this button mashing? I have no idea. There are so many more interesting alternatives.
Game 51: Fallout 3 - 20 hours10/8/15 I did not like this game at all. It took me pretty much all year to force myself to beat it. Way too clunky for me. I might have been able to get past that if the gameplay was even remotely interesting but it's all just fetch quests and stilted conversation. The combat was unenjoyable and clunky with or without the VATS. I get the appeal of the series, my younger brother loves it, but it's just not for me. I planned on playing through New Vegas as well but I don't think that's going to be happening any more!
Game 52: Mushroom 11 - 8 hours10/21/15[/] I loved this! It felt completely original. I don't think they nailed down the main game mechanic 100% so I'd love to see what they do in a sequel of some sort. The way the fungus grows and how it seeks out (or doesn't!) little crevices leads to a lot of inconsistency and doing the same thing over and over with differing results. I don't understand why the growth stops in air either, there's tons of potential for gameplay there. Even though all the little quirks added up to a lot of frustration and aggravation at certain points I feel comfortable saying this was one of my favorite games the year. I've still got a few to finish that I've already started and tons more in my backlog but I'm pretty excited to have actually made it to 52 and feel like this was a great game to reach the goal with.
Game 53: Human Resource Machine - 5 hours10/25/15 I loved this. I've never taken the time to fully wrap my head around coding but for the most part it was manageable and a lot of fun. It takes a pretty big jump in difficulty towards the end and I had to break down and get some help online (I'm so ashamed!) but otherwise I enjoyed figuring things out. Reaching the optimization goals was really rewarding. I had one aha moment where I realized I could sort of flip a particular process in reverse and significantly reduce the number of steps. Felt so good after that.
Game 54: Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 - 9 hours11/11/15 I've played and enjoyed all the CoD campaigns but I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. I don't like all the MP stuff creeping into SP. I don't need player progression and customized loadouts. The story was interesting but nothing special. The last few missions really got away from typical CoD and I had a lot of fun with the new traversal mechanics.
Game 55: Yoshi's Woolly World - 17 hours12/9/15 This was a ton of fun! Lots of variety in gameplay and super challenging. The music and art were both great. 100% it is going to drive me insane.
I can't believe I actually did it. I thought it wasn't going to happen when I first started and was unemployed so a few weeks later when I started working again I was sure I'd never make it. Thankfully portables exist so I was able to sneak a few extra games in during my down time at work. Somehow I managed to keep up with the challenge and play the Rayman Legends challenges everyday too! Now that the pressure is off I hope I don't slow down too much. There are still a lot of games that I wanted to play when I first started this that I haven't gotten around to yet so I'll try to add some more before the year is over and maybe make beating that number next years goal.
Currently Playing:Yoshi's Island, Battalion Wars, Killzone: Liberation.
Game 48: Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PS3) 2.5 hours
I bought this game while it was on a flash sale. Now that I've gotten around to playing it, I was surprised to find that it was made by the same guys who did Guacamelee. There's even a few references to that game in here. This game is okay. It plays like an extremely simplified 2D Katamari. The puzzles were very mild, the game was very short and easy, each time I put down the controller I did it because the game had become tiring to play. On the plus side, I thought the controls and physics were well thought out and I like the 1950's vibes. The game has its charm, but it's definitely no Guacamelee in either charm or gameplay. There's also a little bit of scaling that happens, as you eat more and the blob gets bigger, but this was only really noticeable and put to good use in the last level where you start out in the streets and end up eating the whole city. The game is okay but playing it feels like having a brain slug on your head because the game is so monotone and unexciting at times.
Game 49: DLC Quest (PC) 1 hour
I bought this on sale and had a great time with it! I unlocked all the extras and "DLC" which I guess is the point of the game. I'm starting to really like parody games. The game was very boring towards the end but overall not a bad waste of an hour.
Dude, #52 has to be Yoshi's Island! It's one of the best games of all time. When I couldn't afford the game I bought the Japanese version and played through that.
I can't believe you didn't like Fallout 3! Oh well, different strokes for different folks I guess.
Main post
-- Game 61: Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin Platyime: 91:00 (100%
) Start/Finish August 27th, 2015 - September 14th, 2015
//Was disappointed at first, but it clicked and soon became another instant favorite. I might like it more than the first Dark Souls in some ways. All the hate is undeserved.
Game 62: Tales of Xillia 2 Playtime: 30:41 Start/Finish: August 9th, 2015 - September 17th, 2015
//Eh, I'm pretty fatigued with the series now. Might skip Zestiria. Didn't stop the game from being good though. Great characters as always, nice story, combat could be better, and Ludger being silent until NG+ is stupid.
Game 63: Bloodborne Playtime: 32:52 (100%
) Start/Finish: September 19th, 2015 - September 28th, 2015
//My least favorite "Souls" game so far, guess I just prefer the Dark Souls medieval setting. Lacked variety and some areas were just really annoying. I did enjoy it for the most part though, but it could be better.
Game 64: The Guided Fate Paradox Playtime: 32:00 Start/Finish: April 28th, 2015 - October 3rd, 2015
//Really cool game. Loved the premise and the characters. Story was satisfying.. the actual gameplay though.. eh. Found myself just skipping stuff near the end as it became more and more tedious.
#46: Super Mario Maker - 169 hours ★★★★★
Tremendous. SMM was my most anticipated game of the year and it managed to exceed my expectations. Most surprising is how fun the creation tool is, even to simply mess around and experiment with no particular goal in mind. It feels exhilarating when you come up with a new gimmick or concept and so satisfying when a level comes together. It's also given me a deeper appreciation for the original games' design and a better understanding of game development to a degree. Unfortunately the in-game curation system is almost useless for discovering well-made levels, and the lack of slopes and checkpoints are glaring omissions. Still, the value here is incredible. If you know where to search, you'll find so many amazing levels out there that could fill a Mario game many times over.
Abandoned: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
I played about an hour of this before giving up on it. The driving and physics are fun, but I hated anything on foot and the shooting was godawful. The streets felt weirdly empty and there's too much pop-in, making driving fast vehicles a chore. The technology was really holding this game back and made it un-enjoyable in my opinion. I completed Liberty City Stories on the PS2, but I also gave up on Chinatown Wars on the Vita. Maybe I just don't get along with the handheld instalments.
38: Knightmare Tower (Android) - 7th October - approx. 2 hours
I've completed the main quest and had a crack at the Survival mode, but without an end goal to work towards I'm more or less done with this. The basic premise is that you're a knight who has to ascend a huge tower to rescue princesses and by slashing downwards at enemies you're propelled upwards. You steer by tilting the phone and slash by tapping the screen. It's really simple but very enjoyable, with an excellent progression system and perfect for the mobile format. Probably in my top 5 mobile games ever. 8.5/10
39: Goat Simulator (PS4) - 8th October - approx. 4 hours
Bought this a couple of days ago as it was on offer for £3.60ish, because it looked fun and I knew my daughter would like it too, and as a silly side-dish I thought it was great. I began to tire of it a little by the time I'd explored the second map, but it's fun and silly and irreverent and watching stuff ragdoll and fall down seems like it would take a long time before it got old. I got all the trophies except for Flappy Goat. Fuck Flappy Goat. It feels like the game is trolling having pretty much all of the trophies being incredibly easy, and then having that one which is tough as nails. Fuck Flappy Goat. 7/10
Currently playing: Tearaway Unfolded (PS4), Major Mayhem (Android), and I'm not sure what to play next on my Vita. Should try and finish up Ys: Memories of Celceta or Velocity Ultra.
While I know this isn't the best Uncharted game, it's still the one closest to my heart. Before the spectacle creep of over-the-top setpieces in the sequels came this humble little pulp adventure about raidin' ancient tombs in the tropics. The port that Bluepoint have done here is mostly fine work. It looks and runs great. But it's definitely buggier than the PS3 version ever was in any of my previous playthroughs. Grenade aiming often had a mind of its own and sometimes there'd be an invisible wall in front of me when shooting out of cover that meant my bullets couldn't travel more than a foot in front of me until I left the cover and re-snapped to it. Sometimes the bugs worked out in my favour, though, like when one shotgun guy tried to take cover, clipped right through the wall, and after being able to shoot at me for a couple of seconds, died in the void. I mean, I'm not super mad about the issues, but that's only because it's my tenth time through the game. I'd be pissed if it was my first run through. So, yeah, mostly great port, but it needed a little more attention in QA. If you like Tomb Raider (2013), you might like this
Actually, I've been meaning to ask - do we have a consistent stance on episodic games? I'm probably going to revisit season 1 of The Walking Dead in the next few weeks (episodes 2-5), but I count them as separate games or just one? I can appreciate someone playing Life is Strange as it releases and counting each episode as a completed game in this topic, but it feels a bit disingenuous doing that with an episodic game which released 3 years ago.
Actually, I've been meaning to ask - do we have a consistent stance on episodic games? I'm probably going to revisit season 1 of The Walking Dead in the next few weeks (episodes 2-5), but I count them as separate games or just one? I can appreciate someone playing Life is Strange as it releases and counting each episode as a completed game in this topic, but it feels a bit disingenuous doing that with an episodic game which released 3 years ago.
Well, everyone's free to create their own criteria, as it's more of a personal goal than anything. I think most people here have gone along with what you've stated, counting episodes individually as they release, or a season as one game if already complete. You can count them however you like though really.
Actually, I've been meaning to ask - do we have a consistent stance on episodic games? I'm probably going to revisit season 1 of The Walking Dead in the next few weeks (episodes 2-5), but I count them as separate games or just one? I can appreciate someone playing Life is Strange as it releases and counting each episode as a completed game in this topic, but it feels a bit disingenuous doing that with an episodic game which released 3 years ago.
As Synth stated, it's really dependent on how you look at it. There's no set rule about this but I'm fine with people counting single episodes as single games.
Actually, I've been meaning to ask - do we have a consistent stance on episodic games? I'm probably going to revisit season 1 of The Walking Dead in the next few weeks (episodes 2-5), but I count them as separate games or just one?
Actually, I've been meaning to ask - do we have a consistent stance on episodic games? I'm probably going to revisit season 1 of The Walking Dead in the next few weeks (episodes 2-5), but I count them as separate games or just one? I can appreciate someone playing Life is Strange as it releases and counting each episode as a completed game in this topic, but it feels a bit disingenuous doing that with an episodic game which released 3 years ago.
I think it's up to your own judgement. If you want to count each episode separately, so be it. Personally, I go with the method many other do, i.e., count them individually if playing when they release or only as one if I buy it as a complete package.
Starting to feel like i might not make it this year...
Game 36, Persona 4 Dancing all night
PSV
Played it with my 11 year old daughter. it was a blast.
Game 37, Dragonball Xenoverse.
OMG. So good. Maybe the greatest DB game ever for me. Loved the feeling of getting stronger and stronger. Really hope they do another of these with more OC.
I get a lot happiness and satisfaction from playing games but all the games I complete this year combined will not equal the enjoyment I get when I'm gaming with my little nephew.
51. Forza Motorsport 6 (XB1) Completed career mode (all 15 series, one class each). Hard preset for assists plus simulation damage, and Stability Management off for the second half. Drivatar difficulty set to Above Average, then Highly Skilled. Also made that Icaras livery you see above.
Racing games are one of the few franchise-heavy games I'm willing to buy. Though the name of the game is incremental improvements, I'm usually fine with pouring 40-50 hours or so into a racing game every few years. Thanks in part to Gran Turismo's recent fumbles and lack of a regular schedule, Forza Motorsport has become my console racer of choice by default. In many ways, Gran Turismo has a long hill to climb to regain supremacy; Forza is a well-polished, comprehensive package that looks great and drives great.
Forza 6 doesn't tinker with the formula very much. Weather effects and night racing are the big additions here, and rain has rarely felt so terrifying in a racing game thanks to the 3D puddle tech that can wreak havoc with your car's traction. There's also more content than 5, a welcome change. No longer does it feel like you're repeating the same handful of tracks over and over, and not just because individual tracks now have multiple weather or time-of-day variants.
Part of that might just be the new career mode, however. Instead of its predecessor's massive pool of race series all alike, Forza 6 runs you through a linear progression of 15 series, each one allowing you to use one of six available car classes. Once you're done, you're free to go for 100% completion by running the 15 series again with different classes, but if you don't feel like seeing the same sets of tracks over and over, you don't have to.
So far, so good. But someone really needs to take a look at how drivatars work after three games. Drivatars once seemed like a novel and partially successful response to the common complaint leveled at Gran Turismo: braindead AI meant to be moving roadblocks rather than actual personalities that challenge you and make mistakes. Now, though, drivatars are as much a liability as Gran Turismo's AI. This is especially evident once you advance to the racing-spec vehicles like LeMans and Grand Prix racers. The first corner turns into a pinball clusterfuck, where the only winning move is not to play. In the final series, I raced Grand Prix cars at Silverstone in the rain, and once found four separate cars all hopelessly sputtering in the grass by the last chicane. If not for the rewind feature, Forza 6 would feel a lot more like a frustrating disaster.
As it stands, Forza 6 is a decent follow-up that gains a few welcome improvements over its predecessor. Because it's Forza, that still makes for a great racing experience, but if you're looking for something revelatory, this ain't it.
51. Super Time Force Ultra (Steam, 2015/08/31, 6.3 hours)
I adore everything about this game: the pixel art, its humor, the time warping mechanic, the soundtrack. It's pretty much Contra meets Back to the Future, but in the best possible way.
The game is like parkour with cars while racing through a glitched version of Tron. There are various modes and its campaign, called adventure, is a mere introduction to the world and controls. Distance is already pretty packed and currently labeled as beta, so I'd guess somewhat feature complete. The game's level editor supports Steam Workshop and should add even more replay value. The whole experience is a feast for the eyes, visual tour de force and insanely well optimized. Always buttery smooth, no matter how crazy things got. Early Access can be hit or miss, but I got a very good feeling about this one.
53. Canabalt (Steam, 2015/09/08, 1.2 hours)
Found this while checking my various indie stores for not redeemed keys, added the game to my library, tried it, beat it. Endless runner is endless, but there are a couple of challenges to complete. Gameplay and presentation are sound. There is one tune, but it's awesome and from Danny Baranowsky of Super Meat Boy soundtrack fame. Neat little game, that screams 99 cents.
Slightly disappointed in this doujin arena brawler, very simple combo system that is super button mashy. The story mode only lasts 15 minutes and the main characters are underutilized. The extend of replay value is replaying the game while using no continues, completing it within a certain time limit or without specific special moves ... yeah, no.
55. Redux: Dark Matters (Steam, 2015/09/10, 3 hours)
The Donkey Kong Country of SHMUPs, no pixel art, but very high quality pre-rendered sprites. The whole game is very R-Type, but not as ballbusting coin grabby. Gameplay, presentation, art style and soundtrack ... everything top notch.
Excellent update of Populous: so many planets, maps and ultimately the universe to conquer. I've chipped away at its massive amount of content over a couple of months. It takes 2-15 minutes to win a map, perfect in-between diversion. There's no soundtrack, it's all ambient sounds which makes it the perfect companion for podcast or music listening.
57. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4, 2015/09/22, 83 hours)
My most favorite MGS in terms of gameplay and design, its sandbox rich with variation, fun and content. Even after 83 hours, I'm still not sick of the game, a feat in itself. The story slightly disappointed me for most of my play through, but the twist and punchline delivery of the true ending reversed this to a degree. Turning a sandbox game into a tight cinematic experience is close to impossible. That said, V isn't my most favorite MGS in terms of story telling and delivery. Still, the good outweigh the bad so spectacularly, I couldn't be happier with MGSV.
58. South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3, 2015/10/05, 14 hours)
Best use of a license ever: story and script so amazingly on point. They went all out with references and characters which got phased out of the tv show long ago, one big nostalgia flashback. Lots of potty humor and naughty bits, I'd guess some of it went beyond what the tv show was able to get away with. The game itself not the deepest RPG, but enjoyable nevertheless. Unfortunately not a well optimized experience and even a little bit buggy. Just running around the town was enough to choke the game into a stuttery mess. Static scenes (indoors) and battles were mostly fine though.
59. Grapple (Steam, 2015/10/06, 7.8 hours)
3D platformer with lots of blobbing, flopping, sticking, wall-sliming, grappling, dropping, flinging and swinging in outer space. 90 levels of slowly increasing difficulty and easy to devious level design. The gameplay is completely skill and physics based. Getting from the start to the end of each level is like tackling a free floating obstacle course. Controls are tight, but the slightest mistake and it's retry time. Some levels were infuriating and borderline impossible, I'm still not sure how I managed to get pass #83, nightmare fuel.
60. Super Galaxy Squadron (Steam, 2015/10/10, 8.2 hours)
Excellent SHMUP, the first 95% easy, the last 5% are the longest 5 minutes of not blinking. Super solid sprite work, that's heading in the direction of DoDonPachi. The bullet patterns are not quite hell and can be easily controlled by suppressing threats in the right order (read: kill the big guys before they paint the whole screen). There are 14 (!) unique ships to choose from. I spend a fair amount of time just check them and their power ups out. The game's arcade mode spans over 6 stages and a run usually last 35 minutes. It will save state after each stage, including power ups. You start from the beginning of the stage you died in with the power ups collected so far. The game offers two difficulty modes: normal gives you 100 health points (each hit detracts 5-10), but in hardcore mode 1 hit will end you. BUT there's more: Endless mode is pretty much "survive as long as you can" while the game slowly ramps up the enemy count until every last pixel is filled with insanity. Overall a very rookie friendly SHMUP, which should also keep veterans entertained.
Game 43: Suikoden II (Vita): In almost every regard better than its predecessor. It looks more colourful and there are more sprite animations. The battle system staid the same but that isn't a bad thing since it was already good in Suikoden I. The story is in parts pretty light but also partial pretty grim. What I liked most about it were the cook offs. While they look pretty boring since the only thing you do is choosing three meals to cook for the judges, they have amazing animations. My only complaint is that it overstays its welcome a little bit. And I went back and watched two endings. Since I could've got both endings with my save and some things didn't make much sense in one version of the ending. But overall I really liked it. Game 44: Grow Home (PC): Nice little Platformer-Freeclimber. I liked the art style which while reduced looked fantastic from time to time and made great screenshot material. The little BUD you're playing looks a little bit drunk while walking it doesn't feel like you're loosing control over your character. The climbing works well and only the navigating of the saplings is sometimes confusing. I finished the game while showing it to a buddy through streaming.
September update. Didn't make much progress this month but I wasn't really in the mood to play anything besides Diablo 3. But I already finished 2 games in October and I'm confident that I can get to 52 by December.
4h-ish. Completed Story mode. An intense little game full of tough, spotless action, colorful characters and horrendously bad puns. The back-and-forth between Commander Repeatski and
himself
during the ending was the longest minute of my life. Luckily the game itself is well worth it.
I've reached the goal now, but I want to play a bit more before submitting due to mod subjectivity and wanting to finish more of the earlier listed games.
Game 53: Killzone: Shadow Fall - Finished
Given the mixed reception I was pretty pleasantly surprised by this overall; it doesn't manage to pull it's interesting aspects together to become something great (which is a persistent problem the series has had), but I liked the OWL support concept, and the attempts to merge stealth into the series more (though only a few sections really have the level design to pull it off). The story didn't really come together too well, but it makes a better effort to bring the bigger universe into things than the earlier games did. Also no Rico. I'm not sure how well they did, but between this and Mercenaries I hope the Killzone series gets more chances, as I feel it's got a great game in it if they manage to pull together all the disparate strengths of the individual games.
Game 54: God of War: Ascension - Finished
Another game with a mixed reception that I enjoyed; I might even rank it over the first in the series overall, though I'd need to replay the earlier ones again to decide. It doesn't do much new but it mostly competent and preserves most of the strengths of the series (GOW is still one of the only series to do true AAA spectacle properly). The blade upgrades could be more differentiated though, and there seemed to be little reason to use anything other than the Hades blade (with occasional dips into Ares for the magic attack) which I found much better than the others. Playing on hard, the pickup weapons also seemed really underpowered outside their special discard attacks.
Game 55: Transformers: Devastation - 12:00 - COMPLETED
I didn't really have high expectations for this since i'm not really a fan of Transformers and because it was licensed game that Activision quickly announced and released, even though it's a Platinum developed game and from the director if Metal Gear Rising. And you can instantly recognize that it's from him as many of the UI elements appear to be pulled straight from it. There are five total playable characters. And there are two modes, the story and challenge. Mechanically it's basically what you've come to expect from a Platinum character action game. It's all very fast and combo driven. Each character has a vehicle transformation attack, which is the main thing the separates them from a mechanics point of view. This is due to the fact that you find and synthesize their weapons, and while certain weapons can only be used by certain characters, it appears that most weapons are available to all five characters. There are three big disappointments that I in the game. The first is the lack of variety in environments. It seems like there are basically two locations that are rather big even though they're linear overall. But it quickly start to look the same. Especially since the single player campaign for all five characters is identical. So you'll be going through fighting the same bosses and completing the same objectives if you play each time. But it is worth noting that your currency, leveling, and weapons all carry over from each playthrough. The second is that the bosses are the weakest of any Platinum game that i've played. Just completely unmemorable in every way. Like I said, maybe that's because i'm not really a fan of Transformers so I have no real nostalgia for the characters in the series. But they bosses just seem to come and go without much flair. And the last thing that bugged me is the music. Coming off the super memorable music from Rising I did have expectations for this aspect. And it was a complete letdown. By my second playthrough I was just listening to something else in my headphones while I played because I didn't care about the plot (thankfully you can hold square to skip cutscenes for additional playthroughs) and the music was uninteresting. The game is also relatively short. A single playthrough of the story should take you around 5 or so hours. After that you should be able to playthrough again in about an hour and a half if you're skipping cutscenes and going straight to your objectives. With that said, it's still Platinum action and better than most of what you can get in the genre. But i'd rank it near the bottom of games that actually come out of their studio.
Game 56: Unmechanical: Extended - 5:00 - COMPLETED
This is a physics based puzzle game. You play as a little flying robot and your only controllable action is a little magnet on its bottom that you can use to pick up stuff. The puzzles are generally pretty easy although there are some challenging ones. There are also some puzzles that involved following sound queues. The Extended edition adds another episode that plays much like the main game. Overall I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Game 57: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (from the Nathan Drake Collection) - 6:37:26 - COMPLETED
After completing all three together I definitely feel that DF is the weakest link. You can tell that ND were still trying to figure out how everything worked. The shooting and setpieces weren't as polished or as over the top as the rest of the series. With that said, I can still see why some like it more. It's a much smaller scale affair and takes place on one island, so it does have a more cohesive feel. And while the shooting and setpieces aren't on a level of the later games, they're still enjoyable.
Game 58: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (from the Nathan Drake Collection) - 9:53:59 - COMPLETED
Here you can see that they've found their groove and they know what the series is. The setpieces are now large scale and you're always in control, and the shooting mechanics are where you'd expect. The pacing is fantastic and you can see why it's been a big inspiration for similar games.
Game 59: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (from the Nathan Drake Collection) - 7:33:19 - COMPLETED
This is the most controversial entry. I still think that chapters 12-15 are the best in the series in terms of gameplay. The creativity in the gunfights is really amazing. But it's an entry that definitely has a lot of highs and low instead of a sustained high quality like in U2.
Game 60: Yoshi's Woolly World - 7:33 - COMPLETED
This is basically Yoshi with a yarn theme. Instead of eating enemies and turning them into eggs Yoshi instead eats them and turns them into yarn balls. Some of the twists you'll run into are pulling platforms apart by pulling tied yarn or forming platforms by spitting yarn balls into areas that are outlined. This is also true with the boss enemies where you sometimes need to pull the yarn off their body to damage them. There's also two modes to the game, a classic and mellow mode. Classic plays like a typical Yoshi game while mellow will allow Yoshi to float through a level. You also lock different powerups throughout the game, and you can purchase those while you're in a level or before you start one. They range from extra defense, an infinite supply of fire for Yoshi, to recovering if you fall into a pit. But even with all that the game is particularly difficult. It's quite a bit easier than a Mario game for example. The platforming quality is what you expect from a 2D Nintendo platformer. And as such it's among the most enjoyable platformers you can find.
Game 61: Dragon Quest Heroes - 33:00 - COMPLETED
I've never been a big fan of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, but the Dragon Quest aesthetics pulled me into this one. While it's called Dragon Quest, it's obviously not structured in the same way as the traditional series nor is the combat similar. Instead of wandering around a large map you instead where you want to go from a map and then you drop into a zone where you begin to fight. The basic gameplay is similar to DW in the sense that you're fighting through waves of enemies. But there are some key differences. One is that you have giant bosses or sub-bosses in each level that you have to fight against along with the smaller enemies. The other is that there's a major tower defense element. Nearly every area will have you defending someone or something. Each of these areas also have enemies called Mawkeepers that will endless spawn enemies from a portal until you kill them. That means that you have to leave the person or object you're defending alone. This is where an element called Monster Coins come in. After you kill certain enemies they'll popup as a coin. You can pick that up and then summon it to fight with you. They are what you use to protect your "tower" while you're off fighting Mawkeepers. The Monster Coin characters don't follow you around, they'll stay in the area where you summoned them, so it's important that you use them to defend your "tower". While the tower defense element may sound frustrating, I never really had an issue with it because you're in full control of your characters. I only failed one mission due to my "tower" being damaged too much, and that was a sidequest. Getting back to the combat, you have four characters in your party and you can switch to them any time you want. Each character also has something called a Tension meter that builds up as you do combos and once you pop it you'll get increased damage to your attacks along with a high powered attack called the Coup de Grace. You also have leveling where you get points that you can allocate to which abilities you want as well as crafting. I liked the game quite a bit even though it's never really been a genre that I was into.
Game 62: Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 - 10:00 - COMPLETED
Although this is a CoD campaign that's supposed to be built around co-op, I played it entirely in a single player fashion. Only a few moments throughout the campaign came to mind as far as areas where you could tell they were built for co-op. Those areas also were the most annoying from a single player perspective. They tend to involve "defend" objectives where you have to wait for someone to do something while fighting off waves of enemies. I always play on Veteran, which means that you die in few shots. So those areas become especially annoying since they put you in open areas. They somewhat help this aspect because you're given enhancements for your character in this game. Stuff like a revive if you die or the ability to wallrun. You can only have two abilities equipped at once. You're also able to level up your weapons and add attachments to them. The worst part of the campaign is that for whatever reason Treyarch decided to bring endless respawns back. So you need to pick off a set of enemies and then run forward quickly to prevent another wave from spawning in. And being on Veteran means that a quick run forward is more than enough time for someone to kill you even at full health. But all in all it's still a CoD campaign. You know what to expect from them. It's the same rollercoaster ride that it's always been.
Game 63: Need for Speed - 15:00 - COMPLETED
This is a return to the Underground formula, which means night racing and customization. The game also has a story told through live action cutscenes. There are five different story routes each told by a different character. The structure isn't too different from the last game, Rivals. You can go to a world map to select from a list of races across the map. Some will be marked with a specific character from the story which means that going to it will advance the story. The story during races is generally just a few lines of dialog, but there are parts where you go to a cafe or someones house and that's where the live action cutscenes kick in. They're about as cheesy as you'd expect from a racing game. Whether you enjoy them or not will depend on how much you like cheesy acting. Personally I enjoyed it, but i've heard others that weren't so fond of it. There are a few different types of races. Some are point to point, others have you doing laps, and there are also drifting competitions. They also Icons in the story. These characters basically act as the bosses at the end of each of the five story branches. The level of customization depends on the car you pick. Some will allow you to customize nearly every part on the car while others will only let you change a couple things. I thought the game was pretty enjoyable. The biggest weakness to me is still the same problem i've had with NFS games after Criterion's reboot of Hot Pursuit, which is that I don't like the actual world design too much. I loved racing over and over trying to beat the time of people on my friends list in HP, but since then I haven't really had the desire to do it because the actual world design just isn't as good.
Game 64: Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon - 4:00 - COMPLETED
This is one giant tribute to 80's action movies. With an additional hook of dragons being thrown into the mix. It also all takes place in an open-world. The main gameplay is pretty much your standard FPS shooter gameplay. You level up your character along the way which unlocks additional health (its based on persistent health instead of regenerating) and you can take side-quests which unlock attachments for your weapons that you can then buy to upgrade them. Its basically a by the books shooter in terms of mechanics with an 80's twist thrown it. Pretty enjoyable.
