Game 8: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 5
Wow, the best Telltale game in years. Great dialogue,and especially great characters. Feels as if Telltale has a far better grasp at Borderlands than Gearbox has of its own franchise. I also want to emphasize the great use of licensed music which gave a great atmosphere boost to certain scenes. I hope I'll see the characters again soon and that Gearbox paid close attention to what Telltale did.
4. Grim Fandango Remastered- I finally got around to finishing this one, and I wasn't disappointed! Manny is probably one of the most likable video game characters I've ever come across (and certainly has one of the coolest voices) and I found myself cheering and laughing along with the events of the story, especially toward the end where the game subverts your expectations in a lot of ways. Rubacava might be one of the best video game locations too, it feels like a real place. That being said, you can really see where they had to cut corners in the story department, probably because of the cost of producing some of these cinematics. I would totally watch a Grim Fandango television series, I'm surprised this hasn't happened already. The puzzles are impossible but the story is so good that you don't really care if it isn't a well made game you know? Really good!
Definitely a return to form. It won't change your mind if you straight up don't like AC, but if you've ever enjoyed one of these you'll find a lot to like. I think I preferred Black Flag because the ship stuff and exploration was so damn fun, but I think overall this is objectively the best AC since Brotherhood.
Great characters across the board, fun new traversal and combat mechanics, fantastic setting and it looks gorgeous. Also played the Jack the Ripper DLC, which was decent.
2. Bloodborne (PS4)
Been chipping away at this one since it launched and very happy to finally see it through to the end. My first Souls game and one I thoroughly enjoyed for the most part.
Really in awe of the level design and the majority of the boss encounters were incredible. A shame that it can be inherently grindy and repetitive but still a fantastic game and one of the most satisfying experiences I've had on my PS4. And the DLC was excellent.
3. Life Is Strange Episode 1 (Xbox One)
Intrigued is the word I would use to describe the early goings of Life Is Strange. The writing's pretty bad and the voice acting is incredibly inconsistent, which should be suicidal flaws in a game like this, but I was still keen to see it through.
Big fan of Max at the very least.
4. Life Is Strange Episode 2 (Xbox One)
Chloe, on the other hand, I'm not really feeling. I think that out of everyone in the game thus far she suffers most from the clunky dialogue. I liked the ending but it's representative of my take on the game as a whole - I admire its ambitions far more than the execution.
5. Life Is Strange Episode 3 (Xbox One)
A big improvement on the previous episode, with the twist at the end really hitting hard. Now very much looking forward to where things go in the next one.
6. Life Is Strange Episode 4 (Xbox One)
Was a bit underwhelmed by how quickly the twist at the end of the previous episode was dropped. I thought they could have explored that timeframe a little more.
The build-up to the final moments was really well done but I feel like every major dramatic beat is let down by the awful dialogue and dodgy voice acting. It's a real shame.
7. Life Is Strange Episode 5 (Xbox One)
Again, the writing lets it down. I think the relationships between the characters are quite well done and there was some decent payoff for some of them, but I just cannot get over the dialogue. It's mostly ridiculous.
I still love Max, but didn't really buy into the arcs for Jefferson and David. I found the conclusion to the Rachel stuff pretty unsatisfying, too. Overall a decent season, but I don't think the super positive reception can be justified when the dialogue and voice acting in a story-based game is as bad as it is.
The song that plays at the end is absolutely killer, though.
8. Disney Infinity 3.0 Force Awakens Play Set (PS4)
I think I can count this? Was probably the weakest of the three Star Wars play sets, but it might just be because I'm burnt out on the formula after the first two.
Obviously I didn't expect a completely faithful adaptation of the film, but still think they butchered the story and a lot of potentially cool gameplay moments were wasted. The Kylo Ren boss fight was ridiculous.
That said, the new figures are awesome and I like how they play in game. It looked nice, too, and was a decent few hours long.
9. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)
Absolutely fantastic. It looks great, plays really well, love the level design and it was all far more substantial than I anticipated. I hope Uncharted 4 takes a cue from this in terms of the scope of its environments and the options the gameplay mechanics give the player.
That said, I found the storytelling to be pretty run of the mill and the characters mostly cookie cutter nobodies. Lara was also disappointingly mellow and came off as a little one dimensional. Sure her transition into a hardened killer in the first game was a little jarring, but at least it represented character development. Here she's a little dull.
But yeah, overall it's excellent and by far the best Xbox One exclusive I've played so far.
10. Destiny: The Taken King (PS4)
Finished all the story missions; a huge step up from the stuff in the main game and I really love all the new subclasses, armour and weapons.
It is an infinitely more rewarding game now, something worthwhile comes out of pretty much everything you do. Also really liked that there was a clearly identifiable 'bad guy', just gave the storytelling much more focus and gave you the impetus to press on.
Very keen to prepare for the raid now, but I consider the bulk of it done and am glad I played it.
11. Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One)
This campaign was all over the place for me. I think it's the best playing Halo game to date, but it also felt the most soulless. There wasn't much of that original trilogy magic until the last half an hour or so.
I think the main problem I had was the story, in that not much actually happened. In terms of meaningful progression from the previous game and leading us into the next one, only the last level or two really meant anything. The rest was just nonsensical filler to me.
Visuals were inconsistent. Some of looked great, especially the scale of the set pieces, but plenty looked flat and kinda bad by today's standards. Loved the framerate, though, which contributed to how well it felt to play.
Still, my overriding feeling right now is that this is going to prove to be the most forgettable Halo campaign yet. Nothing really stood out to me, even 4 made an impression in terms of just how astonishing it looked considering it was on a 360.
Halo 5 was fun enough, but it's disappointing that that's all it was considering what the series used to mean.
12. Back to the Future Episode 1 (PS4)
Absolutely loved the opening 20 minutes or so, they nail the look and feel of the movies. Also really shows just how good the Marty stand-in is, the 'You built a time machine...' line is great!
13. Back to the Future Episode 2 (PS4)
Enjoyed interacting with young Doc, although I do think some of the sequences outstay their welcome. Spent a bit too much time in the speakeasy for my liking.
14. Back to the Future Episode 3 (PS4)
Probably the weakest episode in terms of pacing, lots of going back and forth and none of it was particularly enjoyable. I did like how it eventually wrapped up, though, and it continued to do a great job of feeling like an extension of the film trilogy.
15. Back to the Future Episode 4 (PS4)
Much like the prior episode, I thought it spent too much time in a single place with lots of going back and forth within that same environment. Lots of good Easter eggs in this one, though, which was great.
16. Back to the Future Episode 5 (PS4)
Superb Michael J. Fox cameo! Overall really enjoyed the season, despite a few pacing issues. I feel like going from episode to episode was fine, but the pacing within some of the episodes was a little off.
Obviously plenty of jankiness with it being a Telltale game, but overall I enjoyed it an awful lot as a BttF fan. Would love for the devs to go back and make this type of game again, more of an adventure than just a series of conversations.
Perhaps the Batman game will suit this style with all the potential detective work...
17. Hitman Go: Definitive Edition (PS4)
Bought it for Android last year but never got round to playing it because I just don't ever think to play games on my tablet. Heard great things, though, so thought I'd pick it up while it was cheap on a system I actually play games on.
Glad I did! Super satisfying solutions to pretty much every level, introduced new ideas and obstacles at a good clip, loved the aesthetic and the music, and overall just a really clever and interesting take on the Hitman formula.
18. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Still think it's the best in the series, albeit with a terrible last 30 minutes or so. Was surprised at just how impressive the production values still are, in many ways it's still the industry gold standard.
The train sequence is incredible, I love the stuff with Tenzin, and what should have been a contrived long triangle between Nate, Elena and Chloe was brilliantly written. And carrying Jeff through the streets in the rain.... what a moment.
19. Uncharted 3: Among Thieves (PS3)
Genuinely think this is a better looking game than plenty of the stuff we've seen released on the current generation of consoles. Falling out of the cargo plane and parachuting to safety remains pretty awe inspiring even now.
Gunplay feels a lot tighter than it does in 2, but the pacing isn't quite as strong and I'm not sure the writing is either. It starts exceptionally well, it might have the best opening half hours of any game on PS3, but runs out of a steam a little bit.
Certainly doesn't deserve the hate it gets, though. There's not much between this and 2, and more Sully is most welcome.
20. Far Cry 4 (PS4)
Really enjoyed most of my time with this, although I don't think coming to it after The Phantom Pain did it any favours. A lot of what FC4 does really well is done even better in MGSV, and I missed being able to change my loadout on the fly with supply drops and things like that.
Still, the shooting felt good and getting around Kyrat was super fun. Lots of cool options traversal wise. Didn't really care much for the story and probably spent 75% of my time with the game listening to podcasts instead of having the game audio on, but I don't necessarily mean that as a criticism. I enjoyed spending long stretches clearing the map and exploring a lot of the side stuff.
Visuals are also still pretty strong and the co-op is a fantastic feature. Final clock had me at just shy of 27 hours and I got the platinum trophy, so fair to say I got my money's worth.
21. Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PS3)
Picked this up for about £2.50 in a recent sale and actually quite enjoyed it. It felt like a nice tribute piece to the original Sands of Time in a lot of ways and some of the platforming puzzles were actually quite clever.
Also still looks decent for its age! Didn't care much for the story and it wasn't particularly ambitious in scope, but glad I played it and an easy platinum to go with it.
22. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
What a fantastic conclusion. I thought the pacing was overly slow at times but in terms of storytelling, writing and production values this is just as good as it gets in video games. Also played a lot better than any of ND's previous work and is probably the best looking video game I have ever played.
23. Limbo (Xbox One)
Downloaded it for free during E3 and finally played it after seeing the reviews for Inside. I liked it but some of the puzzles tested my patience for trial and error gameplay a little too much, partly because of the floaty controls. But it does have a great look to it and oozes atmosphere. I'm about halfway through Inside as of this post and I'm loving it way more.
24. Overwatch (Xbox One)
This is the reason I haven't really 'completed' anything since Uncharted, so I'm gonna put it on here. Have sunk more hours into this than any other game this year so far and is the most fun I've had with an online shooter since the Modern Warfare/Halo 3 heyday. Probably my GOTY.
25. Inside (Xbox One)
Much preferred it to Limbo and at the time of completion was my game of the year. I don't have a bad word to say about it. Every single frame felt hand crafted - incredible art design.
Puzzles were great, animation was stunning, and the last half an hour was unforgettable.
26. Ratchet and Clank (PS4)
This was an absolute joy to play. It controls perfectly, the combat is super fun, and the weapons are great. The writing was genuinely funny and it's the best looking game on PS4.
27. LEGO Dimensions (PS4)
My favourite LEGO game since the original Star Wars titles. As someone who adores the vast majority of the licences, it would be pretty much my dream game if it didn't still have some of the classic LEGO problems. Year Two off to a strong start, so still playing.
28. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox One)
First CoD I'd played since Black Ops and enjoyed it for the most part. Kevin Spacey definitely added some gravitas to the story and the new movement mechanics felt pretty good. Still looked quite impressive, too.
29. Gears of War 4 (Xbox One)
Did not like the ending at all, from both a story and a gameplay perspective, but other than that I thought the campaign was excellent. Could've done with a bit more variety in the level design and enemy encounters, thought it was lacking there compared to Gears 2 and 3, but a huge step up in terms of production values - characters, writing, visuals, etc.
30. Battlefield 1 (Xbox One)
A fairly unremarkable campaign but I appreciated the unique way in which it was structured and it did a decent job of teaching me the ropes for multiplayer, which I am super enjoying.
31. Firewatch (PS4)
I really liked it until the ending, which I thought was really unsatisfying and didn't do justice to either the characters or the story itself. It also ran terribly on PS4, which was a real shame considering how good the art design was.
Game 1: Super Metroid - 5:56
A huge gap in my gaming history finally filled. I played through blind and missed about 44% of the collectibles but I got the credits to roll and sweet victory. It holds up to my standards as well being my second favorite 2D Metroid game (Zero Mission is so good).
Game 2: Bloodborne - 16:34
I've been posting a lot about this since finishing it. The game is harsh, mostly fair and the real challenge is getting to a boss. Finishing it felt like the catharsis Shakespeare strove for in his dramas. It was fun, but I won't be returning to Yharnam anytime soon.
Game 3: StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void - 7:03
This was more to finish the story than enjoy the Starcraft gameplay which I seem to have grown out of. I enjoyed my time with it but at the end it reminded me how much I hate playing Terrans. The ending is insane and worth seeing through to the end.
Game 4: Tales of Hearts R - 50:14
I loved this game. I want to start a new game + run just to clean up trophies. The story is hyper cliche JRPG but the characters have a ton of personality and the quirky optional scenes do a lot to flesh them out and make you care about their problems and relationships. The combat is Tales light with a focus on keeping pressure on enemies and countering attacks. This trivialized the final encounter for me but did net me a trophy for beating the hell out of it. Highly recommend if you have a Vita and Persona 4 is too story heavy for you.
Game 5: Ori and the Blind Forest - 8:51
Others have said what I feel about it. Killer opening, super tight platforming, actual difficulty. My biggest complaint beyond not being able to go back and clean things up after you win is the escape sequences are far too much trial and error for my tastes. They make up a small portion of the game so not a huge minus but definitely offputting. I'd still recommend it with the caveat that you should be prepared to get good at platformers.
Game 6: Killer Instinct - 6:21
This is me finishing all the worthwhile single player content. Iron Galaxy did a hell of a job making a modern fighting game. The combo system is both welcoming and deep, Ultras are badass, and the game is just a hell of a lot of fun to play. The xp booster stuff doesn't interfere with normal play and the solo stuff is well put together. For the $20 I spent on the season 1 stuff it was totally worth it.
Game 7: New Super Mario Bros. Wii U - 12:40
It's a 2D mario game with a few new gimmicks thrown in. Wall Jumping, ice flowers, acorn suits, and floating Yoshi's make up most of the new stuff. The game does a good job of keeping the levels varied while steadily ratcheting up the challenge. Bosses have neat gimmicks if you let them live long enough to deploy them. The final levels really feel like "the end". The bonus levels after clearing the game are nice but after playing Mario Maker these aren't as challenging as they would have been if I got around to playing this when it launched. I continue to hate star coins in Mario games. My OCD wants all the coins but I'm trying to break my habit of doing all the things all the time. A great experience if you're looking for a Nintendo crafted Mario. Mario Maker is still more fun.
Game 8: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - ~6:00
Another 2D platformer. The gimmick here is like Mighty Switch Force you can toggle between two sistems making the background, music, and direct environment change. The other bit is you need to get a certain number of stars to unlock the boss levels. To earn stars you collect gems and don't die. The levels are long and quite challenging but checkpoints are plentiful. The biggest problem I have with the game is the boss fights. The bosses are well developed and look cool but the issue is how long it takes before you have a window to hit the boss. Like the Yoshi games and some other platformers there's only a small window in the boss's pattern before you can get a hit in. This means dying on phase 3 of a boss is a huge loss of time which gets super frustrating especially on the last boss. That said there's only 3 bosses so it doesn't overshadow any of the quality that comes before.
Game 9: Soldier X2 - ~1:24
Soldner X2 is a side scrolling Shmup with a bit more story mid mission. You have three weapons to choose from but the basic "bounce" weapon got the job done for the most part. The other weapons are a spread gun and a multi beam attack. They didn't feel nearly as powerful. It's not bullet hell but it's far from easy for me at least.
Game 10: Rocket Knight ~1:40:
I've been meaning to get to this game for a while. It's basically a remastered Rocket Knight Adventures. Worth the $5 I spent on Steam for it. A fun little platformer, it's very short, and it's a basic affair going from A-->B with a boss fight to break things up after a couple levels. The main gimmick is the rocket pack that you can use to bounce between walls, blast through enemies, or have Shmup sections. Normal difficulty isn't hard, and hard difficulty is just cheap.
Game 11: Axiom Verge ~11:43
I really needed this game. It's a better super metroid with a cryptic but engaging story. Tons of upgrades that drastically increase your options for getting around the world. The boss fights are solid and spaced out just right. This game is deserving of all it's praise.
Game 12: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night ~4:50
Continuing my MetroidVania nostaligia I played this beauty via Xbox One's new backwards compatibility. It played fine in terms of expectations and of course the game still holds up amazingly well. I managed to blind fly my way through the spike maze in the basement for the first time which is a pretty nice skip I never managed to pull off before. If you haven't played this game, get it and learn why it along with Super Metroid created one of the more popular genres.
Game 13: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow ~8:21
The big twist is being able to capture the souls of your enemies and use them as spells, or just for utilitarian purposes like the Relics in SOTN. The game is full of places to explore and retread as you get new abilities and the bonus Julius mode you unlock after beating the game adds a ton of replay given just how hard it is. Probably my favorite of the DS-Vanias
14. Alienation ~40:00
It's a twin stick shooter with loot. The core gameplay loop of kill stuff, get loot to kill more stuff works well if you're into that (I super am). The classes are well differentiated and have different but useful abilities. The only exception I had was the Saboteurs plasma sword, I never found a solid use for it over the other options. The story is a bit forgettable, replayability is hurt by needing UFO keys to get into a somewhat randomly generated dungeon with loot. Otherwise you're stuck replaying the same missions on harder difficulties to get better loot.
15. Skullgirls ~6:00
I played through the story mode to familiarize myself with the fighters and it's actually really good. I'd put it up there with BlazBlue for fighting game stories. The character variety is solid but it feels like every character has a 1-2-3-4 combo pattern that's usually jab-jab-medium-heavy. This is great for quick pickup and play, and lent itself to experimentation.
It was an indie kind of weekend! Finishing games in between marathon bouts of Witcher III.
Game 6: Bleed (PC)
Finished 1/9/15 (Normal mode)
Time to complete: 69 minutes as per Steam
Bleed completely shattered my expectations - I didn't foresee that such a simple-looking game could hide so much depth. This is a killer 2D shooter in the Treasure mold - essentially Antonio Banderas: The Game, the idea is to kill off all the heroes on your shit list to eventually become the world's number one hero. You run around pulling off sick double jumps, deflecting bullets, and shooting people in the face with twin pistols in slow motion.
And it's cheap as dirt. Buy this game, it's short and sweet.
Game 7: Broforce (PC)
Finished 1/10/2016 (Story complete + all side missions)
Time to complete: 8 hours as per Steam
This is one of the most hilarious games I've ever played. The concept is sidescrolling action Contra-style, playing as parodies of all your favorite action heroes... And when I say all, I mean ALL.
(deep breath) Predator AND Terminator AND Conan Arnie, an actual Predator, John McClane, Neo, McGyver, Raiden, the Bride, Ash from Evil Dead, Mad Max, James Bond (which James Bond seems to rotate randomly, I've seen Connery and Brosnan so far), Indy, Agent J, Ellen Ripley, Blade, a doubleshot of Chuck Norris... That's nowhere near all of them. Essentially, if you have a favorite B-movie character, s/he is probably in here.
Now, where is the aforementioned humor to be found? While I would argue that the simple ability to play as the legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme fulfills the game's LOL requirement, the laughs really come when you unintentionally screw things up and die horrible, horrible deaths. The game encourages this by saddling you with a random hero at the start of each stage, and upon every respawn... However, a lot of the heroes have crippling drawbacks (ex. melee only, non-lethal damage, heavy recoil, slow movement speed) specific to their character, and being stuck with a less-than-ideal Bro forces you to abandon your usual tactics and improvise, which usually does not end well. Combine this with the game's array of exploding barrels, Just Cause 2-style gas tanks, spinning death gears and bottomless pits, and the chances of getting offed in an incredibly OTT way multiply exponentially.
Worth it for the single player alone. If you have other Bros to play with however, this gets even better - Broforce is a fantastic couch co-op game.
GAME 8: The Last of Us: Left Behind - 4 Hours - 10/01/2016 - PS4
A fantastic trip back into the beautiful, brutal world of The Last of Us. With cleverly designed encounters and some touching moments, it fleshed out parts of the story we never got to see. I just wanted more, Naughty Dog.
2.Until Dawn; 20 Hours?
Spooky. Definitely did the whole teen horror film well, there were many times when I was thinking "why logically would you ever do that?" moments that I've seen in teen horror films. I loved the multiple endings, first time I played a few died, second time all survived. The story was pretty dumb when it came down to it, but I enjoyed the characters and the different endings. I also felt that the QTEs really worked well in this, where as many games it just becomes annoying.
In a week, I will have first played this two years ago. I don't know why I never completed it, but I saw it in my library and remembered I had a job to do. Highly highly recommended for those who haven't yet played.
GAME 9: Mark of the Ninja - 10 Hours - 12/01/2016 - PC
Finally got round to completing this after starting it almost two years ago. Combining well crafted game mechanics and superb animations with a gorgeous art style made for a brilliant stealth platformer. Besides the odd sections of frustration, this was a joy to play.
Game 5. A Dark Room (iOS); Playtime: 7.5 hours; both endings; completed on 1/11/2016
I could say some things, but this is one of those games where it’s better if people experience it for themselves as opposed to reading too much about it. The game does start off very slowly, but if you hang in there, it gets really good. I probably could have beaten this faster on both runs, but I wanted to fully explore it both times. If you’re diligent, you can probably manage 2-3 hours per run. I would recommend this game.
2. Crash Brandicoot - Infinity - 01/12/16
I have been trying to get pass the horrible saving system in the game for about 3 years on and off. And for some reason, decided that today was enough. I finally got passed Jaws of Darkness and was able to save. The rest of the game was a cake walk. The game could have been much better if it had a better control scheme and camera angles and saving system. 2/5
Game 4 - Life is Strange - 14 hours - 02/17/16
Awesome spin on the Telltale style of adventure games. You really get attached to the characters and story. 4/5
Game 5 - Battletoad Arcade - 2 hours - 03/01/16
Nice Arcade game, but really repetetive and obviously made extra hard so that you would spend a ton of quarters. 2/5
Game 6 - Until Dawn - 8 hours - 03/06/16
Great interactive movie style of game with quick time events. Would have loved a more deep approach to the choices, but as a fan of horror movie, I loved it. 4/5
Game 8 - Huniecam Studio - 2 hours - 04/07/16
A clicker game with a lewd aspect where you "control" a cam girl operation. Not really deep or interesting. Very few things to do, even for a clicker. 2/5
Game 9 - A Wizard's Lizard - 50 minutes - 04/11/16
A game like Binding of Isaac but with worst itemization. All the items fall under 3-4 categories. Still pretty fun. 2/5
Game 10 : Tales From the Borderlands - 12 hours - 04/12/16
Great interactive story from Telltale with a lot of humor and throwback to the Borderlands. Really took the theme and made it work. 4/5
Game 11 - Pokemon Black 2 - 41 hours - 04/14/16
For a Pokemon game, this one was really boring. Way too story driven with a lot of hand holding and NPC's blocking your way from moving freely. It felt more like a corridor than a world. 2/5
Game 13 - Shelter - 75 minutes - 05/28/16
Motherhood game where you try to keep your children safe. Really short but touching. 4/5
Game 14 : Uncharted 2
Game 15 : Naruto : Ultimate Ninja : Storm
Game 16 : Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
Game 17 : Zero Escape : Zero Time Dilemna
Game 18 : Apotheon
Game 19 : F.E.A.R Perseus Mandate
Game 20 : Firewatch
Game 21 : Far Cry 3
Game 22 : Recettear : An Item Shop Tale
2. Crash Brandicoot - Infinity - 01/12/16
I have been trying to get pass the horrible saving system in the game for about 3 years on and off. And for some reason, decided that today was enough. I finally got passed Jaws of Darkness and was able to save. The rest of the game was a cake walk. The game could have been much better if it had a better control scheme and camera angles and saving system. 2/5
Game 01: Xenoblade Chronicles X
Wii U - 152 hours - Beaten 12/01/16 - ★★★★★
I was initially down on this because it was so vastly different to its predecessor, but once I got used to it I fell in love. The story is much more focused on the more fleshed out side quests, and it has a more slice of life anime feel to it than an epic, and well, I loved the side content enough to beat the game 100%.
The world of Mira was incredible to explore, and I'd play this game forever if the content kept up. Just a breathtaking and beautiful game.
I cannot overstate how glad I am to have saved this game for last. It really hammered in how much the prequel games might have been a total waste of time. At least they were real short. Just switching back to having a real selection of weapons was nice, even if three of them were all variations of "knife on a rope." That stopped bothering me the moment I got to switch to some big fat Greek boxing gloves.
It was nice to have a little lid put on the franchise for me, ignoring some little facets of the ending. I think I'm sated on these for a long, long, long time.
Rating: 6/10 - Platform: PC - Developer: Richard Hofmeier
Played some hours a few years ago and thought I would give it another try since it is probably the only game my very low spec laptop can run. The idea is cool and the characters are very likable and they go to dark places if you fail to make them successful. I gave it a 6 because I found the game real hard and it has bugs that ruins your progression.
Claiming my post. Won't reach the 52 number but I'll do what I can
Xenoblade Chronicles X - Wii U
Persona 3 Portable - PSP
Wolfenstein The New Order - PS4
Really enjoyed this game. It was definitely nothing amazing but it was a solid fun game. Gunplay was satisfying and it had a lot of fun moments. Some of the encounter design could be frustrating on the harder difficulty levels, with it feeling a bit trial and error at times, but it didn't stop me wanting to jump back in and try again with a different approach. This feels like a return to the good 7/10 games, that don't need to be amazing to still have their place. If you're a shooter fan I recommend this.
Bloodborne - PS4
Super Mario 3D World - Wii U
Haven't finished these yet but they're the ones I'm currently working on.
Game #4 - Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse (PS4)
Played this before getting around to 3 or 4, oops. This was more of the same really, if you've played a Broken Sword title you know what to expect. This was still pretty good though. Shears is one of my favorite NPCs in the series.
Game 9: Titan Souls
I liked the idea better than the actual game, but I still enjoyed it. Some of the bosses were quite cool. However, some felt really cheap and others I defeated by luck. I think that traditional bosses with a health bar would have worked better than some of these one-trick-pony scenarios. Hopefully a sequel expands on the ideas.
Game 3: Heroes Rise: The Hero Project - 6 hours - January 12th, 2016
Yet again, I had a hard time sleeping last night, so I decided to break out the second Heroes Rise game. Unsurprisingly, like last time, this did very little to actually get me to sleep and caused me to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. The Hero Project felt like quite an improvement on The Prodigy, but with a few caveats. The setup is somewhat simple, you're basically on a reality TV show for superheroes. Think of it as something like a show called American Superhero or America’s Got Powers. Definitely a pretty simple setup, but actually far, far, far more interesting than The Prodigy's. However, while the setup is fairly basic, the game rapidly devolves into a ridiculous amount of complexity. You have two romantic subplots possible, a criminal investigation, contestant factions to deal with, a need to appease judges and your own general heroic stardom to monitor. You'll need to remember nearly a dozen different heroes' powersets and personalities. Hell, the game is so confusing that it ends up giving you a database that you can peruse through at any time to refresh your memory. However, the overload of information actually does serve the narrative pretty well, creating the sense of being out of your league on a reality TV show. It's subsequently a bit of a harder game too, as I ended up needing to restart it several times due to getting myself voted off the show. Although the game does suffer from some of the narrative railroading that the first game had, and is still visually simplistic, it's still a piece of interactive well worth your time. Should I play The Hero Project? Sure, if you liked the first game.
Was able to wrap up four games this week. So pretty happy with that.
1. Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel ~70 hours
Ohh boy where to even start. Loved the game, dying to play the sequel, continuing to pray that 3rd, zero, and Ao get brought over. Was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the OST. Despite listening to all the other games in the series over and over, I never got around to ripping my copy of the OST for this one so I wasn't sure what to expect but it really has some gorgeous tracks.
2. Child of Light
I'd been playing this one last year but had dropped it for something else, Danganronpa AE I think? Came back to it and was apparently pretty far in, right before you
get to the mirror and get thrown in the prison
. Was able to wrap it up that night. Enjoyed it for what it was, had a nice OST, nice art. Liked the combat, would play a sequel/similar game for sure.
3. Never Alone
Wish I'd just watched a YouTube video. I like the idea, but the AI and controls were atrocious. I think I was supposed to be sad when
the fox died, but the 20 times he'd jumped straight off a cliff or walked under a rock and died made me glad.
Somehow it managed to get even worse at the end though as the
ghost fox managed to get stuck inside the moving parts of the giant as youre trying to climb it.
4. Transformers: Devastation
Loved it, Platinum games are always a joy and the combat was nice and satisfying, occasional awkward camera aside. Makes me want to go back and pick Bayonetta back up, another game I'd started then dropped when something else came out.
Game #6 - Gurumin A Monstrous Adventure
Time - 8 hours
Super cute action rpg, that altought it skews a little young / childish, it has a lot of heart. Cool levels, looks good (considering its a psp port), gameplay is neat, just a all around nice package. I didnt get all the items so theres probably 1 or 2 more hours in there if you want to look for everything.
I previously played a few chapters of this game, years ago, but for the most part - I was going in blind. I knew the genre, so I knew what to expect, but I didnt know I was going to enjoy the game so much. I really enjoyed the story & the plot twists involved, this is one of the few times I remember being "on the edge of my seat" while playing a games campaign. While the graphics weren't on par with other releases this year, they were by no means horrible or anything of the sort. My only real complaint with the game is the shooting mechanics, I thought they were HORRIBLE. While one does eventually adjust, I feel like they could have definitely been better. Other than that, this game was excellent. If you haven't already, go play this.
After not meeting my overblown expectations the first time, I like this game more and more after each playthrough. On point game design, excluding maybe the bloated final dungeon. I haven't seen anything wrong with the DS version, which I've imported when vgplus had it quite cheap.
Except for the additional anime ending from the PS1 version. Way to redundantly tarnish an already perfect ending for no reason- What the fuck? In particular for Frog. The final boss is still a bitch though, so I'm never in the mood for the other endings.
I say yes - as long as it's not a 1-off 30-min deal. If it's something you play fairly often, or even a binge over a couple of plays, then it's no different than Mario Kart, Street Fighter, some random never-ending mobile game.
A game doesn't need to have a rigid path to be entertaining and fun.
Edit: Referring to video game board games (Mario Party, etc). Technically they could be finished if you look at the collectable/unlock aspects of the game.
Nice dude! I hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did, & I'm in the same boat with 2/3 as well.
The first two games I've decided to tackle on this challenge have been Uncharted & Tomb Raider, so I don't see myself going straight into 2/3 right away as I'm gonna need a brief break from the treasure esque action adventure games. However, I will definitely play 2 (at some point) because I hear it's the best in the series. Then, of course, I will have to finish 3 because
I always envisioned this thread as being video game centered, but really, I don't mind the idea of adding them. The only holdup is really how to determine a board game being "finished." I think that's far more of a grey area than "finishing" video games.
Idk what to do about 2 and 3. I'd love to play them before 4, but I feel like I won't have time. I don't want to postpone UC4 for a year while I get round to it :3
Was a bit underwhelmed by how quickly the twist at the end of the previous episode was dropped. I thought they could have explored that timeframe a little more.
The build-up to the final moments was really well done but I feel like every major dramatic beat is let down by the awful dialogue and dodgy voice acting. It's a real shame.
7. Life Is Strange Episode 5
Again, the writing lets it down. I think the relationships between the characters are quite well done and there was some decent payoff for some of them, but I just cannot get over the dialogue. It's mostly ridiculous.
I still love Max, but didn't really buy into the arcs for Jefferson and David. I found the conclusion to the Rachel stuff pretty unsatisfying, too.
Overall a decent season, but I don't think the super positive reception can be justified when the dialogue and voice acting in a story-based game is as bad as it is.
The song that plays at the end is absolutely killer, though.
Game #01 Beaten: Fallout 4 (PC) - 80 Hours
★★★☆☆
(Started December 13th 2015 / Finished January 3rd 2016)
While being no bad game at all, it still was my biggest disappointment of 2015 and one step back in terms of quest-design and writing compared to the previous installment New Vegas. I've genuinely enjoyed the first 50h of the game. Exploring, looting and side-questing was motivating and interesting at first. But it got really tiresome after so many hours since most of what I was doing didn't feel rewarding. After realizing the main plots poor writing, I just felt like rushing through it, just to get even more disappointed by the both endings I've got out of it (
Railroad and Institute
). Looking back, I feel like I should've finished The Witcher 3 instead. It's a good game nonetheless.
Game #02 Beaten: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC) - 8 Hours
★★★★☆
(Started January 4th 2016 / Finished January 6th 2016)
After so many hours of Fallout 4 and the frustration I eventually ended up with, AW's campaign mode was exactly what I needed. That very brainless cinematic popcorn experience I was looking for at that moment and it fully delivered in that regard. Even more than that. I was surprised at how this franchise managed to step up its bar not only in terms of visual presentation, but also its cinematic experience whose influence to last- and current gen FPS' remains undeniably present up to this day. Be it for the better or worse. Yes, the story does hardly make sense and the characters are flat. Hell, even Kevin Spacey's role hasn't done him nearly enough justice as an actor. But that's not what I'm looking for in this franchise in the first place. I'm just glad to have fully enjoyed this blockbuster from start to finish for what it is.
Game #03 Beaten: The Cat Lady (PC) - 11 Hours
★★★★☆
(Started January 7th 2016 / Finished January 8th 2016)
I've been wanting to play this one for a few years now after hearing how good it's supposed to be and oh my, how dark this game is. This must be one of the darkest games I've played. It deals with suicide and its motives on a psychological level as well as with existential questions, conveying a deeply nihilistic mood in a seemingly hopeless world. People from the darkest corners of human nature performing atrocious things confront you almost exclusively in this game and it isn't until mid- to late game that some positive events begin occur... albeit very few. The voice acting is also surprisingly good for such a small indie project. My only complaints lie with the artstyle of the characters and the animations which look (IMO) lazy and ugly, but I'll leave it as a matter of taste. I also don't understand why the game is only playable in 4:3 aspect ratio and why the sprites of the character models have to be so pixelated while the ones from the environment are apparently real-life photographs. It just doesn't figure but it still was a deep and unique experience and definitely worth playing through.
Game #04 Beaten: Outlast (PS4) - 9 Hours
★★★★☆
(Started January 9th 2016 / Finished January 16th 2016)
First off, I'm a coward when it comes to horror, so when this game caught my interest for the first time back then when it released, I wasn't even able to watch gameplay videos of it due to its horrific appearance, not to mention playing it. But after finishing P.T. three times last year, admittedly with another person sitting next to me each time, overcoming my fear of Outlast wasn't that hard anymore. I have to admit though, I got help from another person in the first two hours of the game, just to give me that push I needed. But after that I went through the whole thing by myself (with headphones!). And it was worth it. The concept of breaking into this hell of an literally unleashed asylum where not even the authorities know what's going on in there, equipped with nothing but a notepad, a pen and a camcorder, is not only extremely frightening, but also the perfect condition to become fully immersed in the protagonists situation. The fact that you're walking in pitch black darkness about 90% of the time, thus requiring you to make use of the short ranged night vision function of your camcorder only increases that effect many times over. On the top of that the game looks shockingly realistic during night vision. Unfortunately, it suffers from some serious weaknesses. It relies way too much on jumpscares and reveals the context behind its horror too early in the game, becoming very repetitive and predictable as a result. You start to fear those jumpscares along with their loud sound effects more than the actual Unknown. That very Unknown which is supposed to awake your primal fears and make that horror experience actually work as a whole. And then there are those tedious, albeit thrilling at times, pseudo boss fights in which you have to collect items in order to progress while some psycho searches for you in a small, closed area. They were mostly terrible and by that I do not mean terrifying but 'bad game design'-terrible.
An atmospheric and decent game nonetheless!
Game #05 Beaten: Tales from the Borderlands Episode 1-5 (PC) - 11 Hours
★★★★★
(Started January 17th 2016 / Finished January 22nd 2016)
Oh boy, where should I even begin? Telltale Games nailed it. For good. They nailed it so fucking hard that I knew this one was going to be a GOTY contender as soon as the credits began to roll down on episode 1, despite the fact that I don't even particularly like Borderlands. Characterz, writin, muzic, artstyle, voiz actin, jokez brzhhhgggg..... Hold me. I need to stop writing right now and click on that save-button because I'm about to burst into a bazillion pieces!
Game #06 Beaten: Super Mario 3D World (Wii U) - 38 Hours
★★★★★
(Started January 9th 2016 / Finished January 27th 2016)
Okay, how am I gonna put this? I reckon the best way to summarize my experience with this game would be as follows: I don't remember having that much fun with a videogame. Ever.
I've had one of the best times in my life while playing this... which I maybe shouldn't have said, now that I think about it. I'll start to elaborate by saying we 100%ed it entirely in coop. Wait, I mean 100% minus the last five stamps! Seriously. Screw Nintendo for that mindless grind! During that, me and my coop partner went through all kinds of emotions. We laughed and cried, we hated and loved - sometimes the game, sometimes each other. But mostly each other (except for the love). A little beating here and there couldn't be avoided though. The hate was just too real sometimes and it wasn't until the
fully completion of the first eight worlds
that the REAL game began to ensue. Therefore, most of the great moments happened after we thought to have finished the game. I don't even want to know how many people have missed out on that massive content which was hidden behind that point because until then, this game was nothing but a walk in the park compared to what would follow. A very long tutorial, one could say. Some of the last levels were challenging enough to make us jump out of our seats and scream with pure joy... or pain if we've failed for the 50th time. The last one in particular. I didn't know Nintendo could be that evil, but after beating it, we felt as if we've accomplished something of epic scale... something only very few have done before us. It took us 4 hours to get that level done! FOR HOURS! Not only is that an Angry Joe reference, but it's also the sad truth! Even though I still think it would've been much easier if one of us did on solo. I just don't want to admit that this game is as hard as our invested playtime suggests. This game alone was worth buying a Wii U. An absolute masterpiece.
Game #07 Beaten: Resident Evil HD Remaster (PC) - 19 Hours
★★★★★
(Started January 23rd 2016 / Finished February 3rd 2016)
First off, this is my first RE1 game. Just to make this clear, since there are so many versions of it out there.
I can not help but to feel empty after finishing this game. It's a sort of sad feeling, leaving me with the impression that I will never experience something of equal scale again. Similar to when I finished Shadow of the Colossus, Dark Souls or the Mass Effect trilogy. Only very few games I know of have reached this peak of game- and level-design and once again, my excitement for what more this industry holds for us in the future, has been evoked. A brilliantly crafted game, thought out from start to finish.
Game #08 Beaten: Crysis (PC) - 9 Hours
★★★★★
(Started February 3rd 2016 / Finished February 5th 2016)
Crysis. A game I've always wanted to play but couldn't due to insufficient hardware power. Now that I got myself a decent build some months ago, I was finally able to go for it and I must say: this game is one of the best FPS I've played so far... and I've played a lot of them, including Crysis 2 and 3. Speaking of which, Crysis 1 is indubitably the best one out of those three. By far. Not because of its narrative or characters. In fact it's all straightforward. I would almost say forgettable. No, it's everything but that which makes this game excel! It's just pure fun! Do you remember The Silent Cartographer from Halo: CE? Yeah, of course you do. After all, it's one of the most well designed and iconic missions out of the Halo franchise, hell, maybe even the whole genre. Well, Crysis pretty much plays and feels very similar to this mission. At least that was the case for me during the majority of the time I've had with it. You're being thrown into those huge and beautifully crafted sandboxes filled with islands, beaches, water, vegetation and even animals. And not to forget the hostile korean military forces who shoot you on sight.
The game gives you your objective and that's it. It's usually up to you which path you choose to get it done. Do I go in stealth? Wait, in that case I need to take a safe route so I can hide and recharge my stealth camo along the way. Or should I rather approach the area on the road? Hmm, no I should better take the southwest road since it's not as heavy guarded as the other one. Wait! There's a beach? *splash!*
The physics are also one of the best I've seen and complement the gameplay along with its mechanics. So many things in this world react and response in a believable way. Trees do break, buildings collapse, objects move and collide realistically. It's crazy considering we had this in 2007. The only problems I have with this game are controller related. It's not natively customizable, which it really needs because the controls are poorly optimized. Some controls do even lack entirely, forcing you to temporarily switch to mouse and keyboard.
Game #09 Beaten: Crysis Warhead (PC) - 5 Hours
★★★★☆
(Started February 5th 2016 / Finished February 5th 2016)
Pretty much the same as Crysis 1 but with some minor gameplay tweaks and more levels set at night/dawn. Maybe it's the smaller sandboxes, but I also noticed much more stability performance-wise. Only the cutscenes... they were bad and...and weird and way too long. The production value on those must have been reduced to an amateurish fan project. It felt as if I was watching deleted scene from my favorite movie. May as well could've been bloopers. Sometimes I was just waiting for one of the voice actors to break out in laughter and just put an end to this travesty that was supposed to be a serious and meaningful cutscene moment. Random physic glitches have killed me numerous times. This didn't happen as nearly as often in the main game. Just touching something in the world that was movable, destructible or somehow else physics sensitive could instantly kill me.
Game #10 Beaten: Ryse: Son Of Rome (PC) - 6 Hours
★★☆☆☆
(Started February 6th 2016 / Finished February 6th 2016)
Quantic Dream, Telltale Games and even Ready at Dawn. All of them delivered cinematic and narrative driven videogames I fully enjoyed. So I decided to give Ryse a chance. After all there must more to this game than the mere showcase of what the latest Crytek engine is capable of. And I tried. I tried until the end... for 6 hours, even though it already started to bore me after the first 10 minutes! And if it weren't for those outstanding visuals and animations, I would have turned it off at that point. Just because this game has nothing more to offer. And this is not an overstatement. Gameplay, level design, writing - forget about it. It's either bad or nonexistent. I thought people who described it with the phrase 'press X to win' were exaggerating. Well, now I know they weren't. It is less than forgettable and the only bad game I've played so far this year.
Game #11 Beaten: Dark Souls 3 (PC) - 60 Hours, all areas and bosses completed
★★★★★
(Started April 12th 2016 / Finished May 8th 2016)
I went into this game traumatized by DS2 but in good faith knowing about Miyazaki's heavy involvement during development, albeit only partial since he also worked on Bloodborne at the same time. And it worked out more than well in the end. The world design is great and so much better than it was in DS2. It still couldn't reach the brilliancy of DS1's world design though, but that doesn't stop it from being my GOTY 2016, although I must admit not having touched many of this year's releases. Gameplay-wise I feel like this is the best one of the entire series so far. Combat has never felt better, more natural and fluent in a Souls game and with the exception of one or two bosses, all boss fights were either well or great. Looking forward to future DLC's.
Game #12 Dropped: Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Wii U) - 55 Hours
(Started May 15th 2016 / Finished ...)
Finished the storyline of the village but barely touched the multiplayer since I had no friends to play it with.
Game #13 Beaten: Mario Kart 7 (3DS) - 5 Hours
★★★★☆
(Started June 12th 2016 / Finished ...)
Played through every Grand Prix for multiple times. Unfortunately, placing 1st in every single race doesn't grant you all 3 stars as it does in MK8, making this process a tedious RNG mess. So I decided it wasn't worth it. After all there's MK8 and it's better in every aspect. MK7 is imo still the best Mario Kart on handhelds though.
Game #14 Dropped: Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS) - 8 Hours
(Started June 15th 2016 / Finished ...)
Not much to say here except me dropping this game doesn't have anything to do with the actual game. I just obtained a 3DS and felt like hunting some monsters but in order to become fully invested in a MH game I need at least one familiar person to hunt with, which I hadn't at that time.
Game #15 Still going: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS) - 18 Hours
(Started June 25th / Finished ...)
I'm still trying to get the hang out of this game or maybe I already did, I don't know. It's strangely relaxing and motivating to turn it on every now and then and to see how your town develops over time.
Game #16 Beaten: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) - 36 Hours
★★★★★
(Started June 26th 2016 / Finished July 10th 2016)
For a long time has this game lingered on my list and now with a 3DS in my hands there couldn't be a better opportunity to play the arguably best version of OoT. I can see why people still love this game as much as they did almost 20 years ago when it came out but it's shame that I can't share their nostalgia. A great game without question, especially for its time. Unfortunately it couldn't evoke the same fondness in me as as it did with most people out there. I envy the people who were able to experience it during its prime time and highly enjoyed it nonetheless.
Game #17 Still going: Monster Hunter Generations (3DS) - 158 Hours
★★★★★
(Started July 14th 2016 / Finished ...)
Monster Hunter represents my absolute favorite coop experience and it's the main reason for my 3DS purchase, so it goes without saying that my body was ready for this release. Generations builds excellently on the MH formula, adding a ton of fresh content and new mechanics to this already brilliant series without taking anything away from it I've missed. And while I barely scratched the surface of the new vertical gameplay aspect in MH4U, I outright dug it in Generations. The aerial gameplay is so fun and rewarding that it was hard to go back to other playstyles. There are still many more end-game quests to be done, so many that it would take another 150 hours to finish all. These games just get better and better with every single installment. Only very few other franchises manage to do that, especially with such consistency. I have no doubt that Capcom will build on this vertical gameplay, especially now that an expansion has been announced for Japan. They really need to get their shit together and widen Monster Hunter's audience by unleashing their games on other platforms as well.
Game 1: Game 1: Kings Quest Episode 1 Duration Played: Story Completed: 4 hours.
I stumbled across this title by mistake; King’s Quest: Chapter 1: A Knight to Remember. The first chapter was released free as part of Decembers PS+ program. I’m extremely glad that I stumbled across this title, having grown up playing several playing a various classic adventure games: Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max and some of the more recent Telltale games.
The game its self has a very charming Disney-esque art style and even more charming setting. Set in the kingdom of Daventry, you play as Graham a eager young man who dreams of becoming a knight of the king of Daventry. You must help this ditsy soon to be knight pass many challenges and along the way encounter many entertaining and hilarious characters. This game is certainly not lacking in the laughter department. The challenges and solutions were not to too difficult but enough to not feel I was breezing through the game.
I highly reccomend this game to anyone, especially those who downloaded it through PS+ and has it sitting in there backlog.
For my third completed game I played Pneuma: Breath of Life. While very short and zero replay to it, the game is charming with some very good puzzles. They start off easy but then get pretty challenging in the last few chapters. Not to hard that you quit but a good challenging brain teaser. I recommend it but not for the $20 they are asking. $10? yeah
GAME 5: Bastion [7 hours?]
Been wanting to play this one since it dropped on 360 years ago, and I'm glad it's finally come to platforms I can play it on. Played the first half on Vita, but I ended up doing the second half on PS4 because the loading times were too bad. Cross-save always seemed to put me one level behind, but it's whatever. I enjoyed the game a lot.
GAME 6: Volume [6-8 hours?]
Enjoyed this a LOT on PS4. I was planning to finish it on Vita but it ended up launching without Cross-Save... :/ Despite the game being great, it definitely has some technical issues: it crashed at the end of level 76/100 for me and corrupted my save, although deleting the corrupted save in Save Data Management helped without losing my level progress. Unfortunately, it reset my trophy progress, including the one that involves reading all of the notes in every level. Now that I'm done, I'm doubling back around to get that one (the last trophy I need for the Platinum), but I shouldn't need to do that. It also hard crashed my system and forced me to re-start it once, an obvious bummer. Other than that, the game rocks.
GAME 7: 80 Days [4 hours]
One of the best games I've played on my iPad. A combination visual novel and... Strategy game, I guess? You have to manage your resources, so I guess that's it? Role playing might be more apt, but you don't really level up, so I have no idea. Beautiful game with spectacular writing, and I can't recommend it highly enough.
It's been a very productive week: once I get my new 3DS on Thursday, hopefully I can knock out Fire Emblem: Awakening and Super Mario 3D Land fairly soon. Unfortunately, winter break will probably be over Monday, and once classes start, I don't know how much time I'll have...
Time: 97:31 hours
Score: Good, but not great
Thoughts: I still think this game is super overrated. It's not nearly the best JRPG I've played; hell it's not even the best game in the Xeno subfranchise
actually it's the worse.
. Having just finished Xenoblade X, this was like having to eat vegetables after you've had dessert. That being said, these are rather tasty veggies. Judging solely on it's own merits, Xenoblade is worth playing. However, there are massive swaths of the game that aren't fun and you can end up with the feeling the creators don't have much respect for your time. It actually makes me want to do another playthrough of Xenogears and Xenosaga. Also, while I think it's the inferior of the two, it does point out some glaring issues with Xenoblade X, most pointedly the lack of a new game plus mode. I liked it. I don't love it.
Game #6: Golden Sun (GBA) - ★★★★★★★★★☆
Golden Sun was a game that I used to really love, and eventually became a game that was good but flawed. After having revisited it - I died to the final boss and never went back to it until now on the VC - I don't have quite as high of opinion of it as I did when I first played it, but it's definitely leveled out more. It is definitely flawed in several ways - high encounter rates that can sometimes hurt the pace, puzzles (while fun) can be slow, and more exposition than I've seen in most games. It's actually quite obscene how much they cover everything to the most extreme detail! Still though, the battles are fun, the puzzles are fun and really kind of interesting, the story is interesting (if not somewhat basic). It's got a great soundtrack, and the visuals still seem just as good as they did back then. For what it's worth, I'm starting on The Lost Age not just as a matter of being a completionist, but also because I really just want to know what happens next, as I never played it before.
I'm guessing this means disappointment and you haven't played it yet?
I'll elaborate a little
I mean like all these different NLA residence, and alien races and stuff have their own little quest chains, and a lot are more about their personal issues and struggles than some grand conflict. For what it is it was really enjoyable, it's just that the actual core main story is a lot more barebones and shorter than the first game. It's not a bad thing by any means, the games are just very different, and I wonder if it would have been a better idea to call the game something other than Xenoblade.
Splitting this up into two sections.
First are the games where I've either "completed", or have invested enough time into them where I feel satisfied including them there. Even if there's still parts of the game that I plan to revisit, I'll consider them as my main list.
Second are games where I may have spent a lot of time already, but feel more of an "in progress" to them, before feeling satisfied with my completion.
"Completed"
1. The Witness ~35 hours
Really enjoying this game! Completed the vast majority of the puzzles, but still have certain extra challenges I still need to complete, which are a bit more time consuming.
Clever game, even though can be very mentally taxing.
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider ~14 hours
I still have a few more hours of gameplay left, but I'm pretty much done.
Really enjoyed the 2013 game, and this is basically more of the same. The maps are better designed this time around, I think. Far easier to travel around.
In the previous game, there was a lot of climbing, and easily missing certain jumps, and was just frustrating after awhile. That seems to all be eliminated this time around.
I would wish that there were more tombs in a game called "Tomb Raider". The only ones here are just "optional tombs".
Still a fun game.
3. Mu Complex ~3 hours
Really disappointed in this one. There were some neat parts, but in general it just left me feeling underwhelmed.
Some of the puzzles were interesting, but the story in general severely detracts from my overall enjoyment of the game.
4. American Truck Simulator ~41 hours
I don't know what it is about this that has me totally captivated. But I've spent hours upon hours driving down the roads, hauling cargo, and slowly growing my truck empire. I look forward to playing more, and for new states to be released.
Turning on the radio to your favorite online radio station, and just driving, is a really neat way to spend an evening.
Kingdom ~2 hours
Neat game. Rather simple concept: survive as long as possible and expand your kingdom.
I appreciate what the game is trying to do. I survived to Day 20. I just don't feel like starting over. So I'm considering this done.
6. Firewatch ~3 hours
Not a long game, but very satisfying. It's basically an interactive story, but it manages to make you feel invested in the progress, and the sense of discovery as the story unfolds.
I dig it.
7. Broken Age ~13 hours
Most of my time in this game came from last year. I was a backer of the Kickstarter, and really excited for this game.
However, due to never-ending game backlog, after I hit a mental dead-end, I took a break from the game, and finally decided to get back to it, and finished Act 2!
Some pretty clever puzzles, but can be pretty frustrating at parts.
I love the art style of the game, and it's fun. Another Double Fine classic
8. Superhot ~5 hours
It's the most innovative shooter I've played in years.
Basically, "time moves only when you do". This leads to neat puzzle situations, and plenty of challenge/replayability opportunities.
9. Everybody’s Gone To the Rapture ~1 hour or so.
I was really looking forward to this game when I first heard of it. I was finally able to check it out this year, and...
It looks really nice. The graphics are certainly there to make you feel like you're in that town.
I had heard people say negative things about the game, and dismiss it as a walking simulator, etc.
Sadly, seems most of the negativity was true about it.
I ended up putting away the controller, out of frustration at how slow the walking is, and the feeling of being lost without any clear direction.
I will probably watch a Let's Play on YouTube at some later point in time instead.
10. HackNet ~8 hours
After the disappointment of Mu Complex, HackNet really revives my attention! I kind of see it as a sort of detective game, set within a Terminal/CommandPrompt environment, where you basically pretend to be a hacker.
It's a bit simplistic, but the tension and story kept me captivated, and I really felt like I was an elite hacker.
Some olden-days computer humor was enjoyable as well. I looked up at the clock and was surprised that I had basically spent all day playing this, when I only meant to play for an hour. I look forward to the future updates / story additions!
Pending / In Progress
XCOM 2
Barely started it, but I plan to invest more time in it soon(?)
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Played a bit on the Vita, but now that it's out on Steam, I hope to actually play through it, since it's so often said to be a good game.
Amplitude ~30 minutes so far
Played a few songs Will need to set some time aside to let myself focus on this one. Seems like a cool game so far though.
Stardew Valley ~30 minutes so far
I wasn't planning to get this game, but after seeing so many people praise it, I fell for the hype (as I often do). Played a bit, liking it so far. Will definitely need to add this to my list of games to play. But will probably be one of those "long run" games.
Unravel ~1 hour so far
Played the first level of the game. Not sure how long that was. I wish this game was on Steam, since I keep forgetting to play it, since it's only on Origin.
Pony Island ~1 hour so far
This one blew up the internet for a short time, and people seemed to like it. I played it a bit, but after watching videos of other people playing it, I'm not sure if I will be continuing this.
Undertale unfortunately suffered a similar fate for me. Everyone was raving about what a great game Undertale is, and a few days ago I watched some gameplay video on YouTube, and ended up watching the whole thing. So now there's not really any reason for me to play it myself. Even though there it is in my library.
Driver San Francisco ~1 hour so far
I've had this in my library for a long time, and played a bit, but then it just got shuffled off to the side, since there's always a billion other new games coming out. Well, I finally decided to give it another try, since I've been itching for a good driving game, and both DriveClub and Project CARS left me feeling very empty.
I really enjoyed the original Driver game when I first played it. So yeah, this is waiting for me.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen ~1 hour so far
Another game that I heard a lot of praise for. Probably will take me some time to really dive into, but the short bit I've played so far was enough for me to say "Ok, I'll dive into it eventually"
Dragon Quest Heroes ~1 hour so far
I really liked Hyrule Warriors (even though I haven't really spent as much time on that as I'd want to either), and this is obviously very similar. Seems neat so far. Will need to remember to play more.
Slime Rancher ~2 hours so far
Pretty cool game! It's still in early development, but what is there so far is very enjoyable. Nice art style. And who can deny how cute those slimes are?
Bus Simulator 16 ~3 hours so far
The early reviews for this game were pretty negative, but because of how much I enjoy American Truck Simulator, I decided to give it a try anyway.
I'm glad I gave it a try. It could use a bit more work in some areas, but it's still neat. It's a bit of a challenge though, as there's a lot more to think about rather than just driving around. Having to deal with selling the bus tickets, planning routes, and not going bankrupt. Whew. Will be keeping an eye on this one.
Paint It Back ~3 hours so far
Basically a paint-by-numbers / griddlers / nonogram game. Played a bit of it on iPhone when it originally came out there, but focusing it more on the computer now that it's on Steam.
It's not great, but I like the puzzles.
Volume ~6 hours so far
I played a bit of this when it first came out, but on impulse I launched the game the other day, and ended up playing through many levels. I really need to keep this on my play list. I like it.
The Black Watchmen ~7 hours so far
I want to like this game, but I'm struggling to get invested into it. I like the idea of it, where you are doing actual stuff on websites and investigation, rather than everything directly in the game.
Makes me feel not smart, most of the time. But I am committed to making my way through the game. I'm early into Season 2 of it now.
Far Cry Primal ~9 hours so far
It's Far Cry. People pretty much know what that entails by now.
However, there are no radio towers this time. The rest of the game remains fairly the same.
Which isn't a bad thing.
I played a bit of Far Cry 2, and liked what I played enough to want to get Far Cry 3 when it came out. So instead of finishing FC2, I jumped into FC3.
I played FC3 for about 13 hours before feeling frustrated with the story and ragequit.
A good story can help keep you playing a mundane game, but a bad story can really ruin your enjoyment of an otherwise good game. I liked the core gameplay of FC3 but the story sent me away.
Wasn't able to really get invested in Blood Dragon.
Played a fair amount of FC4, but after taking a break from it, I found myself unable to get invested in it again, and feeling lost without deciding what to do next.
So now here we are at Far Cry Primal. Judging from my history with the Far Cry games, it would have made sense for me to not get Primal. But in the end I couldn't resist.
And so far, I'm glad I gave it a chance. I'm enjoying it so far, and while I'm "in the groove", I've carved out a large chunk of the game progress.
Crashlands ~14 hours so far
THIS GAME IS SO GOOD!!
Wow wow wow. Very enjoyable game. Neat art style, clever writing, humor/puns galore, and a rewarding quest and crafting system.
I also appreciate that the save progress automatically syncs, so I can continue playing on my iPhone when I'm away from the computer (however rare that may be).
2016 is looking to be HUGE for me for games.
Some other games on my To-Play list:
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
Fire Emblem Fates
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (I would have been playing that this weekend, but my delivery was delayed)
Pokemon Yellow (Surprising how long ago this game came out. Now that it's available for the 3DS, I can have a chance to revisit it)
Hitman (even though I've not really gotten into previous games in the franchise, I am interested in giving it a try)
Need for Speed
Quantum Break (I'm a sucker for things involving time manipulation!)
No Man's Sky
Obduction
We Happy Few
Dead Secret
And the list goes on.
Just beat Fairune on my 3DS. Great puzzle adventure game. Lots of running around a small world to complete the game. When you die you save everything including all XP. Fun time killer as it took 2 3/4 hours.
Hey just want to help you out but the Life is Strange separate episodes do not count as individual games per the guidelines on page one. Not trying to be snarky but I don't want you to come up short at the end of the year!
Hey just want to help you out but the Life is Strange separate episodes do not count as individual games per the guidelines on page one. Not trying to be snarky but I don't want you to come up short at the end of the year!
Game 02: Clandestine (PC) 06/12/15 - 12/01/16 9 Hours
Quite a unique co-op experience, one player as a spy and the other as the hacker and you work together tackling missions. Pretty challenging game that requires a lot of teamwork otherwise you'll be dead in no time and it doesn't help that the game is felt quite janky, at least thats how my friend and I would describe it.
Game 03: Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power (PC) 13/01/16 - 13/01/16 4 Hours
Such a disappointing game in the Trine series. The game is rather short, finished it in 1 sitting and ends in the middle of the story. There's no more character progression, chapters being locked behind forced collectables, levels are now too easy and require very little teamwork, the new 3D gameplay just didn't feel polished and the game is filled with bugs and glitches. It is like they took a backwards step from Trine 2 and tried to make something completely new and different but ended up with a disaster. I cannot recommend anybody purchasing this game.
I'm guessing this means disappointment and you haven't played it yet?
I'll elaborate a little
I mean like all these different NLA residence, and alien races and stuff have their own little quest chains, and a lot are more about their personal issues and struggles than some grand conflict. For what it is it was really enjoyable, it's just that the actual core main story is a lot more barebones and shorter than the first game. It's not a bad thing by any means, the games are just very different, and I wonder if it would have been a better idea to call the game something other than Xenoblade.
Game 4 - Guitar Hero: Greatest/Smash Hits (PS3)
Again, a victim of the oversaturation of the franchise, but I mainly picked this up to play the best of the PS2 games (1/2/80s) on the PS3. In that regard, Greatest Hits probably has one of the best soundtracks of the series, with it's array of classic hits and some good modern stuff, like The Sword. I mean, it definitely has the same issue as Van Halen where it could've just been a big DLC but I did enjoy the silly 7 Wonders venues and absurd story. Also, this game marks the first time in my nine years of Guitar Hero playing that I beat Through the Fire and the Flames on expert. It was truly wonderful.
Game 4: Heroes Rise: HeroFall - 5 hours - January 13th, 2016
Finally, the end of the line for the trilogy. I played through it yesterday evening and into the night, and yet again had a pretty solid time with it. On more than one occasion I actually felt a bit emotionally gut-punched, so that speaks to the game actually making me care about it. Notably, during the course of the other installments I found myself thinking "Gee, this is getting predictable." In this installment, I didn't think that, but I did find myself thinking, "Wow, this makes no sense." Or at least that some of the twists were just getting silly. The game is really more of the same. It continues the story of the past two and it's still minimally presented. If you liked the first two, you'll like these. Overall, the most important thing is that the game gives you a satisfying way to end your "Legend" and I think Stephen Kirigaya, aka Ultraman (lol) had a great run. Should I play HeroFall? Sure, you might as well finish the trilogy.
