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52 games. 1 Year. 2016.

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Yeah, I thought the same too, but after playing the recent FFXIV patch I realised they're actually pretty similar in content. The story 'episode' took me around 3-4 hours alone which is about the same as your average (for example) LiS episode. This isn't counting new optional dungeons etc, of course.

I dunno, at the same time it still does feel a little odd. Like I didn't really finish a game. I'll think on it.
I don't really know enough about modern MMO patches to comment. I guess if an update includes some significant story content or something that you can "finish" in some measurable fashion like an episodic game, then I guess it's in the same ideal.
 

jiggles

Banned
Archive Post

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Game 8 - Fire Emblem: Awakening[3DS] ★★★★
Well, this only took me about 3 years to finally beat. Excellent tactical RPG-lite, with production values through the roof. I appreciated the simplicity of its systems compared to something like Tactics Ogre or Final Fantasy Tactics, as it made for a much more accessible experience with more emphasis on battling than micro-managing your group of misfits. And, when you turn off all the battle animations, it really zips along at a pleasing pace. I played on Normal Classic and avoided reloading saves as much as I could, but around Chapter 17/18 the enemies levelled up at what felt like an unfair rate. It really highlighted the weakness in the permadeath format when I got myself into a few situations that would be futile to continue, and the last third of the game only really gave you the option to move as a phalanx with one or two power characters to do all the fighting. So it got kinda mindless at the end, and therefore a lot less fun. Still really enjoyed my time with it overall, though, and I'm looking forward to the next entry in the series.

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Game 9 - SUPERHOT[PC] ★★★
SUPERHOT is a game of incredible highs and lows. While the core concept feels incredibly innovative at first, its use of it ends up feeling like a squandered opportunity. It's funny that when I played this as a flash game I thought it was a fantastic gameplay concept that needed fleshed out into a more complete package, whereas now I feel like the package is fantastic but the gameplay is the weak link. The Hollywood-style setups for each stage are wonderful, but the bullshit spawning of dudes ruins it all. At one stage a guy spawned right in front of my face already shooting an assault rifle so there was literally nothing I could do to react and my carefully crafted run was just thrown out. You'll also find that often when the coast is clear and you go to pick an item up from 2 feet in front of you, a dude with a shotgun will spawn behind you and kill you before you can turn around. The whole thing ends up just being trial-and-error, and I began to question whether moving at full speed was something I'm ever better off doing. And when you pull at that thread, and you realise it would be better if you moved in slow motion all the time, it turns out that the whole thing is just a weak twist on bullet time. And, by all rights, your runs through these levels should look fucking BADASS at full speed, but the jankily animated replays lack any punch whatsoever and I found myself continually disappointed by them. Just like the game overall, it never seems to be as good as you think it's going to be.
 

LGom09

Member
Full List
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Resident Evil HD
I didn't play RE1 until last year. I was tricked by the terrible voice acting into thinking it's a dumb game. It's totally not. It's one of the smartest games I've played, and the remake is better across the board. Masterful level design, great atmosphere and solid puzzles. The story is laughably bad, but some of the lore is pretty interesting. My favourite thing about the game is how thoughtfully you have to play. Every bullet counts and your saves are limited, so it's all about planning and efficient movement. It's really satisfying.

The Witness
A brilliant game that gives you plenty of opportunities to feel like a puzzle-solving god. I was constantly wowed by how clever it is and how clever it made me feel.

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Gunstar Heroes
Treasure's the best in the biz when it comes to 2D action and their debut title is still one of their finest. It's a ton of fun and the bosses are some of the best you'll find in the run and gun genre. My one complaint is that some of the levels drag on a bit. It can be annoying to have to replay the long, easy sections that precede the difficult boss fights.

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Raiden IV: Overkill
It's a pretty standard bullet hell shmup. You can shoot stuff and throw a screen-clearing bomb to save yourself in a pinch. That's about it. It was fun, but I probably won't revisit it.
 

Game 01: Libretta (PC)
Finished on 02/27/16
Time: 6 hours


Game Download

I am actually quite fond of freeware games—even more so when they are of quality. The game has no combat (sorta) and focuses around puzzles. Some of them are mundane riddles with an obvious answer and others are pretty clever/stupid. Never felt that any one puzzle was too obtuse. The game provides enough information through books and dialogue to set you in the right direction. The setting of the game is a library, so you can bet there are a ton of things to read.

There are about four acts and you meet different characters throughout the game. You learn a bit about them, and they help you solve some of the puzzles. Numerous actions/sequences will lead to an instant game over, but there are plenty of save spots. So it's not really much of an issue if you mess up or are morbidly curious like I am.

Found it to be a very enjoyable game. I was impressed with some of the effects used and felt like it had quite a bit of effort put into it compared to your typical freeware game—especially one made in RPG maker or similar programs. Didn't drag on too long and had a satisfying conclusion (sorta).

Ending Spoilers:
Happy End isn't the truth. The game implies that you changed the ending because you didn't like how the sequence of events actually concluded. I thought that it was interesting to get the "Good End" but not feel satisfied with it. There is some self-awareness to the game and an omniscient voice will speak to the player and give them the choice to pick a different ending if you choose the Bad End. I chose the Bad End first—it is literally a choice of option one or two. Reloading the game after choosing the Bad End will load a different message at the last save point. It kind of ruins some of the immersion, but having a game call out the actions of the player has always been a concept that I've liked.

[post=190975808]Back to OP[/post]
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
6. Tales from the Borderlands (PS4) - 30th January - approx. 10 hours, game complete & Platinum trophy earned
I have no interest in the Borderlands series but I liked TWD and TWAU a lot, so seeing this in a sale and hearing a lot of its acclaim, I decided to give it a crack. I'm glad I did because it's a really well-written game with brilliant characters and wonderful pacing. The presentation is excellent too, and each episode is exciting and interesting and things are always moving along. It's slightly below those other two Telltale series, but it's an unequivocal success in that it made me interested in Borderlands and was a thoroughly enjoyable game in its own right. 8/10

Arent people counting those as 5 games?
 

Midn1ght

Member
Update :

Game #7 : The Swapper
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Rating: 7/10 - Platform: PC - Developer: Facepalm Games, Curve Studios
Still going through games that my toaster laptop can play, I replayed The Swapper after beating it last year on PS4. My playthrough was faster this time around as I remembered many puzzles but still got stuck in 2 or 3 rooms. Love this game, the atmosphere, The subtle music, the gameplay mechanic. Such a clever game.

Game #8 : A Bird Story
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Rating: 8/10 - Platform: PC - Developer: Freebird Games
From the developer who gave us To the Moon, A Bird Story is short interactive story about a boy and a bird. The game is 1 hour long but manage to tell so much without any actual dialogue. It is superb and managed to hit me right in the chest way more than To the Moon did. Brilliant work !

Main Post
 

Bowlie

Banned
Game #10 - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All [3DS] (29 hours, finished in February 29)
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Much like the second iteration in any trilogy, Justice For All could take advantage of all the backstory written in the first game and worry only about moving things forward and focusing on the relationships between the characters, even introducing wonderful characters like Pearl and Franziska.
I thought the puzzles were not as good as in the first game. Especially in the last two cases, I had to do loong logic jumps to understand what the game actually wanted me to do; I wished it could lead me better to the answers.

Original Post
 
Game 18: Fallout 1
I'd lie if I said that this was easy to get into. While most of the mechanics are pretty simplistic, the game doesn't really communicate them. It also doesn't really communicate the story. You either find it or you don't. However, there's something about the absolute freedom you have and the various ways you can approach your quests. The wasteland is definitely worth a visit, but be prepared to get lost and die many cruel deaths. The final sequence was also probably one of the most gruesome things I ever saw in a game and reflects the hard journey of the protagonist in an excellent way. I'll try out Fallout 2 later this year now that I know better how the game works.

OP
 

Krafter

Member
Completed games list

FEBRUARY END (4 games completed, 8 games total)
Still slightly behind pace, which I blame on XCOM, Pokémon, Platinum hunting in Wolverine and Stranger's Wrath coupled with real-life stuff. I should start March off well, am on the Final chapter in Wolverine and Final 2 levels in Zombie Tycoon 2.

Game 5: Ace Combat Infinity (PS3) - February 4 - 20 hours
Solid enough plane combat game that didn't give me motion sickness, so I stuck with it. Long grind to get enough $$ to unlock the entire campaign, and the only reason I did so was through fortunate crazy 'drops' at Christmas in the form of cash and a superior plane. Wish there was more variety, but hard to argue content with a free game.

Game 6: Imagine Cheerleader (DS) - February 11 - 5 hours
Unfortunately not as lewd as it sounds. Played through with my 2 oldest daughters, I did the rhythm game parts while the girls did the shopping and dress-up parts. Its a good family friendly simulation for young girls, we probably have half a dozen of the Imagine series.

Game 7: Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath HD (Vita) - February 22 - 19 hours
Excellent shooter-hybrid, unique setting (a western!) and characters, heck, even your crossbow's ammo has personality. The chickens and grubs were full of great lines, and the acting and voices stick out from Stranger on down. Stranger's motivations driving the plot I liked as well. My 10th Platinum Trophy.

Game 8: Minecraft (PS3) - February 28 - 50 hours
Timeless classic. Infinite replayability, perfect simplistic gameplay, anything you can imagine, you can build. Survival mode is fine, but the real meat is creative mode for me. Spent 2 years building our snow world with my girls until it's perfection. Moving on to the Vita version for portability but for this challenge's sake, considering the matter finished.
 

Spyware

Member
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Game 15: | Uncharted 2: Among Thieves | - | February 25 | - | 8 hours |
I played this at release and it was great to replay it now for the first time since. I remembered some parts really well but some parts still feel like I just played them for the first time. The only non-fun part is near the end with the bullet-spongey enemies. Up until that point it's just a joy to play. Overall an amazing game still.

Game 16: | Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception | - | February 28 | - | 9 hours |
For some reason I didn't play this when it was released even tho I bought it and loved the previous two. Playing it immediately after the second game like this really brings out the many major flaws of the game. Awful "big bad", horrible QTE brawling and annoying enemies are the worst. Everything goes on for too long. Any chase, gunfight, brawl, chapter, cutscene... everything is just too long. Many parts also lacked the "flow" in the climbing/running that I love from the previous games. This may sounds like a complete bashing but I don't actually hate the game. I had an okay time.

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Master post
 

Velcro Fly

Member
Original Post

For the month of February I completed nine games.

My current progress for this challenge is 13/52

1. Stella Glow – Finished on February 6 – 50 hours to complete
One of my favorite games on the 3DS. This was a New Game Plus run to max affinity with everyone. Second playthrough was much easier because of how experience was relaxed for fighting lower leveled enemies. I love the characters. The voice acting was really well done. The gameplay was fun. The battle system with the song magic was also very fun. I cannot say enough good things about this game.

2. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Dual Destinies – Finished on February 14 – 31 hours, 10 minutes to complete
The fifth game in the main series. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The gameplay segments I could tell were way more restricted this time around but in certain scenarios it helped me narrow my focus and not get bogged down by tiny little nuances in dialogue that ultimately meant nothing. I love Athena and mostly enjoyed the Mood Matrix. It felt way more intuitive than Apollo's bracelet and way less risky than unlocking Psyche-Locks in the previous trilogy. Analyzing someone's emotions seemed like a natural addition. Will be purchasing and playing the DLC case as well.

3. Pokemon Trading Card Game – Finished on February 15 – 7 hours, 29 minutes
This game was my youth. I played the hell out of this game as well as collected a ton of the cards. Of course as a kid I had no one to play with so this game was it. I broke this game by grinding for a few good pokemon and made a deck surrounding them. Scyther, Electabuzz, and Hitmonchan are almost unstoppable in this game. Once you get four of each and enough good trainers for card draw and opponent disruption you can fly through the game. Even beating the final boss gauntlet was really easy with this deck. It was called the Haymaker back in the day and is my absolute favorite to play. It's really unfair. The game itself is really fun. The AI is super dumb and hardly ever runs enough good cards for things to matter. Only the final few bosses put up any resistance and that is from how broken a few of the legendary cards can be when played.

4. Fire Emblem Awakening – Finished on February 20 – 23 hours, 20 minutes
This was a no grinding and no children run on Normal/Classic. The only one I used was Lucina. Also played a female avatar for the first time. The start was pretty rough. I was still in Stella Glow mode where I could have units in danger for a few turns and they really wouldn't die. The paralogue where you get Donnel I restarted probably five or six times, either because a unit died or Donnel wasn't going to get the level up and be recruited. Decided to replay this in anticipation for Fates and it turns out I got caught up in the Best Buy special edition fiasco. Being delayed until Tuesday means I had plenty of time today to sit and finish Awakening!

5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Dual Destinies DLC (Turnabout Reclaimed) – Finished on February 21 – 9 hours, 50 minutes
I treated this like a separate game because it was DLC I bought after the main game. Had no idea when it took place during the game's timeline. It was a zany case. Many laughs were had. Definitely got my money's worth playing things out. Bittersweet moment finishing it up because I have now finished all five main Ace Attorney games but a little exciting to have played through them within a year's time. I bought both of these on sale last year. Fun series that I always wanted to play but never got around to playing until recently!

6. Kirby Triple Deluxe – Finished on February 21 – 9 hours, 11 minutes
This was a replay, mostly to have something to dump my excess play coins into. The game itself is very fun and some of the best segments are the hypernova Kirby sections. They are some of the most clever and fun segments of the entire game. I got all sunstones and I believe I only need a few common keychains to have all of those. Not sure how much time I will put in to Kirby Fighters or the Dedede segments of the game. I did a lot of that stuff before so I may just skip it this time. Definitely glad to have played this game again since it was very fun the second time as well. I would play an entire game based around hypernova Kirby and the clever sucking puzzles and challenges based around that. 3D in this game is also top notch, especially on my n3DS XL.

7. Mega Man – Finished on February 23 – 1 hour, 48 minutes
I'm terrible at this game. There were a few things that are in the game that I don't remember being there. Slidy physics everywhere. I think this was fixed in later games. I abused the select glitch exclusively. This game is way harder than I remember. I can beat 2-4 pretty easily but this game almost crushed me. I got the Legacy Collection on the 3DS

8. Mega Man 2 – Finished on February 25 – 1 hour, 10 minutes
Easy 8 robots. Butt clench through most of Wily's Castle. Wily 4 was some real heavy stuff with that boss at the end requiring precise Crash Bomb usage. I don't use the zip to start at the top of the room and I'm not good enough at the game to lay them where they blow up two walls at once. Still having Item 1 and 3 at full helped me get around the room and beat it. As a kid I couldn't beat Quick Man but as an adult it is really easy. Overall probably my second favorite NES game behind Mega Man 3, which I will get to next!

9. Mega Man 3 – Finished on February 26 – 2 hours, 30 minutes
This is my favorite in the series and boy do I suck at it now. I must have had impeccable timing on slides when I was a kid. I can never remember mistiming slides so often as I did in this run. Also my normal fun route of doing Needle first for Rush Jet and being able to buster him with the E-Tank also did not happen. Had to go Top and then Shadow and then Gemini to get Needle and the most overpowered Rush Jet in the whole series. I never considered this game hard but I struggled at some points. But fear not, once I got to Wily 3 and heard the best music track in the entire series I was able to press on. Halfway done with the classic Mega Man blitz.
 
Game 8: Life is Strange Complete Season (PS4) 14 Hours
2/28/2016 - Really just a well told story filled with memorable characters. Certainly there were issues, but it tried and mostly succeeded at making a sci fi thriller that pays off pretty well. Can't wait to see what comes from Dontnod next.
Poor Warren
Could count as 5 seperate games, but I think it works really well as a whole, and I finished it in a couple sittings over the weekend, so besides the cliffhangers it felt like one complete game. 5/5


OP
 
Game #15 - Deadpool [360]

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I used to read a lot of Deadpool. Cable & Deadpool was my introduction to western comics, and it was a hell of an intro. Then that run ended. Then the Deadpool solo comic that followed that got some of my money. I think this would have been around the time of Secret Invasion?

Well, I stopped reading Deadpool after maybe five issues. There's been some great runs since then; considering that was something like 2006, but that era was pretty toxic.

The writing in this game is straight out of that era. Its not terrible. Its not even bad, but the camera points to every clever moment just way too long, and for every clever moment, there's three cringeworthy ones. It isn't bad. Its entirely inoffensive. Its just not all there, and its not the quality I would have hoped for.

So, let's talk about the game. Know what? Its totally fine. I really enjoyed the High Moon transformers games, and it has some of that same unpolished feel, but its solid. Their melee combat isn't great, and it shows that they're more used to third person shooters. It really shows when you see how much more powerful the guns are than any of the melee weapons. They do a great job of limiting your ammo in a way that forces you to mix the two together, and that's tied together with a nice little combo system to encourage it.

I liked it. I will say that if it were even an hour longer, it would have overstayed its welcome. Its a short, short game, but its a fun romp for a couple of sittings. The 360 version is pretty clunky as far as frame rate goes, but the PC version has been relisted, and I'm pretty sure a Xbox One and PS4 version exist now. If anyone is fresh out of the movie theater, they might be in for some disappointment, but its a serviceable game.
 

Oreoleo

Member
Will start to play Wolfenstein TNO tonight.
edit: Fuck that, I will revist one of my favorite games of all time. I will play through MGS1 again (thanks Oreoleo for the idea to revisit the series). I've never played it on an emulator in 1920x1080 so it will kind of feel like a new game ;)
Confirmation at least one person glances at my posts B) Glad I'm not just writing for myself (though that would be okay).

I originally counted them as five games, but it felt like cheating. I think I would only count them as individual games when it still has upcoming episodes.

Game 8: Life is Strange Complete Season (PS4) 14 Hours
2/28/2016 - Really just a well told story filled with memorable characters. Certainly there were issues, but it tried and mostly succeeded at making a sci fi thriller that pays off pretty well. Can't wait to see what comes from Dontnod next.
Poor Warren
Could count as 5 seperate games, but I think it works really well as a whole, and I finished it in a couple sittings over the weekend, so besides the cliffhangers it felt like one complete game. 5/5

Props to you both for only counting it as one :p

Also Dontnod just released some info about their next game just a day or two ago. Doesn't look to be as much of a direct successor to LiS as some might be hoping. But they still have my attention. LiS is so good! Glad more people (myself included) are checking it out in the post-GOTY season. stealth edit forgot to add link for their next game: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1191775
 

Cade

Member
Game The Eighth: The Witcher 2 - 4/5
This one's taken me some time to finish up, as I started it a long time ago, but I finally played through the last two thirds of the game and ended up liking it quite a bit. I've since moved on to The Witcher 3 and found that thankfully all of my complaints have been answered. The Witcher 2's story and characters elevate a mediocre combat system and some absolutely mind-bogglingly janky sections to end up being a great game.
I'm not a billion percent sure I made the right choices, which is always refreshing in a video game, where most choices are binary SUPER GOOD and SUPER EVIL. The music also is amazing, and the game is a visual treat. The leveling system was annoying to me, though, and I hated the skill trees. I didn't do too much side content, but now that I've moved on to Wild Hunt, I'm doing pretty much every side quest.

Also, Dandelion is best character.

Original post:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=193014632&postcount=814
 

dougalism

Neo Member
Original Post

Dougalism - Progress 5/52

Game 5 : Asura's Wrath (PS3) - 2/2
That ended really abruptly. Pretty disappointing Capcom decided to sell the actual ending as DLC, if they ever put it on sale I'll probably get it, making me part of the problem I suppose,

Not much progress this month but I've made good progress in Fallout 3, granted it's about 7 years since I started it but I'll be glad to have it and it's DLC done as I'm finding it a bit of a slog.
 

Sch1sm

Member
February update. Got really lazy with desc's. Dunno if I'll even keep up with them again beyond this.

Completed 13/52:

Game 09: Uncharted 2 (PS4) - 8h42m
#Blurb

Game 10: Assassins Creed Liberation HD (X360) - 7h39m
#Blurb

Game 11: The Crew: Wildrun (X1) - 23h06m
#Blurb

Game 12: Shan Gui (PC) - 0h57m
#A VN about a girl, Han Hui, seeking clarity via memories of a childhood place, guided by He Jai -
the second to last child of the Mountain God.
An underwhelming experience with some questionable wording, but with an enjoyable sound track and pleasant art style.


Game 13: Unravel (PC) - 6h38m
#A tight little puzzle platformer, short and sweet, with great mechanics, physics, brilliant art, and a grand OST to top it off. You play as Yarny, a character made from a single piece of yarn that's on a mission to mend broken bonds. Using yarn to overcome obstacles, there were several times that the puzzles were simply overthought on my end. It isn't necessarily difficult, in fact a lot of the puzzles aren't incredibly challenging, but the design is well done.
 

Hawk Fan

Neo Member
9. Game of Thrones (PS4; 6/10) Feb 16
Endpoint: 100%/Platinum
Time: About 13 hours
Comments: There were parts of it I liked, but overall I agree with the consensus that it was disappointing. I guess I liked it enough to check out Season 2 once it’s all done and on sale.

10. Actual Sunlight (Vita; 3/10) Feb 18
Endpoint: 100%
Time: 1.5 hours
Comments:

11. Super Hexagon (PC; 9/10) Feb 19
Endpoint: Unlocked a couple levels.
Time: 5 hours
Comments: Great game and very difficult. I had a lot of fun with it but I’m clearly not good enough to finish this game. I may go back to it eventually on iPad.

12. Thomas was Alone (Vita; 9/10) Feb 21
Endpoint: 100%
Time: 5 hours
Comments: Another very good game. This set me on to to a few more indie puzzlers.

13. Device 6 (iPad; 10/10) Feb 29
Endpoint: 100%
Time: About 4 hours
Comments: This game blew me away. It was perfectly suited to a tablet and just extremely well done.

14. Monument Valley (iPad; 9.5/10) Mar 1
Endpoint: 100%
Time: About 2 hours
Comments: Started this right after Device 6 and also thought this was fantastic. Love the art style but thought it could have been a little harder.

15. Monument Valley/Forgotten Shores (iPad; 10/10) Mar 1
Endpoint: 100%
Time: About 1.5 hours
Comments: Fantastic. Still wasn’t that hard except the last level was tricky. Would love to see more of this.

Currently working on: Tearaway (Vita), Taco Master (Vita), Mousecraft (Vita), Valiant Hearts (PS4), A Dark Room (iPhone), Sound Shapes (Vita, PS4)

Original Post
 

Malyse

Member
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Time: 42:43 hours
Score: More Monster Hunter, More Better.
Thoughts: I enjoyed my time with this dumb game. It was fun, but your enjoyment is directly proportional to your FF love. It's too hard single player and disproportionately easy with even one more player.

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Time: 20:47 hours
Score: God tier One Piece experience
Thoughts: A while back I was wondering which game gave the definitive One Piece feel. Question answered. If you want a taste of why OP is the best shonen on the planet, PW3 will help you figure it out. The only flaw is that it isn't longer. Hopefully this with start doing the Ultimate Ninja Storm thing and have each game pick up where the previous one ended. I would love to PW the entire One Piece story.

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Time: 94:35 hours
Score: I actually played for that long?
Thoughts: I loved this have. Prolly my favorite of the year. That being said, I rolled on every *every* battle. This is one of the most broken games I've played. Like, there are exploits that absolute destroy competition and I somehow got all the Digimon aside from the illusive 195. I'm not even sure if I'll go back if Bamco fixes it. There better have some amazing DLC. Maybe I'll take my broken team online and see what happens. Final Verdict? I love it. It's no pokemon.

Master List
 

NHale

Member
February Update

Game 10 - Gemini: Heroes Reborn ★★☆☆☆
The game actually has some great ideas and gameplay mechanics, but I felt that they never went all-in on those. It's a short enjoyable ride but now I would wait for a sale. Still worth experiencing different games once in a while.

Game 11 - Firewatch ★★★★★
The last third of the game is definitely not the best part of the game but it would be silly to dismiss what the developers managed to do with the mechanics in this game. My biggest complaint is some padding to increase length but the exploration, story telling, character building is incredible. Early favorite for my GOTY.

Game 12 - Nubla ★☆☆☆☆
I got it very cheaply and it's not a terrible unplayable game but it's very short, most puzzles are super easy and it has some technical issues. Normal considering it's made via some student fund but there are not many redeeming features in this game.
 

Blombus

Neo Member
Original post

Game 8 - Yoshi's Woolly World - 14:33
Finished March 1

Nintendo has been my favorite software developer since I first played A Link to the Past as a kid. I've always been bad at platform games but I think of them as the heart and soul of the medium: an exercise in mechanics, skill, and ingenuity for programmers and players alike. I love Nintendo in part because "mellow mode" exists in Yoshi's Woolly World and an aging, uncoordinated adult like me can experience the beauty in a twist of string standing in for lamplight or a pleat of colored silk that looks like the aurora borealis draped behind a set of felted hills. "It's Only a Paper Moon" is a sad song but a gentle one and Yoshi's Woolly World is a game that's a lot like a song.
 
Arent people counting those as 5 games?

It's up to the individual. Had I played each episode as it had released then it would feel fair to count them as one episode per game, but I played them months after release one after the other, and it would have felt a bit cheap to count each as a separate game.

Master post (updated)

11. The Room Three (Android) - 1st March - 5h6m, a single playthrough with what seemed like a 'bad' ending (apparently there are multiple endings)
I played The Room and The Room Two last year, and fell in love with both of them. TR3 is probably the best yet, with huge intricate puzzles across multiple rooms, gorgeous visuals and presentation and a wonderful creepy Gothic atmosphere. My only slight grumble is that because the puzzles tend to be much larger in scale they sometimes lack the minor details of the first games; there aren't many hidden switches or levers on the sides of boxes any more, because when your attention is split between three rooms, something that small would be hard to notice. And the hint system is very generous, making sure you're never stuck for long. 9/10
 

Bowlie

Banned
Game #11 - One Finger Death Punch [PC] (10 hours, finished in March 1)
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Goddamn I almost uninstalled this game when I opened it and saw those cheap-ass images and that hoorrible UI. Then I played a stage. And then another, and another, and cleared almost a hundred levels. It's a terrific game, and it shows you don't need high production values to make something enjoyable.

Original Post
 

jnWake

Member
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Game #5: Undertale (PC).
Time Played: ~24 hours.
Completion Reached: Fully cleared the story.
That means, got the three main endings
.

So, if you've been in gaming related sites these past few months, chances are you've heard of Undertale... Probably thanks to its quite vocal and annoying fanbase. However, let's ignore that and talk about the game a bit.

Undertale is a quirky RPG that adds some interesting twists to the classic RPG formula. The main one is the ability to choose how you end battles. Instead of having to kill every enemy like of most RPGs, you can end battles by sparing your enemies. Battles in Undertale are turn based, but instead of the classic "Fight, Defend, Run" commands in most RPGs, Undertale has "Fight, Act, Items, Mercy" as its commands. "Fight" and "Items" are classic commands, while "Act" and "Mercy" are the unique ones. When you choose "Act", a menu of random actions (depending on the enemy you're facing) appears, and choosing the correct action may lead to a "pacific" ending of the battle. "Mercy", on the other hand, has the "Spare" and "Flee" commands. "Spare" means you won't attack the enemy and "Flee" is just escaping. Under certain conditions, you can end battles by sparing, which is the "pacific" way of doing things. You can also just kill enemies by attacking them. Main difference between the two ways is that by killing you get EXP and money, while you just get money by sparing. Another unique thing in the game is the "defense" part of your turn. When the enemy attacks, the game turns into something like a shmup where you must dodge attacks by moving across the screen. There's a lot of variety in the attack patterns different enemies have and also some cool twists in the formula along the game, so the "defense" part of each turn is pretty fun.

Now, the "kill or spare" nature of the game would be pretty worthless if there were no consequences for it, right? Luckily, your choices affect many things in the game which makes replays very interesting. I don't want to spoil much here but the attention to detail regarding this aspect is incredible.
I love how the game remembers random stuff too, like Toriel commenting to Sans that you flirted with her after calling her 'Mom' in the True Pacifist ending if you did that at the beggining of the game
.

Besides the unique aspects of the battle system, Undertale features a "typical" overworld, where you explore a world, clearing puzzles along the way. I say "typical" since the setting of the game is very quirky, with funny characters and ridiculous dialogues during your journey. I loved the silly jokes the game throws at you and most characters are charming and interesting.

Presentation-wise, Undertale reminds me a bit of Earthbound with its simple but welcoming graphics. The soundtrack is incredible and one of my favourite things of the game, featuring many quirky and catchy themes while also featuring some emotional tunes.

Overall, I really liked Undertale. I recommend it to people who like quirky games and, if you do play it, ignore the annoying fanbase and treat it like a regular game. Usually people get overhyped by games with vocal fanbases and then get disappointed (happens a lot to Earthbound). Also, I recommend you play it however you want and then, if you feel like it, investigate about things you missed and see if you want to replay the game with a different "mindset". I feel the full Undertale experience is worth it if you want to give it a try.
 

Linkyn

Member
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Game 16: Pokémon Red Edition

What better way to break the tedium of modern AC than going back in time to the joys of my childhood? I downloaded the Virtual Console version of Pokémon Red this weekend and immediately jumped into it. Originally, I intended to use it as a pace breaker for Rise of the Tomb Raider (which I'm currently playing through), but I eventually got sucked in completely, until earlier this morning when I became champion of the Pokémon League.

Of course, I do not intend to stop here. For the first time in many years, completing the national dex is a possibility for me, so I'm going to keep grinding for evolutions and eventually trading with a second edition to get all 150 mons (I suppose 151 since I got Mew last month). However, seeing as that is a more open-ended process that I won't be able to properly take care of until I see my brother during the semester break, this feels like a good place to take inventory.

I feel like there's not much I could say about this game (and its sister titles) that hasn't already been said countless times before. The early Pokémon generations are practically hard-wired into my brain, and even years after my last playthrough, I almost intuitively move through Kanto on the quest for badges and a full Pokédex. My longest running playthrough to date is still on my Sapphire, but Red / Blue have a very special place in my heart that no amount of missing QoL features and combat quirks could tarnish.

To end, here's where I stand: I beat my rival with the following team:

* Lvl 23 Kadabra (I traded my first one for a Mr. Mime and didn't get around to catching a replacement one until I realised I had no solid counter for Agatha. I was planning to train him a bit using the Elite 4, but ended up beating them on the first run)
* Lvl 47 Pidgeot
* Lvl 48 Raichu
* Lvl 50 Charizard
* Lvl 51 Nidoking
* Lvl 51 Gyarados

Pokédex 137 seen / 80 caught, playtime as of this writing is 21 hours 54 minutes.
 
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Game #00: Pokémon Brown (ROM hack) - ★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Jeez, what an obnoxious ROM hack! It's like a cacophony of ROM hack ideas/mistakes. It's consistently unbalanced (you either wind up being overpowered or underpowered at the flip of a switch), it's poorly paced (I literally had two gyms in a five-minute period, and then had multiple towns without gyms in a row!), and eventually, you get to some shit about MissingNo., and the game isn't clear about how you have to get through it. Multiple times I've had to go to completely different areas in order to find a random key that allows progress (and one time I found a random key and all it did was give me a TM or something). Also, the very first area of the game is a cave, which is some ol' bullshit. Quite possibly the worst thing about this ROM hack however is that, like all bad ROM hacks, it feels like introducing "humour", and in doing so, gives dialogue to the player-character (also some ol' bullshit!). The game now has beer.

That said, it's not all bad. G/S Pokemon and sprites are added to the game, it deals with the issue of being a ROM hack by creating "Trade Stones" in order to make Alakazam a thing w/o training (for instance). The selection is also very varied, and by the third gym I think most types were seen. It also makes some effort to change up move typing, such as making Disable into 'Abnormal' (dunno what that signifies though). It also had a briefly interesting trick with a gym, where when you go in, you get confused because it's just the exact same layout as the town (so you think that the game forced you back outside). Also, it's working, so that puts it ahead of a lot of ROM hacks at least.


Game #40: PaRappa the Rapper 2 (PS2) - ★★★★★★★★★☆

Y'know, from the reviews I saw for it back in the day, I'd always thought that PaRappa the Rapper 2 wasn't a terribly good game. And sure, in some ways it's got some kinks and inferior elements versus the original, and sure, the first couple of songs are kind of iffy, but all-in-all it felt like a very solid sequel to the original. I liked the last six songs quite a bit, and I really enjoyed
Sunny's song about loving PaRappa, it was nicely done and pretty sweet.
Unfortunately I didn't get any cools on my go-through, but I'll definitely go back sometime soon to try and get it for all the levels like I did with Lammy and the first game. I really enjoy how the series lets you do the music freestyle - not only can (and in fact should) rap freely to an extent, you don't even have to hit the markers to do well, as long as you supplement it with a good beat throughout. As far as problems with the game go, they were two-fold: one is how as you go from one rank to the next (Cool/Good/Bad/Awful) the other rapper will comment on it, which kind of hurts the pace of the song. It was an annoyance in the first seven levels, but in the eighth level, if it ever happened at the end of the song it would screw you up pretty bad since you're dictating the beat that everyone has to follow, and once the comment from the other rapper ends, you immediately are put into a situation without a second to figure out which buttons to it. It hurts an otherwise cool moment. The other problem too is that it is too easy! I didn't lose one single time. Now this could just be that I'm a lot better, but I remember Lammy's fifth level and PaRappa's fourth being utterly brutal. Anyway, it's still a great game, and it was definitely worthwhile to pay only $10 for it on the PS4.
 

Midn1ght

Member
Update :

Game #9 : Nihilumbra
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Rating: 7/10 - Platform: PC - Developer: BeautiFun Games
This game was alright, it's a fun platformer with color mechanics. Each colors give different powers to use and find your way out of troubles. It's short and I didn't particularly enjoy the voice talking to you through the entire game. Not bad at all overall and there's a new and harder mode available when you beat the game which is always cool.

Main Post
 

NOLA_Gaffer

Banned
I'm out. I didn't finish a single game in February and I don't have the free time to finish 52 games in one year at this point. It was a fun attempt though, I'll try again next year.
 
I'm out. I didn't finish a single game in February and I don't have the free time to finish 52 games in one year at this point. It was a fun attempt though, I'll try again next year.

I'll take up your mantle, I'm going to do 104!!

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Game #41: Crypt of the NecroDancer - ★★★★★★★★★★

Such an amazing gosh darned game. Seriously, this could very well be one of the best rhythm games ever made, definitely the most unique and interesting rhythm game ever made. It's an awesome roguelike-style game, where you move and attack just by moving in four directions. It's thoroughly challenging, but it's the kind of challenge where if you knew how to overcome it, you could do it without taking a hit, and that is awesome. Every enemy has a pattern, and they are awesome. The soundtrack is awesome! The diversity of the cast is awesome! The mechanically diversity of the cast is awesome!! . ..*ahem* Honestly, World of Goo is fantastic, as is Braid, and that trash indie game, that's awesome, but to me, Crypt of the NecroDancer is almost like that game that the entire field of indie games was working toward. I dare say that I rank it among what I would consider my list of perfect games - I have virtually no complaints to give it. I list it here today, but surely I will be playing it for a long time yet. Oh also, Death Metal is such a cool boss. His music is really fun to play to, and I really enjoy his voice.

Talking more about the characters, they did a really awesome job at making them unique and practically reinventing how you play the game. I've only really played with Cadence, Bard, Monk, and Dove, but they're all so damn different that I love to play with all of them. Bard definitely makes the game much easier, but due to my inability to (often) not move to the beat, it still presented some challenge. Dove I thought was going to be hard, but the ability to scare enemies away definitely makes it viable. I'm only now starting on the Monk, but he is DEFINITELY a hard one, mostly because you have to actively relearn the game (and failing to do so results in certain death). I dunno if I'll be able to master him. Here's hoping, though!
 

sappyday

Member
Only beat 1 game in Feb. Gotta step it up. Gonna try to complete Unravel, Street Fighter V (finish all story modes and at least 4-5 hours of online), Far Cry Primal, Hitman Chapter 1, and Tales of the Borderland this month. Already beat Firewatch.


I'm changing up my strategy. Gonna be completing most big games from this year with some games from older years sprinkled in there (mainly those that I miss from last year). I realized I won't have the patience for a lot of the older games not because they're bad but because it feels wrong to speed through them.
 

VepsoO

Neo Member
Original Post

Game #9: XCOM 2 (PC) - 36 hrs
Yes! My hype was strong in this and it delivered. Took me 35-36hrs to beat it. Really took my time though, experimenting and doing as many missions as I could. Final mission was epic. More playthroughs on higher difficulties coming up.

Game #10: American Truck Simulator (PC) - 10 hrs
I think they did Nevada really good, but California I feel they should have gotten more out of. Not sure if I'm gonna keep driving, might dip back in every now and then.

Game #11: Age of Empires II: HD Edition (PC) - 70 hrs and counting
I play this with friends every now and then, and 2016 is not going to be any different.

Game #12: Age of Gladiators (PC) - 22 hrs
Picked this up on a whim on Steam, and I'm glad I did. Addictive little gladiator management sim made by one guy. Took me 22 hrs to beat it and enjoyed every moment of it.
 

wispsmoke

Neo Member
Original Post

Game 7 - Rocket League - ?? hours

I have no idea how many hours I've put into Rocket League, but I never made it out of unranked in season 1. Season 2 is going better, so far, but the reason I'm claiming Rocket League on the list is that my plat for it just popped. It's an easy plat if you're hunting, but mine (with the exception of the exhibition match, an option I never looked at until it was the last trophy I needed for the plat) came about nearly by surprise. As for the game- it's Rocket League, you know what happens. C'mon.

Game 8 - Dark Souls II - 150 hours

Thanks to the bonfire ascetics, I never proceeded to the throne of want and just stayed in NG. That just ended- somehow, I hadn't spoiled
how the fight with Throne Watcher and Defender went straight into Nashandra, and then rolled the credits. So tonight, when I thought I had enough of O+S' inferior clones and went to take them out, I ended up accidentally wrapping my NG.
On to NG+!
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
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Game #10 - Darkest Dungeon
Time: 55 hours

First lets get this out of the way: I didnt finish the game. I tried the titular "Darkest Dungeon" (aka the last one) a couple of times with max level heroes and just got wiped out easily. I have no idea what to do besides get very lucky with RNG, and I cba to level a bunch of heroes up to max level again to bang my head against it. At 55 hours, I feel like ive gotten what I was gonna get out of the game. That being said, I absolutely loved it and it will easily be one of my favorite games of the year.

link to the OP
 
Game #14 .- Far Cry 4 PS4

It looked gorgeous, the dream sequencs were amazing, there is definitely some cool gameplay stuff in this game, but if I have to climb another tower again to see more of the map I'm going to throw up. That game is just filled with busy work.
The campaign was okayish but nothing to write home about either and the stealth gameplay was hit or miss because of the spotty AI. I skipped Far Cry 3 and I think that's enough FC for the next 3-4 years.
7/10 because I'm feeling generous.
 

chrixter

Member
Main post

Games completed: 60
Games dropped: 26
Total hours played (completions): 770.5
Average hours played per day: 2.1
Average hours per completed game: 12.8

1. Hacknet
★★★★☆ - 6 hours - Completed 1/3/2016
Really cool faux hacking sim with interesting missions and slick presentation.

2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
★★★★☆ - 53 hours - Completed 1/18/2016
Some of the best writing, storytelling, and world-building I've ever experienced in a video game. If I had enjoyed the combat as much as the game's presentation, this would have been one of my absolute favorite games of all time.

3. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
★★★★☆ - 52.5 hours
Dived into D3 for the third year in a row. Sunk some time into Season 5 with my Demon Hunter... still fun and addictive.

4. The Witness
★★★☆☆ - 14.5 hours - Completed 2/8/2016
I appreciate The Witness' concepts more than their execution. The puzzles involving environmental clues were amazing, but the game's more abstract puzzles were far less interesting and, unfortunately, more common. Nevertheless, I respect the hell out of the game.

5. Rise of the Tomb Raider
★★★★☆ - 21 hours - Completed 2/24/2016
Solid but less impressive follow-up to the 2013 reboot. Where Rise falters most is falling into the open-world trap of watering down the overall experience with excessive collecting, crafting, and other busywork. But the core is still great.

6. Firewatch
★★★★☆ - 4 hours - Completed 2/27/2016
The impressively believable interactions between the two lead characters make this mystery adventure worth experiencing. Outstanding dialogue and voice acting. Doesn't resolve all its narrative threads satisfactorily, sadly, but I really enjoyed the journey.

7. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
★★★☆☆ - 5.5 hours - Completed 3/2/2016
Shallower than I expected for a character action game, but there's button-mashing fun to be had here.

8. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
★★☆☆☆ - 9.5 hours - Completed 3/10/2016
Intriguing story and fantastic animation, but I was disappointed by the ending twist and never found the trial-and-error puzzle gameplay to be fun.

9. Stardew Valley
★★★★☆ - 40 hours - Completed 4/6/2016
What a way to finally scratch my Harvest Moon itch that I'd had for over a decade. Love all the ways it streamlines and expands upon HM's mechanics, though the social aspect was underwhelming to me.

10. Dark Souls III
★★★★★ - 26.5 hours - Completed 4/21/2016
Dark Souls III tops the original Dark Souls for me by offering more polished combat, a greater selection of weapons and armor, and my favorite enemy and boss designs in the series. And whereas the later areas and bosses of DS1 disappointed me, DS3 managed to maintain quality throughout. Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, with its amazing art direction (what a breathtaking vista upon entering) and one of the game's best boss fights, is one of the most memorable levels I've experienced in all of video games.

11. Star Fox Zero
★★☆☆☆ - 6 hours - Completed 4/24/2016
A plethora of questionable design decisions (beyond just the gyro controls, which I was able to ignore for most of the game anyway) made this nostalgic reimagining/reboot an utterly disappointing and sometimes frustrating experience.

12. Star Fox Guard
★★★☆☆ - 5 hours - Completed 4/25/2016
Surprisingly more enjoyable than Star Fox Zero. I've played lots of tower defense games, but none that allowed me to have direct control over every turret. Fun game for what it is.

13. Darkest Dungeon
★★★★☆ - 33.5 hours - Completed 5/2/2016
Darkest Dungeon has one of the most well-designed and engaging turn-based battle systems I've ever played. Every enemy encounter feels high-stakes with the potential to ruin your party and halt your progress. I was more than ready to beat it when I did, though, since the lack of variation in dungeon/mission design turned the dungeon crawling into a repetitive grind at a certain point.

14. Box Boy!
★★★☆☆ - 8.5 hours - Completed 5/4/2016
Clever little puzzle platformer with some original mechanics. Difficulty could've been paced better as most of the game is far too easy and the levels far too short, but the last few (bonus) worlds provide some challenge.

15. Wario Land: Shake It!
★★★☆☆ - 6 hours - Completed 5/7/2016
Unwieldy tilt controls aside, a solid platformer. Doesn't do anything particularly noteworthy or memorable in terms of mechanics or level design, but, as usual from Good-Feel, the visual design and soundtrack stand out.

16. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
★★★★☆ - 13 hours - Completed 5/13/2016
Once again I'm left somewhat unimpressed and unsatisfied by Uncharted's gameplay, but it's enjoyable enough. The storytelling (best in the series) and unparalleled visuals carry the experience here.

17. Doom (2016)
★★★★☆ - 8 hours - Completed 5/15/2016
Somehow id Software made a classic style FPS that works well in 2016. It's fast and it's fun. Solid level design and surprisingly enjoyable platforming. The campaign starts to wear thin towards the end but it doesn't overstay its welcome for too long.

18. Overwatch
★★★★☆ - 23 hours
One of the best games I've played all year, which is saying something considering I'm not really into competitive multiplayer games anymore. Polished in so many ways.

19. Kirby: Planet Robobot
★★★☆☆ - 8 hours - Completed 6/29/2016
I've never been much of a fan of traditional Kirby platforming. Planet Robobot does little to change that, but it's undoubtedly creative.

20. Zero Time Dilemma
★★★☆☆ - 19 hours - Completed 7/4/2016
I can't remember the last time I was this disappointed by a game. ZTD's narrative left me so astoundingly unsatisfied, and the game's fragmented structure did the experience no favors. 999 and VLR deserved a much better follow-up to conclude the series.

21. Limbo
★★★☆☆ - 3 hours - Completed 7/5/2016
Some neat ideas buried in a tedious slog of trial-and-error.

22. Inside
★★★★☆ - 3 hours - Completed 7/7/2016
Thankfully, Inside does away with Limbo's dependence on trial-and-error and instead delivers a well-crafted, engaging puzzle-platforming experience from beginning to end. Some truly original ideas here - the final 20 minutes in particular are seriously mind-blowing.

23. Furi
★★★☆☆ - 5 hours - Completed 7/9/2016
Solid combat mechanics, mediocre presentation. Unremarkable outside of a few fun boss fights.

24. Superhot
★★★☆☆ - 1.5 hours - Completed 7/14/2016
Innovative, sure, but short on depth and content. Felt more like a proof of concept for its mechanic rather than a full game.

25. Mirror's Edge Catalyst
★★★☆☆ - 7.5 hours - Completed 7/17/2016
Well, the parkour is still fun, the combat is still terrible, and the storytelling is still forgettable. In other words, it's essentially the first Mirror's Edge, but 8 years later and without any of the novelty.

26. Velocity 2X
★★★☆☆ - 5 hours - Completed 7/19/2016
Fun when it's just pure fast-paced action on a linear path. Unfortunately, the flow is far too often disrupted by its tedious teleport mechanic and forced backtracking.

27. Moirai
★★★☆☆ - 12 minutes - Completed 7/25/2016
Interesting experiment with asynchronous player interaction in this (extremely short) mystery adventure game.

28. Rhythm Heaven Megamix
★★★★☆ - 8.5 hours - Completed 7/31/2016
Smiled my way through this entertaining and often funny introduction (for me) to the Rhythm Heaven series. I'm itching to play through its predecessors.

29. Mass Effect 2
★★★★☆ - 17 hours - Completed 8/6/2016
Mass Effect 1 was certainly a flawed game that needed some streamlining, but Mass Effect 2 strips away a little too much of what I enjoyed about the first game, which remains my favorite. Still, ME2 is a great sequel that I found hard to put down.

30. Pokémon Go
★★★☆☆ - Level 20
What was initially exciting and addictive due to the Pokémon license and geolocation integration just became too much of an unsatisfying grind with mediocre-at-best gameplay mechanics. But it did hold my attention for a few dozen hours.

31. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved
★★★★☆ - 5 hours - Completed 8/22/2016
Finally got around to the DLC campaign, and although it's essentially more of the same, it was an enjoyable reminder of how great this game is.

32. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
★★★★★ - 80 hours - Completed 9/2/2016
Human Revolution (my 2011 GOTY) allowed me to indulge in my stealth predator power fantasies to a degree no other game had, and in that regard Mankind Divided delivers, offering a few new bells and whistles and letting me loose in some shiny new sandboxes. Everything about its gameplay and design does feel extremely familiar (perhaps too familiar for a sequel in development for 5 years), but it's still so satisfying to play. And although the main plot fails to deliver in any way, there are plenty of interesting stories to be discovered by completing the game's side missions, digging through the many emails and pocket secretaries, and exploring and soaking in the world's environmental design and set dressing. In two weeks after release, I put in 80+ hours over six playthroughs... My GOTY unless Dishonored 2 or something unexpected can top it.

33. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
★★★☆☆ - 32 hours - Completed 9/17/2016
Ace Attorney 6 ranks on the lower end of the series for me, but I still quite enjoyed it. The new Insights mechanic adds a really cool dimension to the gameplay, perhaps my favorite in the whole series. I'd like to see it return in future cases. The characters and soundtrack somewhat disappointed, though. Edit: A couple months later and I realize the cases haven't stuck with me at all, unlike previous games in the series. Disappointingly forgettable.

34. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - System Rift
★★★★☆ - 5.5 hours - Completed 9/23/2016
Essentially an expanded version of one of the main campaign's levels, with a couple new design gimmicks thrown in. It's more Deus Ex, and that's perfectly fine with me considering it's my frontrunner for GOTY. 80+ hours with the game and I still can't get enough.

35. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice - Turnabout Time Traveler
★★☆☆☆ - 5 hours - Completed 10/5/2016
An unexciting and predictable DLC case that sadly falls flat in all its attempts at fanservice.

36. Thumper
★★★☆☆ - 6 hours - Completed 10/22/2016
If there were ever a game for which that venerable term "visceral" actually applies, Thumper is it. You will feel every rhythmic action, turn, and crash due to the game's superb audiovisual design. Unfortunately, the level design becomes quite repetitive and often leads to more frustrating than fun gameplay.

37. Kingdom Rush
★★★☆☆ - 3 hours - Completed 10/22/2016
Enjoyable enough to scratch my tower defense itch for a few hours.

38. Dark Souls III - Ashes of Ariandel
★★★★☆ - 4 hours - Completed 10/27/2016
Aside from a great main boss encounter and several intense new enemies, this DLC doesn't quite reach the overall highs of the base game. Still, I found it to be gripping in the ways this series tends to be. I mean, it's fucking Dark Souls.

39. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
★★★☆☆ - 21.5 hours - Completed 10/31/2016
Playing Skyrim for the first time in 2016 didn't impress me as much as I'd hoped, but I expected that. What it offers has been done (much) better by other games since, in my opinion. But I enjoyed it enough to see the main story through, and the Dark Brotherhood questline was pretty fun, too.

40. Hitman: Season One
★★★★☆ - 10 hours - Completed 10/31/2016
The seemingly endless amount of shenanigans possible in this reboot is truly amazing. My respect for Hitman only grows the more I play the game and watch others play it. I must say I'd prefer greater polish and more levels, but I suppose those are things to look forward to in Season Two.

41. Aragami
★★★☆☆ - 6.5 hours - Completed 11/5/2016
It's alright. Solid stealth mechanics, decent level design, boring mission objectives, frustrating boss encounters.

42. Dead Space 2
★★★☆☆ - 6.5 hours - Completed 11/12/2016
More or less on par with my memory of my experience with the first game, which is to say I enjoyed the combat and atmosphere.

43. Dishonored 2
★★★★★ - 50.5 hours - Completed 11/19/2016
Performance issues aside, Dishonored 2 is an improvement over the original (my 2012 GOTY) in every way. Emily's set of powers is even more fun than Corvo's, enemies are far more challenging, the art direction is downright mesmerizing at times, and the level design might be the best I've experienced this generation. Gameplay feels incredible whether I take a stealthy or combat-oriented approach, and the game offers expanded options for both lethal and non-lethal playstyles. And even if the storytelling doesn't match how well it plays, I'm nevertheless completely immersed by the world design and freedom of exploration. Up there with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for my GOTY. Edit: The NG+ update which allows you to combine Emily's and Corvo's powers just made an incredible game even more incredible. Four playthroughs completed so far and I'm itching for more. Probably my GOTY.

44. Titanfall 2
★★★★☆ - 4 hours - Completed 11/22/2016
Unrelentingly-paced campaign with a few clever gimmicks. Really solid shooting and mobility mechanics.

45. Deus Ex: The Fall
★★★☆☆ - 3 hours - Completed 11/23/2016
Impressive for what was initially developed as a mobile game and surprisingly enjoyable on PC. Maybe I just love Human Revolution so much that even a 3-hour, unpolished, scaled-back version of it can keep me engrossed.

46. Emily is Away
★★★☆☆ - 28 minutes - Completed 11/24/2016
Hauntingly nostalgic and relatable.

47. The Stanley Parable
★★★★☆ - 1.5 hours - Completed 11/24/2016
Cleverly-written deconstruction of narrative structure in video games. I managed to find half of the endings before hitting a wall and then looked up the rest. Brilliant game.

48. The Beginner's Guide
★★★☆☆ - 1.5 hours - Completed 11/24/2016
A thought-provoking, albeit self-indulgent, look into the mind of the game's creator. At the very least, it challenged me to reflect on my own battles with insecurity and depression.

49. Virginia
★★★☆☆ - 1.5 hours - Completed 11/25/2016
Fresh use of cinematic cuts and transitions that really enhance the narrative here. Unfortunately, the story goes off the rails in the last 10-15 minutes.

50. Spec Ops: The Line
★★★☆☆ - 4 hours - Completed 11/27/2016
I didn't find the story as remarkable or the twists as surprising as the praise had me expect, but it goes places. Some satisfying shooting, too.

51. Frog Fractions
★★★☆☆ - 42 minutes - Completed 11/30/2016
...What the fuck!?

52. Orwell
★★★★☆ - 4 hours - Completed 12/2/2016
Intriguing investigative adventure game, described by some as a cross between Papers, Please and Her Story. I found myself feeling more or less inclined to incriminate a given person based on how much I liked or disliked that person, which was an interesting realization about my own susceptibility to personal bias. The story becomes more compelling in the third act and sticks the landing with a great ending.

53. Pokémon Moon
★★★☆☆ - 33 hours - Completed 12/5/2016
A few quality of life improvements and a change in story structure weren't enough to stave off some series fatigue that I'm starting to feel. Furthermore, I just didn't care much for the new setting or any of its new Pokémon other than Mimikyu (highlight of the game). As usual, though, the music is great - probably my soundtrack of the year.

54. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
★★★★★ - 33 hours - Completed 12/11/2016
Biggest surprise of 2016 for me. Shadow Tactics is a real-time tactical stealth game that came out of nowhere and provided some of the most satisfying gameplay I've experienced all year. The game is hard. It demands player creativity and, at times, razor-sharp execution as you utilize each of the five playable characters' unique abilities (often in tandem to incredibly satisfying effect) to unravel the game's masterfully-crafted levels and overcome its extremely difficult encounter design. And it's all beautifully set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, with a simple but solid story to boot.

55-57. Dishonored + Knife of Dunwall + The Brigmore Witches
★★★★★ - 20 hours - Completed 12/19/2016
Having played multiple times through Dishonored 2 (my 2016 GOTY), I decided to go back and replay Dishonored 1 and its two story DLCs. It holds up even better than I remembered. The two DLCs are probably my favorite pieces of additional content ever, with a different playable character and smart gameplay tweaks/addtions that almost make it feel like a legitimate sequel in its own right. Incredible series.

58. Portal
★★★★★ - 2 hours - Completed 12/19/2016
Not quite as funny or mind-bending as the first time, of course, but still such an enjoyable, tight package.

59. Portal 2
★★★★★ - 5 hours - Completed 12/21/2016
A less-than-stellar second act prevents Portal 2 from being as expertly paced as the first game. Those first and third acts, though? Amazing. Some of the best writing, voice over performances, and, of course, puzzle design of all time. Portal 2 remains the pinnacle of the puzzle genre for me.

60. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
★★★★★ - 8 hours - Completed 12/23/2016
Its pure stealth gameplay largely holds up, even if I notice where the game has aged a little. They just don't make 'em like this anymore, sadly. Forever a classic to me.
 
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Game #10 - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Remastered (PS4)

This one didn't hold up so well. I thought of it as my favorite for awhile but a lot of issues stuck out to me this time. I never noticed as much back on PS3 (maybe it was the same) but the platforming felt really janky, at times Nate would just jump off in a random direction when trying to navigate around ledges. Swinging back and forth on ropes also felt more complicated than necessary. The jet ski sections were miserable experiences too. At least the combat wasn't a painful experience like 3 in parts?

I complained a lot above but the game is still okay and not a bad way to spend some time for at least one playthrough. I wouldn't recommend playing on Hard or Crushing personally though.
 
Game #16 - Tomb Raider: Legend [PC]

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This is everything I took away from this one. You plow through an ancient cathedral, one hidden underneath a cheap kid's educational playset of the Excalibur legend, with a forklift. This begins with full blown Shenmue simulation as you're required to move boxes around, and ends with the solution being "just crash it through everything because fuck it".

So that was the high point.

It was quick and satisfying, and really its a game I got for free and turned on on a whim. It also crashed all the damn time. The most interesting thing here was that, to avoid the areas that crash, you're required to turn off the higher graphical effect that are all consolidated into one little "next-gen effects" checkbox. It essential includes a port of the PS2 version and a port of the 360 version, depending on the state of that checkbox. So depending on how frequent the crashes were, I jumped between the two visual states and that was fun to see. Its so strange seeing cross-gen visuals from that era.

The game was pretty dang solid. There were tombs and I raided the shit out of them. That's more than what a good half of recent entries in the series got to say, and, as someone who hasn't grabbed Rise of the Tomb Raider yet, I missed it. The combat was nothing, but it didn't need to be much.

Did you know this game had boss fights? Fuck if I know why, but it did. They were inoffensive and relatively easy. This was all way weirder than I expected.
 
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Game #42: Gone Home (PC) - ★★★★★★★★★★

Just finally got around to beating Gone Home, and I gotta say, excellent game. I see people shit-talking it for being a "walking simulator", and while sure there aren't really challenges or fail states, there's still a decent amount of exploration to it, and by examining various objects through the game, you get introspection into not only you, but your sister, your father, your mother, and others. It was all very emotional, especially hearing about
Samantha's troubled homelife, her tough relationship with her girlfriend, and the emotional harm she incurred from her parents' denial of her sexuality.
I was actually spoiled somewhat as to what the ending was, and
the person who spoiled it noted that she was unsympathetic and seemed selfish, and all I could think was how wrong this person was - she was entirely sympathetic. Like, I disagree to such an extent that it seems like such a baffling opinion.
Overall though, it's really great and more people need to play it.


Game #43: A Bird Story (PC) - ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

A Bird Story was a little disappointing. Its predecessor, To the Moon, was one of my favourite games of its year, and despite being kind of schmaltzy, its story and characters were great, emotional, and funny. A Bird Story is, to be fair, meant to be a small story to connect TtM to its sequel Finding Paradise, and it at least does something interesting in how the game does not feature any dialogue whatsoever (written or spoken). Unfortunately, this experiment did not work entirely too well. The game felt quite slow-paced, and many of the cutscenes felt tiresome and monotonous. Though despite all of that, I did find the relationship between the boy and the bird to be somewhat enjoyable.
 
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Game 9: Walking Dead: Michonne - 2 hours
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I liked it enough, but it felt a little short and with only 3 chapters, finishing the 1st one made me think it doesn't have a very large story. Also playing a character that already has an established personality gives it a different feel that I do not know if I like, on the bright side, the silences feel like a natural choice instead of just not clicking something in time.
 

ta155

Member
OP

What I managed in February...

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.

Now working on re-playing Uncharted 2 and 3 before 4 hits, plus finally got round to starting Far Cry 4.... but my backlog remains huge!
 

Krafter

Member
What I managed in February...

12. Back to the Future...
I just played this in November-December, fabulous game. My favourite Telltale game to date, they just nail the movies so well. It has the added bonus of being relatively fast, so a good set of games for this challenge.
 
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