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Dryk · Apr 12, 2017

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#16: Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash: 13.2 hours

This is a hard game to talk about because I haven't played a Chibi-Robo game before but I know enough about to series for this entry to come off as really weird and out of place regardless. There are a number of aspects that seem to be lifted from the older games (Chibi-Robo himself is adorable and deserves to be in more interesting games) but I can't say for sure.

Beyond the context of it's existence though, it's a 2D platformer that doesn't really have anything special to offer. The idea the game banks on and is named after is using your cord as a whip, which lends itself to trick shots and swinging. But the swinging can be a little awkward so the game doesn't really do anything interesting with it.

The game's main problem (which I admittedly avoided for the most part) is it's insane amount of padding. There are six worlds with six levels each, and these levels are arranged into a ring. When you finish a level you have to spin a wheel (which thankfully is easy to manipulate) that determines how many levels you advance. If you skip a level you have to go around the world until you land on it, or spend in-game currency to add panels to the wheel until to get the number you need. Once you finish all six levels the world boss appears, and beating them will enable you to freely select levels in that world. Then when you get to the end of the sixth world you're told that you need to cough up a certain amount of money to unlock the final boss.

On top of this, there are the toys. There are three kinds of collectibles in this game, one of which is lovingly rendered Japanese snack foods. Each world contains a portal that transports you to a toy that has a craving for some of these snacks, and by handing them over you unlock descriptions of them in the gallery. The level each toy can first be found in is randomised, and to get back to them later (which you will have to do because a lot of the time they want snacks you don't have yet) you have to go through much of whichever level they've moved to (which is thankfully marked after the first encounter).

Overall I found that the padding, while egregious is easy to overlook. But that doesn't change the fact that it's just a mediocre 2D platformer on a system that isn't starved of them. It's fun, but it's not that fun.

Currently playing: I've got one quadrant of the Breath of the Wild map left to explore, then it's time to end the game

rottendevice · Apr 12, 2017

Ceallach said:
There was a TMNT 4p cab as well iirc. But 2?, Konami released Sunset Riders and Vendetta in 1991 as well, so that's 4. In 92 they released another 5, GI Joe, Bucky O Haire, Asterix, Moo Mesa and the pinnacle of the genre, X-Men.

Wow. Thanks for the info. Crazy what arcades are today.

Tizoc · Apr 12, 2017

This is a 2D beat'em-up developed by ADK, and is straight up imitates how Double Dragon 1 and 2 played along with a sprinkle of Final Fight 1's plot of a criminal cartel running the city.
I didn't find it to be all that impressive outside of the upgrade system and that it had some interesting cutscenes.
This game is available on PSN as part of the PS Mini line.

rottendevice · Apr 13, 2017

Master post (WP)

29. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers (Game Boy, ~1 hour)
Im on a role beating games from my childhood, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers included. Though truth be told, there needs to be an asterisk next to the previous sentence. I used a Game Genie code for Infinite Health to get to the end of the game. Back from the Sewers is a thoroughly challenging game that Im not sure its possible to beat without cheating. Its fun until the end of the second level, after which, it becomes too difficult to even fathom.

The first level is great. Youre being attacked by foot soldiers in the sewers from the front and the back, and the level has sort of a rhythm game quality to it. The level takes place on a strictly 2D plane, and you need to hit the enemies with split second timing or else you take damage. Making it to the end without taking any damage is rewarding. The second level follows suit above ground, with a second platform you can jump on and manhole covers you can fall in. It ceases to be fun by the second levels boss, whos supremely unfair, shooting bullets and jumping at you, while a foot soldier in the window above drops pots on your head. The game falls apart from here on.

There are any number of things that can damage you from this point on, including robots, robot dogs, rolling barrels, rolling boulders, and fire rising from the ground. To get it exactly right where you hit / avoid all of these things and more through the remaining four levels is nearly impossible, not to mention the bosses remain unfair. To the games credit, if you die as one turtle or get captured, as the game says you can start back as another turtle who hasnt been captured, but its still not enough. The game is still too hard.

The game actually has really great music though, of all things. Its sticks with you after youre done playing. On top of that, there are voice samples, which must have been quite a feat to get out of the Game Boys limited hardware. You might want to check out a GBS file of the games soundtrack. Its quality chiptune.

Back from the Sewers can probably only be completed with Game Genie / Game Shark, but Im glad I saw the ending, and can consider another game from my youth beaten. Its not very long, and the soundtrack keeps you going more than anything else, but dont expect much from this title. Surprisingly enough, it came out the same year as Turtles in Time, and was also released by Konami. Try that instead.
2/5

ChryZ · Apr 13, 2017

13. Rayman Legends (PS4, 2017/03/26, ~16 hours)

Late to the party, but what a party it is. Definitely one of the best platformers I've ever played: tight controls, amazing animation, stellar artwork, wicked soundtrack and tons of content. On top, all levels from Origins (previous game) are also included. It seems the PS4 is the only release with uncompressed assets, as presumed by Digital Foundry. I've pixel peeped a little and there are really no compression artifacts in sight. The whole experience is pure bliss in terms of gameplay, presentation and technical back-end. Big ups for the humor on display, Legends cracked me up so many times. This is truly a timeless classic!

14. RIVE (Steam, 2017/03/28, 4.6 hours)

Two Tribes' swan song and way to end on a high note, because RIVE is all shades of awesome: 360 degree shooting with tons of platforming. The controls are super tight, the weapons pack a punch and even the double jump is super satisfying. The whole presentation is 2D and very high impact, particle effects, sparks, animated background elements, out of focus parallax scrolling, screen shake, the list doesn't end. It's just a joy to tear the place up. There's even a nice little story driving all the mayhem, plenty of puntastic humor and jokes to ease the tension in-between peak-focus action chaos. It's really a shame Two Tribes decided to cease game development.

15. Rez Infinite (PS4, 2017/03/30, ~2 hours)

I can't believe it has been 15 years already, because Rez is as fresh as ever. The core gameplay loop in this rail shooter remains super satisfying while being super basic. You hold down the fire button, tag groups of hostiles, release fire button and enjoy the resulting symphony of destruction. Every button press, every tag, every killed enemy adds to the soundscape of the licensed soundtrack. The whole experience is a wild ride trough cyberspace with banging music in your ears. The presentation of the original is mostly unchanged, but got widened from 4:3 to 16:9 and up-rez'd to 1080p@60Hz. They've added a new level for Infinite called Area X, which runs in Unreal engine and is beyond beautiful: an ocean of neon and gold particles FX. This timeless classic got refreshed in the best possible way.

16. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (FM Towns, 2017/04/11, ~6 hours)

The release of Thimbleweed Park reminded me, that I've never played the 256 colors version of Zak McKracken. The graphics and sampled CD audio are a major step up from the C64 version. It's mindbending, that the two releases were only 2 years apart. This version of the point'n'click adventure graced amazingly well. The puzzles are manageable, the mazes are still infuriating as simple as they are. I've enjoyed the revisit of this classic a lot.

[index]

Ikon · Apr 14, 2017

I figure I might as well join in here too, even if I'm a little late to the party. I'm already making a real effort of finishing off games in my backlog and am keeping track of it all. So here goes:

#1. Fire Emblem Fates (3DS)
This game ended up making me a tad depressed. Fire Emblem was at some point probably my favorite video game series but after Awakening and now this I've stopped following anything else happening with it and probably won't buy any more. It's a step up from Awakening but the focus on relationships and generally shit story has just turned me off.

#2. Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360)
Dear god, this really wasn't a good start to the year for me. Worst Call of Duty campaign, which is saying something in a world where Blops 3 exists. As with Fire Emblem I'm just done with Call of Duty now - not that I ever cared as much.

#3. Red Dead Redemption (360)
I've been a fan of GTA since I played a demo of the first game as a kid. I've played and enjoyed all of them since. I was expecting to also love RDR but despite getting this game day 1 I just lost interest about half way through and feeling really bummed about it. I'm ecstatic that tastes change over time though, and upon returning to my old save I wound up failing head over heels in love with it. My favorite part is the writing, which I didn't pay attention to earlier. I'm skeptical of RDR2 focusing on Marston, who I feel is played out at this point. Rockstar seem intent on proving me wrong though. Bring it on, I say!

#4. Gears of War: Judgment (360)
Another game I bought early but dropped soon thereafter. The issue then was that I played these games for the co-op experience with my wife and she hated this entry. I can't say she's entirely wrong, but my final verdict is that it is stupid but fun.

#5. Pix the Cat (PS4)
Man, this game is crazy. I really didn't get it for quite a while, and I'm still not saying I'm great at it, but once I started improving the progress was rapid and really fun. Only reason I stopped playing was that I had unlocked most stuff and my thumb started hurting while playing it for some reason. Also, best use of in game commentators since Puyo Puyo!

#6. Life is Strange (PS4)
I had never played a game in this genre and decided if I were to enjoy any of them, this was probably it. It started pretty good, hit a weak middle before finishing pretty decent. I don't think I'm going to play any more of them though. I'd much rather watch movies than 'play' something so non interactive.

#7. Infamous Second Son (PS4)
Ugh. I'm chalking this game up as early gen fluff. It looks rather pretty, and I liked where they went with some of the powers but other than that I don't have anything nice to say about it.

#8. SteamWorld Dig (PS4)
Another game where I went back to an old save to finally finish it up. The best part of the entire experience was crossing it off my backlog after beating it.

#9. Grand Theft Auto V (PS4)
I'd played, beat, and loved this on PS3 on release. I bought it again just to have the superior version available for the right price. I booted it up one night to check it out and wound up playing exclusively for as long as it took to beat it again. I still play it every so often because it's so much God damn fun!

#10. Guacamelee (PS4)
More backlog clearing of dropped games. I liked it more than I expected but was ultimately really glad to be done with it.

#11. Driveclub (PS4)
Biggest surprise of the year right here! I bought it when it was really cheap like 2 years ago but just couldn't wrap my head around the gameplay. I've probably never been worse at a driving game. Now in 2017 it just clicked and I had a ton of fun playing it and find myself going back to it after clearing all the tour events to chip away at the platinum. Favorite driving game since Wipeout HD? Possibly!

#12. God of War III Remastered (PS4)
I mentioned tastes changing with RDR, here we have the same phenomenon in reverse. I really liked GoW1/2 but for some reason never played past Poseidon in GoW3 until double dipping now. I really can't stand Kratos anymore, and found myself at times hoping that pretty much anyone except Hermes would up and kill him for good so it would be over. It wasn't entirely without merit, but right now I'm wondering why they decided to go with more Kratos for the next GoW. Kratos and Duke are now the only two main characters I have this amount of disdain for.

#13. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)
Wow. So, a little back story here: I was a huge fan of 1&2, didn't see the greatness of 3 and hold 4 as one of the worst video games I've ever experienced. I also think Ac!d was better than any of the other minor games. Anyway, I really didn't expect to enjoy this at all, but it was in my backlog and I knew it was really short. I wound up having such a great time with this little gem that I played through it a couple of times and proceeded to move straight on to Metal Gear Solid V proper (which, so far, seems even better). In fact, I'm having so much fun with it that I'm just going to stop writing now and go play it instead!

Tizoc · Apr 15, 2017

Hyper Dyne Side Arms is a 2D Shoot'em-up originally released in 1986. You can fire in front and behind you. You can also pick up items to increase your movement speed and use alt. weapons such as a spread shot-like firing option.
The game feels like it is inspired by Macross and Gundam looking at the flyer.

While the game starts out OK, it falls apart as you progress through the game;
For one thing if you die, you are NOT invincible when respawning so if you respawn with an enemy bullet or enemy on your location you die instantly and lose a life.
This can occur multiple times in the later levels.

In addition, the game has some very annoying enemies such as the snake that keeps rolling around in front of you, forcing you to move around to avoid it. This is made worse with you having to dodge enemy bullets as well.

The game's bosses are quite bland as there are only 3 base bosses that are re-used up until the very final boss fight, which itself was a pain in the ass since the bosses bullets come out fast and you need to position carefully to avoid getting hit.

Not one of the better Shoot'em-ups from Capcom but I will give it credit for the visual design of the levels even though the game is too long for its own good.

oO_CurrY_Oo · Apr 15, 2017

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#18 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) - 12 hours

Shadax84 · Apr 15, 2017

15. Need For Speed - 21. Hours

Completition Date: 2.4.2017
Platform: PC (Origin)

Rating: 4 / 10

So, this sum this up, this is the worst NFS i ever played. I bought this game because i the graphics looked nice and i wanted to play another NFS.
Things i like: graphics.
Things i don't like: online connection required, strapped down tuning, bad sound, boring races, bad car handling.
And worst of all: the real movie sequences with ridiculous actors. I played through the story campaign just to see this bad movies.

Falchion · Apr 15, 2017

Original Post

16) Snipperclips - 4 hours - 4/15
I bought this when my friend came to visit for the week and we had an absolute blast with it. There's quite a few different puzzle variants and some of them require some thought to plan out an execute. It's not very long but it's well worth the price.

DrArchon · Apr 17, 2017

OP

GAME #18 - Grow Home - 2 Hours - 7/10 - 4/16

Had this one in my backlog for ages now. After loving the climbing in BotW, I decided to play a game all about climbing.

For a short, experimental thing, it's not half-bad. The climbing feels good, even if my fingers started to hurt by the end of it. There's a surprising number of other mobility options as well, which I wasn't expecting, like leaves for gliding and a rocket pack that became really fun to use once I got enough crystals to increase the power a couple of times. Hunting for crystals was actually really fun, and while I didn't have it in me to find all of them, I managed to get around 80 or so, so I feel pretty good about that. I had no desire to fill out the data bank though, though I respect the developer for adding it for those people who want to go through with all of that.

Dryk · Apr 17, 2017

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#17: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 177.7 hours

I don't really need to extol the virtues of this game, everyone else has already done that. But I want to talk about a few things that I liked and disliked about my experience. Mine was a lot more rigid than most people's, I tended to stick to one map region at a time and moving on once I'd thoroughly explored it. First I went east to Necluda, then down to Faron, up through Akkala, then through the centre to Gerudo and finally up to Hebra. I found every shrine, and ended up finding almost 600 Korok seeds.

The thing this game does the best is the sense of wonder and exploration. Being able to climb and glide so easily is a treat and there is always something to find. The first time seeing a Divine Beast in the distance, stumbling across some terrain you haven't seen before, seeing a shrine or a shooting star in the distance. But the best thing is even when you go somewhere otherwise boring, like a random mountain peak, the designers will have put something up there (usually a Korok, a chest or a weapon) to find. Exploration is almost always rewarded in this game.

There are a few things I'd like to see more of in the future though, caves. Occasionally this game will really surprise you, you'll walk into an alcove or fall down a hole and realise that the area you've been exploring was hollow all along. The sense of "Wait, this was down here the whole time?" is incredible, but it only happens a handful of time.

It would be nice to see more enemy variety, but the game copes well with what it has, and the overworld minibosses are a delight. Lynel fights especially are tense and really fun. By the end of the game the white enemy varieties spawn a lot and they have a little too much health for my liking but the combat is always pretty satisfying for what it is.

I guess the elephants in the room are the durability and the stamina systems. I thought stamina was fine as long as it wasn't raining, and while the durability did make me hold off on using more powerful weapons by the end of the game I could easily farm my favourites if I wanted to and my inventory was always full of them.

The biggest disappointment for me is probably the cooking mechanic. Most of the materials and recipes you collect in the game are useless. If you want to make a meal that grants you a specific thing there is usually one kind of ingredient that will give you the best results, so mix five together and ignore everything else. It's amazing how many different meals there are in the game, adding salt to things changes their name and description, there are 3 or 4 different ways to prepare meat, etc. But at the end of the day all of the materials have an effect when cooked and they add together linearly to form the final meal, so why bother experimenting when five of the same thing gives the best results? It's something I'd love to see expanded in future installments.

Another thing I really hope gets fleshed out in future is the armour system. The set bonuses are cool but a little restrictive because it's always better to wear the whole set if you have it, but one underused feature might mitigate this some what. A few pieces of clothing in the game have unique effects all by themselves, most notably two of the three pieces of swimming gear giving you new abilities in the water. I hope that more of them do in the future to make the customisation feel a little more meaningful.

At the end of the day though, no matter the flaws, I'm going to remember this game for a long time. It was an amazing world to explore.

Currently playing: I started BYE-BYE BOXBOY! but I haven't made it out of the tutorial yet

chrominance · Apr 17, 2017

Original post

13. Persona 5 (PS4, 2017) - 108:57
Completed the campaign on Normal. Maxed 12 confidants.

It's been almost seven years since my first Persona game, Persona 3 Portable. (Technically I started Persona 1 PSP before that, but I didn't get around to finishing it until much, much later.) In that time, I've become a big fan of the series, but as you can probably guess from the timeline, it also means I've never played a mainline entry in the series at launch until now--and no, Persona 4 Golden doesn't count, it being a re-release. It's a curious thing, playing Persona 5 knowing that most of the English-speaking world is discovering the game at the same time you are. People are still turning the game's plot and characters over in their heads, opinions not yet calcified into personal doctrine. Most of all, it's been fun to remember what it's like to be surprised by a Persona game.

This latest incarnation feels about equal parts new and familiar, which is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, as someone who's gone back and played nearly all of the earlier Personas, it's fun to see hints of the previous games in ways both big and small. The game owes a surprising amount to Persona 2, for example; the way social media and online sentiment permeate the game feels like a modern rethinking of Innocent Sin's rumours theme.

But on the other hand, that familiarity can also mean that Persona 5 sometimes feels like someone took the tropes from previous games and put them in a blender. Playing Persona 4 after Persona 3 Portable, it was a lot more obvious to me at the time how similar the two stories were; it's only with the distance of time that I've been able to perceive them more as clearly separate entities. Persona 5's a lot better at being its own thing, but that doesn't make it free of that not-so-fresh feeling.

It's been almost a decade since the last mainline Persona, though, so there's a certain joy in revisiting the formula and seeing how Atlus has put a new spin on things. The visual updates in particular are outstanding; never has a Persona game oozed so much attitude, and that's saying a lot. And Atlus seems aware enough of the franchise formula to subvert your expectations every so often.

It's hard to know if this really is the best Persona. The game does make mistakes; it suffers from being too in thrall to modern JRPG trends like "goofy" sexualization that feels so much more out of place in a mainstream context than they did in 2008. This is especially true of two scenes involving a particular set of NPCs, which arguably are many steps BACK from Persona 4. There's also more stilted or unnatural storytelling than I'd like, with at least one massive infodump that literally put me to sleep. (The fact that I'd been playing for hours, and finished well into the early morning, is only somewhat relevant here.) Time will tell how it stacks up to Persona 3 and 4, and I expect lots of people will have vastly differing opinions.

But it's also clearly the same Persona we've come to love and admire. Its characters are mostly drawn with heart and respect, and its story is one hell of a rollercoaster. And there's still very little in gaming quite like spending an hour in the Velvet Room trying to fuse better personas. But above all that, Persona is one of those series that really does remind you of the value of personal relationships, where the hero of the story isn't just someone who can punch the hardest or endure the most, but the one who can insinuate themselves into people's lives and lend a receptive ear or a helping hand, even--no, especially when the problems at hand are mundane and human-scale. It's good to have Persona back.

Large Professor · Apr 17, 2017

A quick update:

#6 Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (PC) - 3 Hrs (4/12/2017) - Score: 8.5/10
The third and best campaign of SK. It's significantly superior to the first expansion with a lot more tweaking done to the levels.

#7 Nuclear Throne (PC) - 40 Hrs (4/12/2017) - Score: 7.5/10
The presentation of the game feels a bit amateurish, but other than that it's a nice and addicting rogue-lite.

#8 Enter The Gungeon (PC) - 180 Hrs (4/12/2017) - Score: 9.0/10
EtG is my favorite rogue-lite since Spelunky and it's one of the few games on Steam which I have beaten with all the achievements. It's a wonderful game, full of humor, tons of references, an insane amount of content and a steep learning curve. I can't wait for the payed expansion.

Original post

Tizoc · Apr 17, 2017

Whether you beat the game as Val Kilmer or George Cloony, the ending is the same: A FREAKIN' CLIFFHANGER IN AN EARLY 90S ARCADE FIGHTING GAME :O
OK this game's visuals are nice and I like the 70s kung fu movie in USA theme of the game, but the controls and gameplay just feel unresponsive.
Though it could be an emulation issue? I am playing it on the SNK Classics Collection on PSN via PSVita.... Eh whatevs.
I wouldn't mind replaying it if it got a fanhack that just tidies things up, but this early road trip through Southtown beating up people left and right has a nice little charm to it.

Also I'm just posting the JP SNES cover of AoF2 because it looks awesome

rottendevice · Apr 17, 2017

Master Post (WP)

30. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (~3 1/2 hours)
This is probably the best Sonic the Hedgehog game from the Genesis era that isnt Sonic CD (apologies to Sonic 2 fans). This will be a short review, as if youve played Sonic before, you know what to expect. Graphically, the game looks great with really bright colors. Music is top notch too. Now Sonic can pick up items that put a circular barrier around him, and have the power of water, fire, or electricity. Water lets you breathe underwater, fire gives you a homing attack, and electricity attracts rings to you. Get hit, and you lose the barrier, instead of all your rings. The second to last level is great and the final boss isnt too hard. Again, as good as youre going to get on Genesis outside of Sonic CD.
5/5

Ceallach · Apr 18, 2017

#19 Call of Juarez Gunslinger
PC
Another one I am playing underway, as my laptop only has a 960M so I am going through some of my backlog. And holy fuck, I wish I had known how good this game was. The presentation, the level design, the shooting, everything is top notch. Holy fuck. But then I got to the end and chose the redemption ending and just laughed so hard. In the redemption ending, you save the dude and have a chat with a young Dwight D. Eisenhower. The ship I am stationed aboard is the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, CVN-69. So I accidentally turned into a super moto broad without meaning too, lol.

Benzychenz · Apr 18, 2017

Main Post

7. NieR: Automata - 58 hours - 9.5/10

I honestly couldn't believe it when a NieR sequel by Platinum Games was announced, and it still seems so crazy that this happened, but here we are, and it's as good as expected.
The gameplay is fast and snappy, the story is full of intrigue and beauty, the music is masterclass, it's just an all around great package.

Bii · Apr 18, 2017

Original Post

5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
One of the best games I've played in years. Got around 70 shrines and 80 korok seeds, so I still have a ways to go.

Falchion · Apr 19, 2017

Original Post

17) The Unfinished Swan - 2 hours - 4/18
I'm not really sure how I feel about this game. It's definitely beautiful to look at and it really does feel like moving through a storybook, however, some of the gameplay was a little flat and the story didn't really grab me.

Tizoc · Apr 19, 2017

Yeesh was that final stage a pain. This is a 2D action game originally developed by Alpha Denshi, ADK. The game has elements of Altered Beast in it, in that you can find orbs to transform into one of 6 alternate forms such as a fire breathing dragon or a ninja.

Combat-wise, you can jump and perform a ranged projectile attack in your base form. Should you transform, your attack changes depending on the form you turned into.
You can fire your attack upwards or downards while jumping, as well as while crouching.

Early on the game is managable but as you get to the later stages you need to be careful how you move about as you only have 3 hit points when in your normal form.
The game has a very neat visual design, featuring a kind of nightmarish dark fantasy monsters and creatures. The music isn't half bad either, though apparently there never was an Aranged OST? Bit of a issed opportunity.
The core gameplay is good but I fee like the stiff and slow movement didn't age too well, then again I wasn't one for such slow movement speed.

I'd recommend this game, but getting good at it is some Dark Souls level skill.

watdaeff4 · Apr 19, 2017

UPDATED Main Post

33. Dark Souls III DLC - Ashes of Ariendel and The Ringed City (XB1)
Completed both: 4/13/17
Time: 8 hours

Due to the amount of content (and quality), this DLC will fall under a "game played" category for me. Comparing this DLC to most, it's great. However, after playing the DLC for the first two games in this series as well as the Old Hunters, I can't help but be a little let down. IMO, the weakest DLC of the 4 games. Still got much enjoyment out of it and very much worth the money.

34. Resident Evil 7 (PS4)
Completed: 4/18/17
Time: 9.5 hours

Wow. Loved this game. I was let down by 6 when I played it a few weeks ago, but this brought the franchise back in spades. Easily my favorite RE game since 4 (have played 5, 6 and Revelations 2 in the last couple of years). It's been years since I played 1-4 and Code Veronica, so I don't want to compare in case of recency bias, but I do feel this is one of my top 3 games in the franchise.

Top 5 games played this year:
Arkham Asylum Remaster
Arkham City Remaster
Dark Souls III DLC
Resident Evil 7
Forza Horizon 3

Tizoc · Apr 20, 2017

Well this was a lovely PnC game from Ron Gilbert. I quite enjoyed the humor for the most part as well as the characters.
Needed more Ransome though.
Strongly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of Adventure games or wants something light to play through, doubly so if you are a fan of Twin Peaks

DrArchon · Apr 20, 2017

OP

Game #19 - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap - 9/10 - 4/19

(No recorded time yet because Nintendo is stingy with giving that info away on the Switch for some reason)

Well this was certainly a treat. I never had even heard of the Wonder Boy/Monster Land games before this was announced last year, so I went into this completely sight unseen. I vaguely remember hearing that the Shantae games were inspired by these, and after playing this remake, I can totally see how.

Anyway, I suppose there's really two games to talk about here: the original and the remake. There's a lot less to be said about the remake, so I'll start with that. It's phenomenal. Basically perfect in every way. It looks outstanding, the orchestral remixes of the music add a lot of character to the game, the new backgrounds and sprites add even more character, it's just a superb effort all around. Being able to switch the visuals and the audio at any point is a nice touch, and even though I preferred the new versions, it was interesting to switch back and see the originals and see what inspired some of the designs in the new version.

The game itself is also great, though not perfect by any stretch. For one thing, it's very inscrutable. There's no map, and no hint system either (though the game keeps telling you to check in with the fortune teller to get hints, even though he doesn't give any) meaning there were more than a couple of moments where I legit didn't know where to go next. Other mechanics are also similarly arcane, like the heath, damage, armor values. You have hearts for health, but no clue as to how much health each is worth. Similarly, picking up a heart dropped by an enemy doesn't refill a full heart sometimes! Wouldn't it have been much better to just have a standard health bar or Megaman style pips? And with armor and weapon damage, obviously the higher numbers are better, but there's no indication as to what the numbers mean. Sure, this sword has +160 attack, but I have no frame of reference for that.

Most of my other problems where minor complaints, like how when you're invincible following an enemy attack, you still get put in hitstun and knocked back from attacks, you just don't lose health, which leads to very jarring scenarios where a boss can essentially juggle you across a room with you being unable to do anything until he decides to either stop moving or move away. These kinds of things are obviously hold-overs from the era, and in any other game they'd be a lot more annoying, but I understand why they were kept in

Rokal · Apr 20, 2017

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A bit late, but here's my progress for March. This month was a doozy with a lot of progress made and some really fantastic games played.

Completed

9: Steamworld Dig - 4.5 Hours

After having a great time with Steamworld Heist and hearing the Dig 2 announcement I decided to go back and play this. It felt fairly mindless and non-challenging to play, but I had an okay time all the same. On the plus side, the great art style and humor from Heist was still present in this game. On the negative side, digging endlessly through tunnels is not actually very fun. Most of the game felt like a slog even while staying up-to-date on upgrades that increased dig speed.
6/10

10: Zelda: BOTW - 60 hours

BOTW was not what I expected from a Zelda game and I usually hate open world games. Despite this, I enjoyed BOTW more than any Zelda since OOT. I have a bunch of substantial complaints about the game: weapons breaking was annoying, shrines weren't a sufficient replacement for thematically interesting dungeons, rain *always* sucked. But it wasn't enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the game. When the credits rolled and I returned to the game world before exiting, I legitimately felt sad knowing that I was saying goodbye to the BOTW world for a long time. 1000 bonus points to Nintendo for not dragging everyone through a 2 hour tutorial again like in SS. The game trusted players to figure things out, and that was *very* refreshing for a Zelda game.
9/10

11: Shovel Knight - 8 Hours

I'm late to the party on this one, but Shovel Knight is a very intelligently designed homage to 8-bit games like Megaman. Playing it made me wish that all the older 8 bit character action games would be remade with optional frequent checkpoints. I would have given up on the game in frustration if it had antiquated relics of game design like Lives or finite Continues, but the modern compromises (no lives, infinite continues, checkpoints at a slight score penalty) meant I was able to play through the whole thing and enjoy it. I'm looking forward to checking out the two DLC campaigns they put out at some point during the 52/2017 challenge.
8/10

12: The Bug Butcher - 7 Hours

This was a fun modern take on Pang (the retro side-scrolling shooter where your character can only aim up, so you end up juggling enemies and leading them into bullets as they bounce around). I wish the co-op mode was more than just trying to see how many waves you could beat before dying and resetting, and I wish the game had a boss fight to cap it off, but it's still an impressive project given the small team.
7/10

13: VA-11 Hall-A - 10 Hours

I had pretty mixed feelings while playing this. It's very light on gameplay and fairly non-interactive. There were several embarrassing meme-embracing moments like those featured in the Steam store page screenshots. I wasn't a huge fan of the first half, but the story and characters eventually won me over and I was glad that I had played it.
7/10

14: Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm - 10 Hours

I played SC2: Wings of Liberty at launch but waited a long time to play the followup expansion. HOTS has an embarrassingly bad story, even compared to Wings of Liberty, but it also had a very fun campaign design that didn't feel too repetitive. There was great variety in the mission objectives and the game avoided the RTS campaign pitfall of presenting a long series of base-building missions that feel identical. Conversely, it definitely had some of those missions along the way, and they were fun when they did show up. After playing HOTS I'm excited to finally play LOTV. I'm even more excited that Blizzard can finally move past Metzen-writing.
7/10

15: Titanfall 2 - 8 Hours

I had spent plenty of time playing the multiplayer mode in TF2, but finally got around to the single player campaign. Ended up enjoying it quite a bit. I especially liked the second half, where the traversal and Titan gameplay that the MP mode is famous for started to become the focus of the campaign. Unfortunately the first half didn't lean into the best parts of the game, and felt too much like every other modern shooter (take cover, snipe enemies, regen health when the screen gets messed up.)
8/10

April has been a bit slower, but I'll save that update for next time.

Tambini · Apr 20, 2017

#40 New Super Mario Bros ★★★.5 DS - April 20th - 4.30 hours
Bah Bah

#41 Final Fantasy XV ★★★.5 PS4 - April 20th - 28.30 hours
So close to giving this a higher score but the 2nd half of the game was a bit of a turd, I liked the open world stuff a lot even if I did get a bit burnt out by doing so many sidequests. The story is wack but I liked the 4 characters and the combat was the main thing that kept me going.

oO_CurrY_Oo · Apr 20, 2017

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#19 Dirt 3 complete edition (PC) - 18 hours

Falchion · Apr 21, 2017

Original Post

18) Batman: The Telltale Series - 9 hours - 4/20
I really enjoyed this series, especially since it had a lot of twists on some of the traditional Batman characters.

I loved the major role that Catwoman played since she's my favorite character in the DC universe, the fact that Vicky Vale was the major villain was fantastic and unexpected, and most of all, the fact that Bruce's parents were actually gangsters that preyed upon anyone who opposed them lead to a lot of interesting developments. I actually had some really tough decisions that I wish I had made different looking back, but that speaks to how the choices in the game are interesting and it makes you care about what is happening.

NahaNago · Apr 21, 2017

I finally beat The Order 1886 so i'm currently at 2 games beat for the year with Horizon Zero Dawn being the first. I'm off to great start since i think i've only beaten Abzu and Infamous second son in the last few years. Even though i've bought probably nearly 100 console games since the start of this gen.

GLuigi · Apr 21, 2017

Updated Post

Game #7: Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (3DS) - 87 Hours
At first, I wasn't really feeling this game at all. The game's pace felt way too slow in the beginning due to having to do some backtracking to collect some key items. What really helped me keep going was all the individual story arcs each island have. It wasn't until 20 hours into the game where you finally unlock classes that I got hooked into the game. I probably would not introduce this as someone's first DQ game but definitely its one to circle back around to somewhere down the line.

Game #8: Dragon Age: Origins (PC) - 116 Hours
Finished the main game and the Awakening and Witch Hunt DLC, although 20 of those hours was just playing a brand new character. Found the combat a little bit awkward at first, but once everything clicked for me I instantly fell in love with the game. I pretty much loved every part of the game from reading up on the lore to interacting with my party members (and also party members interacting with each other). The different decisions you can make throughout the campaign makes me really excited for a 2nd playthrough.

Game #9: Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC) - 21 Hours
Definitely enjoyed this game more than Shadowrun Returns. Found this game a lot more challenging than Returns, where in Returns I felt like I was able to go through the game without having to put much thought into strategy. Glad to see most of the problems Returns had being fixed in this game, such as having some of my decisions matter (although its not much) and also having a crew so you don't have to spend money hiring other runners. The game is less linear as Returns where they will just shove a bunch of side and story missions which you can do in any order. Overall its a great game, now off to Hong Kong!

Game #10: Crazy Taxi (PC) - 3 Hours
I remember playing this game as a child, but all i remember about it was being terrible at it. Coming back to it now has been a nice break from all the RPGs i been playing. Had a lot of fun with this game, each sessions is pretty short and makes getting a higher score addicting. I can definitely tell there is some differences between each driver but I wouldn't be able to pinpoint each differences. All i know is that i tend to do better with Gus. Also had to look up the different techniques such as Crazy Dash. I haven't been able to do it consistently but its satisfying when i pull it off.

Game #11: Overwatch (PC) - 78 Hours
Still having plenty of fun with this game. The hours reflect the amount of time it took me to get from level 100 to 218. Lately I been trying competitive a lot more and been having a lot of fun with that mode. I would like to put more hours into that mode, probably a goal for me to strive for next season. Also been trying out characters that I been uncomfortable playing so i can be a lot more flexible in fitting in whatever role that needs to be fitted.

Game #12: Persona 5 (PS4) - 75 Hours
Already GOTY for me. The amount of amazement and giddiness that i got from the first few hours of the game was something I haven't felt in awhile. I don't think there has been a game where i could just spend the whole day just going through the menus. Hands down this game has the best gameplay out of the Persona series. Bringing back negotiations and guns/nuclear/mind attacks was nice to see. Getting new skills and abilities from confidants/social links that are not your party members is a nice welcome and definitely makes it easier to max everything when going through NG+. Its been a long wait, but its definitely been worth it.

Games Currently Playing:

Dragon Quest VII: Journey of the Cursed King - been making good progress, now 20 hours into the game. Been enjoying it a lot more than DQ7

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - I haven't really made much progress due to Overwatch and Persona 5 but planning to play a lot more

htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary - I haven't been making much progress on this either but I plan on finishing this soon.

Dryk · Apr 21, 2017

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Main Post - Part 2

#18: Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment: 6.4 hours

If you've never played Shovel Knight, do that first. It's an amazing platformer, if you have then this expansion is a real treat.

Yacht Club really went all out this time. While Plague of Shadows used the same levels as the original Shovel Knight campaign, and functioned as a concurrent side-story, Specter of Torment is a prequel with all new level layouts. The game shows how Specter Knight and the Enchantress assembled the Order of No Quarter seen in Shovel Knight, and provides some unexpected backstory connecting some of the characters.

Once again Spectre Knight controls differently to the previous protagonists. He has a basic slash, can run up walls a short distance, wall jump, he can grind on rails, and he has a homing attack. This homing attack, the Dash Slash, lets you do a diagonal dash when you're near an enemy (up or down is determined by height). This ability is used to great effect, with lanterns and enemies strewn throughout the levels to give you a path forward across traps and pits. Unfortunately it also makes combat somewhat easy, especially when combined with a magic item that lets you trade mana for health. Weirdly considering the character action style moveset that Specter Knight has, the platforming still takes centre stage. Oh also there's a new mix of the soundtrack and it's great

Currently playing: Blasting through BYE-BYE BOX BOY at the moment

Tizoc · Apr 21, 2017

Well this game was short; it's beatable in under 3 hours if you know what you're doing. A light fun romp and one I would like to get back to from time to time.

Tizoc · Apr 21, 2017

After reading all the positive impressions this game got with its releas eon the Swtich, I decided to replay it again and I've enjoyed just as much as the first time.
Shock Troopers is a 2D isometric/overhead shooter, where you blow stuff up and gruesomely kill enemy soldiers with your knives, grenades, guns or even punches.
As the enemies' dismemberment or death animations are the same whichever way you kill them, save outside of my using your explosives, it's cool to see Big Mama, for example, punch an enemy so hard his arm gets dismembered.
The game isn't too long which is IMO good and the shooting is fun enough for such a short romp.

Bonus points for having the main villain be a swoled up SF Zero Bipson with pouches and a lion mane

oO_CurrY_Oo · Apr 22, 2017

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#20 Putrefaction (PC) - 89 minutes

Pretty bad unity game.

Shadax84 · Apr 22, 2017

16. Dead Rising 4 - 22 Hours

Completed on: 20.4.2017
Platform: PC (Steam)

Rating: 7 / 10

After it was released on Steam, I couldn't hold myself but to buy this game. It is a successor to DR3, which means the gameplay is likewise. There are much more collectables than in DR3, the atmosphere overall is sarcastic and funny. The graphic engine is the same as in DR3, so no real improvments here.
I played through the single player campaign on normal, with a completetion rate of 71%.
I didn't try the Co-Op until now, I'm not really into MP.

17. Trine - Enchanted Edition - 5 Hours

Completed on: 19.4.2017
Platform: PC (Steam)

Rating: 7 / 10

A good platformer with 3 different classes which can be switched everytime.
Totally overrated at steam reviews in my opinion.
The graphics are very nice for 2009, the gameplay is good at best.
It
Played through every level, but didn''t collect every piece of XP or secret.

Current playthroughs: AC: Syndicate, Zelda - Breath Of The Wild, Horizon - Zero Dawn, Homefront - The Revolution

oO_CurrY_Oo · Apr 22, 2017

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#21 Postal Redux (PC) - 112 minutes

Pretty short but it has some replayability. You can play through the original campaign aswell and a bunch of filters to the game.

Tizoc · Apr 22, 2017

This was a short Horror PnC game. The game's plot was pretty odd, but apparently this is a prelude to another game; Auger Peak. It was supposed to be released in 2016 but it's 2017 and it hadn't released yet.

I'd still play the sequel long as it explains what happened in this game @_@

DyslexicAlucard · Apr 22, 2017

DyslexicAlucard said:
I'm actually doing pretty well (for me) this year. So far I've finished:
Pony Island
Abzu
Journey
Solitarica (finished it with three classes)
DOOM
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- Mirror of Fate

I'm well on my to finishing:
Mad Max (final boss)
Dragon Quest VIII 3DS (near final battle)
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Super Mario Bros. 3 (no, I've never completed it. :O)
Regency Solitaire

I feel like I'm forgetting some, but that will do for now.

I guess I should update this. I'm not at home, so I may miss something, but I've now also completed:

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Bayonetta

Still need to finish Mad Max and DQVIII. I'm kinda putting them off because I don't want them to end, haha.

Ceallach · Apr 22, 2017

#20 Devil Survivor Overclocked
Been stuck in this game for awhile. Got to the last day underleveled and got crushed repeatedly. Also made a lot of bad decisions and got saddled with a shitty ending. Great game but I need to revisit it at some point

Dryk · Apr 23, 2017

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Main Post - Part 2

#19: Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith: 11.1 hours

While this expansion is structured in a much more interesting way than the base game I'm hesitant to call it better. All the problems I already had with the combat persist and a few new enemies have shown up to put a spanner in the works. The aforementioned structrure is interesting though. For the first few levels you play as Kyle Katarn as in the base game, but eventually he wanders of to investigate a temple on a distant planet. You spend the rest of the game as Mara Jade running some jobs, before heading to the temple as well to figure out why Kyle hasn't come back yet. The temple also marks a shift in gameplay because all of your weapons save the lightsaber fail to work there. It's actually a bit disappointing because it means that you don't get as much time as you'd hope to play with the one new weapon addition, a scoped rifle. That said it's a very janky implementation of a scope, as it functions as separate weapon that you switch to.

There's a new common enemy, a sort of lion, that you will fight over and over in the last few levels (where you have no ranged weapons). It can leap across a room in a fraction of a second and it can kill you in a few hits, they're a pain to fight and I have no regrets ducking behind a corner and saving every time I see one.

Oh and I almost forgot, this campaign integrates Force powers into the level design. With a lot of places where using a Force jump to get to a platform or a Force pull to activate a switch or disarm an enemy is required. But then you run into that last set of levels again and everything's immune to your powers anyway.

Currently playing: Almost finished the main story of BYE-BYE BOX BOY but as far as I remember these games have a few bonus worlds

Tizoc · Apr 23, 2017

Well...that was a short game; shorter than I expected. I overall enjoyed it but I was quite surprised with how it ended like that.

JaCy · Apr 23, 2017

Original post

Game 9: Steamworld Dig
Platform: PS4
I liked the game so much I played it again on the PS4.

Game 10: Puppeteer
Platform: PS3
I really didn't like the first half of it, which is why it took me a few years to finish it. The second half is great though, I finished it in a few days.

Game 11: Minecraft Story Mode Episodes 618
Platform: Xbox One
I liked the episodic theme better then the main story, especially episode 7.

megalowho · Apr 24, 2017

April update. OP

#13. Rhythm Heaven Megamix (3DS) - April 1
In some ways the best Rhythm Heaven game simply by being a collection, and also the one I feel the least emotionally attached to. The whimsical story surrounding Tibby the pink bear child was something I completely skipped, and there was enough to skip that it still hurt the flow. Also points off for no Love Lab. But the minigames remain fun, it looks slick, there's unlocks aplenty and Rhythm Heaven is cool.

#14. Mass Effect: Andromeda (PS4) - April 2
A middling, formulaic and buggy entry in what was probably my favorite series of the previous gen. An expedition of adolescents, shitty comedians, and forgettable NPC's offering checklist fluff over cookie cutter landmarks, actively taking away from the thin illusion of frontier discovery. There's a nagging feeling of Mass Effect madlibs as plot points are established and few opportunities for actual roleplaying among the quips and zingers flying from every direction.

That being said I still saw it through despite dozens of hours of padding. There's enough mystery, satisfying powers, crew moments and systems where the numbers go up to keep it together. Environments are pretty and the space buggy bounces around. Mass Effect can be alright - recover an ancient AI, make a space rat your pet. But then there's those menus, the well documented animation shortcomings, a shaky ass intro, too much detective vision, locking up for seconds at a time during the final 1/3 of the game.. even if I kind of have a soft spot for it, the negatives outweighed the positives.

#15. Persona 5 (PS4) - April 21
Going to gush about Persona 5 for a minute. Intoxicatingly stylish. Cohesive and distinct. Creative to the point of excess without forsaking readability. A compelling narrative, cozy atmosphere, detailed environments with a strong sense of place. Expressive animations and cool looking character models, three dimensional personalities that leave a lasting impression.

Combat encounters are finely tuned to balance speed, flash, strategy and threat. My favorite iteration of the Press Turn system to date. Story dungeons are hand crafted and involve a surprising amount of one-off mechanics to puzzle through. Some ideas are stronger than others and some run a bit long, but simply trying goes a long way.

It's great, but not flawless. English script has some clunkers and translation quirks. A few confidant arcs fall into traps of being redundant or shallow. Fanservice is lame, it sticks to the series template fairly closely and the central metaphors and scenarios don't all fit together quite as neatly as I'd like. That last one is partly due to cultural disconnect; the themes are universal and relevant, but P5 is still a critique of Japanese society from a Japanese mindset.

Still, along with the requisite twists and revelations, those central themes are what elevate the game by the end. For all the things Atlus has been saying about the nature of humanity throughout SMT and Persona, this one cuts deeper than just dealing with dark subject matter or characters. It's a slow burn but a bold and largely successful one.

Also Shoji Meguro dusted off his Rhodes and delivered a GOAT contender soundtrack, again

Layer Cake
What's Going On?

#16. Full Throttle Remastered (PC) - April 22
Always nice to revisit the LucasArts canon and hadn't played through Full Throttle in a decade plus. It's even shorter than I had remembered, and while it's hard to argue with a tight script it is bittersweet knowing the world building on the periphery was never revisited. I also got to remember that the bike fight section was some bullshit. Commentary track and new art style is okay, some of the moodiness gets lost in the translation. Ended up preferring it with pixels.

#17. Everything (PC) - April 23
A neat thing that I feel good after spending time with. Ever since Proteus I've been itching for similar projects with a little more ambition and substance behind the procedural zen, and Everything definitely fits that description. Plays with scale and surreal mundanity in a Katamari-esque way and brings a philosophical focus to the randomness with warm narration by Alan Watts. Props for including a robust autoplay mode, as the visuals are perfect for a second monitor or screensaver.

In Progress:
Nier: Automata (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
SteamWorld Heist (PC)

InquisitorAles · Apr 24, 2017

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14. Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition - 10 hours
Played remastered version, it's still amazing game after all those years, one of the most fun singleplayer FPS ever. Though it surprisingly short, when i was playing it in 2011 it feels longer than 7 hour without steam game time counter. Maybe that's because this game is packed with memorable and diverse episodes, there is no fillers or just unnecessary parts. And while i absolutely love campaign, i kinda agree that no story co-op and proper multiplayer is huge missed opportunity - level design is great, but replaying them over and over again with different rules in Echo mode is not fun, and multiplayer is just co-op but on very tiny maps. Bad online component, no serious changes and overpriced, no wonder why this game have only around 10k owners on Steam at this moment while Halo Wars released only 4 days ago and already have 2.5 more user base. Bulletstorm is one of the unluckiest hidden gems in videogaming history, it was fucked by publishers twice, first EA, now Gearbox. I'm still have hopes to see sequel someday, but it's highly unlikely at this point.

Rhaknar · Apr 24, 2017

Game #45 - Persona 5
Time: 112.5 hours

Holy shit what a game, the race to GOTY this year is ridiculous for me. Probably my favorite jrpg ever, just a fantastic game all around, with very small nitpicks keeping it from being just perfect. Great battle system, awesome story, great characters, absolutely fantastic visuals and the best sense of style I've ever seen in a game. And if you want to talk about value, well... 112 hours. This was my first Persona game, and I already rushed and bought P4G and will almost certainly be getting whatever they make next judging from this.

Main Post

chrixter · Apr 25, 2017

Full list

A large update with a bunch of replays before I finally move on to some new content from 2017:

12. Super Mario Galaxy
★★★★★ - 12h 52m - 1/21/2017
It takes something truly transcendent to amaze me just as much upon replay as it did the first time I played it. I love absolutely everything about SMG. Probably my favorite game of all time.

13. Dishonored 2
★★★★★ - 2h 45m - 1/23/2017
Completed a permadeath run - my fifth playthrough of this stealth action masterpiece. Might be one of my top 10 favorite games.

14. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
★★★★★ - 20h 36m - 1/26/2017
Not quite as immaculate as I used to think it was, but I still love it. I was just a bit surprised to feel a slight sense of tedium all throughout the game, even with all the improvements in the 3DS version.

15. Bayonetta 2
★★★★★ - 3h 28m - 1/27/2017
Completed a casual fifth playthrough, having already completed the game 100% back in 2014. Still incredible.

16. Super Mario Galaxy 2
★★★★★ - 20h 01m - 1/31/2017
I used to consider them fairly equal, but having replayed both SMG and SMG2 this year I firmly hold the first game in higher regard. The level design of SMG2 is still the best of any game I've played, but I miss the grander presentation of the first game and I think SMG2's green stars water down the overall experience somewhat - more content isn't always necessarily better. That said, SMG2 is incredible and still one of my top 10 favorite games.

17. Super Mario 3D Land
★★★★☆ - 4h 05m - 2/2/2017
The unique ways it plays around with perspective will keep SM3DL fresh among the Mario series for a long time. Great game to replay.

18. Super Mario 3D World
★★★★★ - 8h 02m - 2/4/2017
Replayed every level including Champion's Road. Fantastic game, even if I'm not in love with the wider level design and 2.5D perspective.

19. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls
★★★★☆ - 40h 27m - 2/8/2017
Played some Season 9 and reached 553 Paragon with my Demon Hunter. Easy game for me to return to now and then, as I've now played 500+ hours over the past few years.

20. FTL: Faster Than Light
★★★★★ - 1h 46m - 2/18/2017
Managed to complete another run on my first attempt. One of my favorites.

21. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - A Criminal Past
★★★★☆ - 5h 02m - 3/9/2017
Not the brightest ending for Deus Ex (if Square is really putting it on the backburner for a while), but hey, it's more Deus Ex and that's always a good thing.

22. Dark Souls III - The Ringed City
★★★★☆ - 6h 32m - 4/20/2017
Solid final boss fight, but otherwise I think it'll be mostly forgettable. Enjoyed both DLC expansions but neither managed to recapture the high points of the base game for me.

23. Super Mario Maker
★★★★★ - 340h 11m - 4/24/2017
Poured over 300 more hours into SMM, creating a couple levels and bringing my total levels played to over 1000. Also watched countless hours of SMM streams on Twitch. Easily my favorite game of the generation and firmly in my top 5 of all time. If I could play only one game for the rest of my life, I'd probably choose this.

Tizoc · Apr 26, 2017

I only got to one of the endings, but I overall quite enjoyed this FMV Adventure game.
I plan to replay and watch the clips in the near future but for now, it's a neat little crime drama story with a good utilization of choices for progression.

Azriell · Apr 26, 2017

Wonder Boy - The Dragon's Trap
Platform: Switch
Time: 7:17
Date: 04.26
Score: (4/5)

It's a strange thing to rate a remake of a game. The original Dragon's Trap is an okay game that shows its age in its design. Each of the unlockable characters have their own small section of the game in which they are useful, and then are mostly never heard from again. There are no new powers or abilities to get, and upgrades showing up only as stat increases via armor and weapons. To make this point worse, some of the shops are so close together that it feels like a bit of a waste to buy some of these items. I would probably give the original game a solid (3/5); a game that I like, but which sours my enjoyment by missing out on so much potential.

On the other hand, we have the remake. Judged strictly on its own merit, the remake deserves a perfect score. The art is beautiful, the music is perfect. This is a game that has been remade with great love and attention to detail. Toggling between old and new graphics, it is amazing to see how the artists managed to maintain the original intent while modernizing it. In some areas, the backgrounds are redrawn to match the intent but to bring a new level of atmosphere not previously possible. In other areas, the backgrounds are changed completely, but always in a way that feels natural and is expected. I don't think I've ever seen a remake/remaster on this scale, nor one that was handled so well.

However, this version of Dragon's Trap cannot be rated without considering the foundation upon which it was built. A solid (3/5) is elevated by beautiful art and music. The game design shows its age, but it is still a ton of fun and I'm happy to have played it.

Azriell · Apr 26, 2017

The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild
Platform: Switch
Time: ~75:00
Date: 03.21
Score: (5/5)

BotW is not a perfect game, but it is one that I loved from the start. I don't know what I can say that hasn't already been said, but I'll say this: the beginning of the game was something magical and amazing. I fell in love instantly, especially as I had been on a media blackout. Leaving the plateau and coming to terms with how big the game is was another "OMFG" moment for me. And not only is the world huge, it's also full of interesting and unique stuff.

The shortcomings are stuff that Nintendo will hopefully figure out by the time the next game comes out. he dungeons are too small. The bosses are neat, but they aren't exactly what I'm looking for in a Zelda game (although I'd certainly like to see these types of experiences in the same game as traditional bosses). Trials are not a valid replacement for full-sized dungeons, and the rewards for completing them are not enough to justify grinding out dozens and dozens of them. There's not enough enemy variety. Bring back tools and stuff, even if they are optional items that make certain things easier or optional things possible. The tablet runes are neat, but why didn't I ever get more during the course of the game? Breaking weapons are fine, but the system as it stands is not good enough. That one time, when you had to grind if you wanted to get that thing, was not cool.

These are real issues, but the core game is still so good that I still can't say I didn't love the game. That's why it gets a (5/5), because that's what that score means to me and that's what this game did to me. But this isn't perfection, and I hope Nintendo is able to build upon what they've started.

ALSO A GAME THIS BIG IN PORTABLE OMG

Azriell · Apr 26, 2017

(A little maintenance post, for another game I beat but forgot to catalog. Oops ... )

Resident Evil 4
Platform: PS4
Time: ~30:00
Date: 02.18
Score: (4/5)

I've owned RE4 three times, starting with Gamecube, then getting it on Wii, and now on PS4. This is the first time I've managed to beat it, however. I don't know exactly what stopped me in the past, but I'm glad I've finally put this one to rest.

RE4 is a great game. I love what the over-the-shoulder perspective brought to the series. The atmosphere is crazy good, the combat is crazy good, even the story is pretty good. What holds the game back, I think are the boss fights. The boss fights don't work with the perspective, IMO, and almost all of them were more tedius than they should have been.

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