First batch of May games I completed:

Game 24: A Bird Story - 1/5 - 1:13 hours (01/05/2017)

I cried because I'm an emotional dumbass, but the game is really cynical in the way it presents its story. It tries to make you care with cheap tricks, without putting in a real effort: the characters have no depth, the plot is basic and the sequences contrived, as if they were going for some fancy magical realism effect, having you go through weird mash-ups of nature and cityscapes. Actually, it's more like having you watch the character go around, because the game offers almost no interaction and nothing you'll do will ever alter the way the story progresses: the player input is literally unnecessary. Since the writing in To the Moon was pretty bad, this time around they solved the issue by featuring no dialog at all: the characters only "talk" through their actions and through speech bubbles with images inside. This is a story that could have been told through many different mediums, and certainly gaming wasn't the more apt.

This game is:

+

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Game 25: SUPERHOT - 4/5 - 4:30 hours (03/05/2017)

Finished story mode, put some time in the challenges and other side stuff. The main mechanic has never been seen in such a game, and works wonders, the devsmanaged to introduce things slowly, so that the, albeit short, game never feels stale. The meta narrative approach has been kind of overused at this point, but it does its job still, also you don't necessarily have to meddle with it if you don't want, especially since the levels offer high replayability and you can try different approaches thanks to the numerous challenges. SUPERHOT is the most innovative shooter I've played in years!

This game is:

+

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Game 26: Ronin - 3/5 - 7:00 hours (04/05/2017)

Completed the game with all skill points. I love the premise of the game: a turn-based stealth-action game, not something you see everyday; however this is one of the most passive aggressive games I've ever seen. The game goes great lengths to intentionally annoy you, going as far as saying "hint: the hints cannot be deactivated"... that's funny? No it's not devs, as is not fun to make the game nigh impossible to beat if you invest your skill points unwisely; fortunately that wasn't my case, but I've heard many struggling with that. The game is hard, sometimes borderline unfair, it doesn't do a good job explaining what you can and can't do, a fact that reflects in how the turn-based combat gets needlessly complex: why can't you move but only jump? Why can't you strangle like out of combat? Why can't you get up from ledges? So many differences between the stealth and combat phase are never explained, as is never explained the behaviour of civilians, how enemies reload weapons, what's a lockdown and how does it work, trhe whole part about pausing out of combat , and so on. That's too bad because the art and premise of the game are good, however you can feel the devs half-assed many parts of the game, like the menus, which are completely unresponsive when using a controller, yet very basic and boring, or the story, which is basically a very brief Kill Bill-like afterthought, that they expand upon with a DLC comic. The game needed less edge and more love, still it's enjoyable if you're up to the challenge.

This game is:

+

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Game 27: Power Hover - 3/5 - 4:18 hours (04/05/2017)

Reached the credits, got all batteries, tried the challenges, haven't perfected the boss stages though. The minimalistic graphics manage not to be monotone or boring, to the opposite of what usually happens, thanks to an art direction which is always on point and varied. The music fits the atmosphere and aesthetic quite nicely. The gameplay is basic but addicting, mainly due to the well balanced difficulty, which never makes the game frustrating to play, also thanks to the rewind and life mechanics, that are well working additions. The controls, which are minimalistic too, can sometimes be not up to par though, mainly when you get on and off rails, and when you loop inside or outside pipes: the way the direction you input changes halfway throws me off every single time.

This game is:

+

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23. Assassins Creed - Syndicate - 30 Hours


Platform: PC (UPlay)
Completition Date: 1.6.2017
Rating: 6 / 10

My last Assassins Creed Game was Black Flag, which i liked very much because of the setting and the sea combat. The story, as always in AC was mediocre.
But this new installment in the AC Saga was a huge letdown for me. The story was so boring i really have to force myself to play through the game. London is stuck full of mini games that are boring as well. The graphics are good but thats it.
Completed 100% Story and 80% overall.

OP

#13 Kingdom hearts 2.5 - 30 hours.



Done on critical mode for gameplay reference. Well, I won't say it's a bad game despite other gripes, because it absolutely is not despite the slow start.
It is fantastic with both the combat and camera upgrades from the first game, along with some gruelling boss fights going out on a bang near the end.
Truly memorable experience I'll be likely to revisit in the future.

That said, it also deeply lacks some of that Disney charm of the first game despite the backdrop of numerous Disney worlds.
I'm not entirely sure why, but the worlds in KH1 just felt more immersive and atmospheric to me, along with a more meaningful presence of disney villains rather than them just comedic relief.
It's like they went into the whole thing with a "bigger and better" attitude that for the most part they nailed, but also lost some of that charm of the first game while doing so.

24. Dark Arcana: The Carnival (2 hours)
Another hidden object game, and I like this one's aesthetic. Translation is questionable in places, however.

Full list to date.

OP

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Game 8 - Persona 5 (PS4) - 2.5/5 - 79 hours, 14 minutes

Finally finished this one up. I was really dragging my feet with getting back to this at times which is a shame because I felt like when I played Persona 4: Golden for the first time it more or less consumed me. I just really wasn't feeling this despite some of the notable improvements.

The improvements to the combat and dungeons were nice but they didn't really do all that much for me. The dungeons felt like they really overstayed their welcome at times and when I came back to finish this off finally and realized I had saved while working on a dungeon I almost didn't keep playing. The stealth element especially got annoying at points with how certain enemies would spawn among other things. I feel like this is a really dumb complaint since the dungeons were definitely worse in 4 (and I'm sure 3) but it isn't bad to hope for more. At least in the case of 4, I was also really engrossed with the characters and overarching plot. I didn't really care too much about most of the characters in this (I really wish Lala was a confidant tbh) and I think that could've really helped me enjoy playing through this a lot more.

I feel like it's been talked about a lot but some of the homophobic elements really bothered me. I knew 4 wasn't great in this department either but I had figured since it had been so long since the release of that one things might have been better or at least there wouldn't have been anything so harmful. This kinda goes back to me not being overly invested/into the plot since the idea of the game is pretty much "breaking free of society's restraints/expectations" which doesn't exactly fit with some of the stuff I mentioned above or the treatment of other characters at times. It's just really disappointing to read about how much better the second game in this series handled similar topics.

This probably wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound but I'm currently really sour on it. I'm actually afraid to replay 4 or go for a first playthrough of 3 at this point because I'm sure my gameplay issues of those wouldn't be so hot either. Maybe Persona (at least starting with 3) was a one time game/playthrough thing in terms of high enjoyment for me?

I probably wouldn't have finished this off yet if I didn't feel like I wasted money getting it at launch. I'd like to return at a later time and give it a go after some time away still.

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24) Alien: Isolation - 22 hours - 6/6
This game was such a long and intense experience, especially the last hour and a half which were non-stop and pulse pounding. As good as this game was, and as much as it absolutely nails the aesthetic and dread of the original movie, there were parts of it that were maddeningly frustrating, almost without reason. There was one part where you have to avoid a bunch of androids that I had to start over 10 times, and each time meant several minutes of just getting back to where I was because the save point was so far away. I get that making the save points physical locations that you have to reach builds the tension, and really makes you nervous when it's been a while since you've gotten one, however, making you re-watch entire scripted sequences over and over because there was no save point after them was a drag. Overall this is a really good game that is worth playing through despite its faults.

This was a charming 2D Platformer collectathon kind of game. My one gripe with it is that Marvin feels slow or rather 'heavy' to control. It's a good game for children to play too as it's mostly jumping around and collecting snow flakes while navigating the areas.

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Metal Slug 2 originally suffered from slowdown issues on the Neo Geo, but certain re-releases got rid of most fo the slowdown.
While I much like Metal Slug X, I'd rank 2 as my 2nd fav. mainly because it's the 'unremixed' version of X. A shame SNK added the 'Drab Shot' weapon though, that one is the least favourite weapon of mine in the game....

8. DOOM - ★★★★★ - Trophy completion: 31% - Finished: 08/03/2017
9. Battlefield 1 - ★★★☆☆ - Trophy completion: 39% - Finished: 23/03/2017
10. Ratchet & Clank - ★★★★☆ - Trophy completion: 55% - Finished: 17/04/2017
11. Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone - ★★★★★ - Trophy completion - 55% - Finished: 07/06/2017

Long overdue update. Haven't gamed that much the last few months but got trough a good amount of 2016's games. Currently still playing a lot of Football Manager 2017, just started Call of Duty: IF and will start The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine.

Good times.

This game made 0 sense to me. Apparently it's supposed to be psychedelic and surreal, but even if the original work made sense on its own, this PnC game just didn't do it for me.
Doesn't help that some of the puzzles were just plain weird.

To give an example:
One puzzle requires you to find sound frequencies. To get these frequencies, you must speak to an anthropomorphic cat who is an Opera singer. Give him the item that has the sound frequencies and he'll sing them and they'll appear as 4 colored bubbles, but you can't catch them as they float up into the air.
To get them you must mix Orange juice with a bottle that contains propane and give the mixture to the cat. That way the frequencies he sings out become heavier than air and so they don't fly away, and you can pick them up.

You need these frequencies to use with another item in order to find a man who is obsessed with spaghetti who had kidnapped an escaped circus elephant who he has living in his cottage outside town, which after a while turns out to barely have any major relevance to the main plot.

I'm playing catch-up detailing the games I've played.

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The Order: 1886 - (PS4) - 100% Trophy Completion ★★★☆☆

This was the first game I played during the year and it ended up being a disappointment. I read the reviews and thought it couldn't be as bad as everyone says. It wasn't awful, but it fell short of what you'd expect from a AAA game. It had really nice production values, but the overall gameplay felt pretty tepid and the storyline was not well told.

I think they took this game in the wrong direction by making it a third person cover shooter with climbing traversal. It feels like they wanted to make an Uncharted clone first, but then came up with a unique scenario to try to make it stand out. However, the premise deserved more interesting gameplay.

The supernatural aspects were what most interested me about the game but they ended up being the least important aspects to the overall gameplay. 90% of the game you're just shooting random dudes. Occasionally you'll have a werewolf encounter. The werewolf encounters play out in one of two flavors: quick time events or real-time combat encounters. The quick time events are exactly like you'd expect and I think they killed any lingering interest I may have had for quick time events in games. The real-time combat with werewolves is probably even worse. The werewolf charges you from behind some obstacle, you shoot it once, it retreats, then repeat ad infinitum. It's pretty lazy as far as enemy encounters go. And that's the extent of the supernatural opposition. The rest of the game is like playing Uncharted.

There it fails as well though. What makes third person cover shooting gameplay fun in Uncharted or Gears of War is having a battlefield to maneuver around to try to optimize your tactical advantage by exposing your enemies while trying to keep yourself as covered as possible. It makes it a sort of game of chess. In this game, the battles are mostly laid out in corridors with enemies on one side and you and your allies on the other. So instead of chess you're just playing a shooting gallery.

There is one final shootout near the end which does seem to more fully grasp this concept. But the play space is still so confined and the AI is so aggressive that it ends up becoming a more frantic effort to find any cover at all before you're flanked and taken down. It ended up being far more frustrating than fun.

The climbing traversal also seems out of place given the story. You basically play a super-powered policeman. Why am I climbing all over everything when I could just basically walk wherever I wanted to go? It feels rather forced given the environment and the role you play in the game.

The story itself is not well delivered. First, it starts with a flash forward (a la Uncharted 2). However, instead of delivering anticipation and curiosity ("What happened to Drake? Where is everybody?"), it instead telegraphs the twist, "Oh, so I'm going to get betrayed." So you're watching for that the whole game rather than having it come out of left field.

Second, it doesn't do a good job of setting up its world from the outset. From the beginning I'm left wondering, "Why is everyone named after Arthurian knights? Are they the actual knights? Are they immortal? What's the liquid they keep drinking and heals them? Who are these people I'm fighting and why am I fighting them? What's with the werewolves? Are there other monsters?" I'm not advocating for an exposition dump up front and it's okay to have some lingering mysteries to discover, but all the other characters treat these as mundane facts of daily life and as the player I feel completely left in the dark. Mid-way through the game things start coming into better focus but by then the game has fairly well lost me in terms of plot. If they'd slowly revealed things from the beginning they may have at least kept me hooked on the story. Instead, after slogging my way through one boring combat encounter after another, my brain had turned off and I really didn't care when the basic facts of the world started to finally make some sense.

However, on the plus side, it does look pretty and has great production values. I don't know how interested I'd be in a sequel. If I was involved with this project and making decisions, I'd retool this as an open world game where you're hunting supernatural monsters through the streets of London and work on making that fun. That's more of what I was hoping to see.

As it is, mediocre gameplay with some above average production craftsmanship leaves me calling it a draw and giving it 3/5 stars.

This was a short PnC that is more Puzzle centric as it plays out as a linear story book.
It had a turn based combat system though which was rather fun somewhat mainly in knowing what action to take in order to win.

My main post.


16 | Wordbase | Android
?? hours | Stopped playing June 6th

I figured I might as well include this one too. Wordbase is a simple puzzle game where your goal is reaching your opponent's territory by forming words out of mixed letters. I've been playing it on and off since 2014 but I finally decided to delete the app because it's just not that fun anymore. It's updated very rarely, sometimes the games are instantly in the other player's favor making it impossible to win and it doesn't recognize some legit words (I mostly played in Finnish). It's an okay way to kill some time but that's about it.


17 | Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom | Xbox 360
~11 hours | Completed June 8th

A nice action-adventure game about saving a kingdom with the help of a friendly ogre (or a Majin rather). There was a good amount of puzzles, combat and exploration in the game. The controls could have been a bit smoother and the combat was kind of clunky at times, but overall the gameplay was alright. Giving commands to the Majin was fairly easy and doing the combination attacks and finishing moves felt pretty satisfying. The story was alright if a bit generic, it gets better in the last act. I liked that there were unlockable armour sets and costumes for both the main character and the Majin. What I didn't like was the awful voice acting of everyone except the Majin and the frequent backtracking. Overall though it's a neat game that unfortunately went unnoticed by many (including me) when it was released in 2010. I'd recommend it if you're into adventure games.

King of Dragons


Decided to play this from my PSP Capcom Classics Collection.
It's a straightforward beat'em-up with a Sword and Sorcery setting. Each stage can be beaten in less than 5-10 minutes and overall I felt the game was kinda longer than it had any right to be
Still I did like the character and monster designs and it had nice 2D visuals.

Last Duel


So this is an interesting little shoot'em-up. It consists of 6 stages and you switch between a car vehicle and a space jet.
Stages 1, 3 and 5 have you control the car. You only have the Shot button to fire your gun and a jump button to avoid obstacles. Holding Up speeds your movement.
In the car stages, you go on a linear track dodging enemies and hazards while blowing stuff up. As is usual shmup fare, there are powerups you pick up to make your shots stronger.
At the end of each stage is a boss, here the car controls much like any vehicle or character in a shoote'm-up as you can move around the area to avoid enemy shots or bullets.

The even numbered stages has your vehicle transform into a jet and is a more traditional shmup fare. There is no bomb to use when in Jet mode, but you can hold the 2ndary button to do an invicnible roll to avoid hazards and damage.

I'd say I like its concept and gameplay, it has some nice 80s sci fi visuals, but the music was pretty drab.

Chiki Chiki Boys/Mega Twins

This is a 2D action platformer and among the first CPS1 games Capcom made. It's has a colorful kiddy visual style which is rather charming but the overall gameplay is simple and feels...forgettable. I did get a little enjoyment from playing it though.

25. Plug & Play (13 minutes)
Yeah, it's absurdly short, but I got it as a Steam key from a Humble Bundle, so I'm counting it. It's not for the average player, but it is an interesting example of weird, Freudian art.

Full list to date.

This is a 2D shoot'em-up where you can rotate the arm canon to fire around the craft. The game has some lovely colorful visuals, although the upgrade system fro the weapons takes a little time to understand.
I'm not good with shmups but I quite enjoyed this one.



Roosters aka Midnight Wanderers is one of 3 games available among the Three Wonders collection. This is a 2D run n' gun game, and is something of an expansion to Makaimura's gameplay concepts. The game has some good visuals but the controls felt slow which made avoiding enemy attacks rather tricky.

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14 | Stories Untold | PC
Time: 3 hours
Score: 8/10

Stories Untold is a collection of short stories which all nicely come together at the end. It borrows heavily from 80s retro and aesthetically it's a really beautiful game. The puzzles, while not too hard, are fun enough to keep you entertained throughout the entire game. Stories Untold feels like an episode from the Twilight Zone and that is maybe the highest praise I can give it.

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A remix of Metal Slug 2. This is the one most people would likely have played as early as the PSOne era. The changes are pretty noticable, such as Stage 1 having less of the militia and more of Morden's soldiers.
I'd say I like 2 more mainly because it doesn't have the terrible Drab Shot weapon, among a few other balances.

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Chariot is a Shoot'em-up that uses the characters and enemies from Roosters. This one was way too tough for me, but it has some lovely visuals and effects.

Big updates as I have been slacking off with writing for the past three months. Didn't get to complete as many games as I would like, mainly due to Zelda and getting back into Rocket League. Hopefully, I'll be able to reach the half-way point by the end on this month.

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12. Abzu (PC) - 1:55

Enjoyed this a lot more than Journey. Beautiful locations, filled with colorful scenery and plenty of fish. The feeling of swimming around the depths with various sea creatures is really astonishing. The selection of colors, plants and fish creates some of the most impressive scenes in any game. The sensation of swimming with schooling fish is truly remarkable. The game does feature a fairly simple story and there are some light puzzles, but to be honest I didn't pay much attention to them, and instead focused on sightseeing and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.


13. Snipperclips (Switch) - 5:00+

Ever since it was unveiled at the January Switch showcase, this game has been my second most anticipated game for the system. The previews made it seem just so much fun to play with others. The end results is just that. The game is about a couple of silly paper characters that can cut each other into various shapes, in order to solve a given puzzle. These range from sharpening a pencil, catching fish, or filling a particular shape. While the amount of levels is quite small, there are a good number of them that support even up to four players. There's also a couple of fun competitive modes, perfect for a quick break from puzzle solving. Definite must have for anyone wanting some fun and silly co-op.


14. Pokemon Picross (DS) - 69:58

I have been playing this game since it came out and just recently decided to wrap it up. As a free-to-play title, it definitely has a lot of content that you can slowly go through. The limited energy gauge was actually beneficial in pacing the game for me, since I could play small sessions daily and not feel burned out. The basic game of picross is augmented here with some of your favorite Pokemon and their special abilities, such as filling in some of the pieces or allowing you to slow down the timer. It does lower the challenge level significantly, but also makes it so the game is an excellent first entry into the genre.


15. Mafia III: Faster, Baby! (PS4) - 3:33

I'm a big fan of the Mafia series and also greatly enjoyed the third iteration. Sure, it was repetitive, but the gunplay was satisfying and the story and atmosphere were incredible. The first piece of DLC extends the game world with a new rural section of the city, which has it's own distinct vibe, similarly to all the other districts. This time, the focus is more on high speed action and car chases through fields and countryside roads. If you enjoyed the driving mechanics in the base game, you'll definitely like what's available here, even if it can be a little hectic at times. The additional story is very short overall, but introduces a great character in Roxy, and does end with a fairly satisfying ending. Just don't expect much else, as the side missions are rather lackluster.


16. Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope (Switch) - 7:18

I have been meaning to play this game for so long and I'm glad I finally did. Such an incredibly designed and polished experience. First time looking at screen, I remember thinking the art style was too cluttered, with a bunch of bright colors thrown in together, when it reality it all looks and feels great. I loved the world map, the seemingly random encounters, the different levels types, all with unique bosses at the end. It really is a mixture of all the great things from the 8-bit era, put together into an amazing package. Small downsides like the value of treasure not being worth much in the end, or being forced to , don't detract from the overall experience. Must play.


17. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch) - 75:00+

The wonder of exploration. You game starts you off on a cliff and then you are free to go anywhere you desire. Want to climb a hill? Sure. See that mountain in the distance? Go for it. The possibilities are truly endless, as there is no hand-holding and you are only limited by your skillset and equipment, two of the most commonly discussed topics about the game. I honestly did not mind the stamina system that much. Seemed pretty fair that I'm unable to climb the highest points from the get go. Weapon durability wasn't much of a concern either. Throughout my play time, only once or twice did I find myself at a loss for any good weapon and had to scourge around, looking for something to use. In the end, it just added to the sense of survival in the wild and I wouldn't mind if future games kept the system (although with some slight changes). A fair complaint I agree with would be the rain, or its frequency to be exact. At first, it was a nice change of pace, having to worry about falling off, or being struck by lightning in the case of a thunderstorm. Some areas just had way too many moments where I needed to climb, but had to wait around for the weather to improve. The biggest downer? Voice acting. I mean, some of it is just terrible, with princess Zelda being the worst culprit. The forced British accent doesn't even work half of the time and feels really out of place. However, in the end, none of this is enough to bring down the quality of the experience. The entire journey is pure bliss, letting you escape into an unknown world, full of danger and treasure waiting to be discovered.


18. Inside (PC) - 3:36

Limbo was an okay game. I didn't find it to be as amazing as others have claimed it to be, so I approached Inside with some reservations. Safe to say that all of them were unwarranted. Inside is a much richer experience. From the improved presentation to the great atmosphere and feeling of tension, I can safely say it's a big improvement over every aspect of Limbo. While the narrative is still used sparingly and is meant to keep the player guessing, I found it much more engrossing and thought-provoking. The biggest praise has to go to the animation department. The character movement really is next level and immerses you in the action. A delightful surprise.


19. Tengami (PC) - 1:34

Nice little puzzle game. Loved the origami aesthetic, as everything in the world, from the player character to the landscapes, is made out of paper. The various folding animations and page movements are equally impressive and gave the game a distinct feeling. The puzzles themselves are fairly easy to begin with, and gradually increase in complexity as you progress. You will spend most of the time clicking around the world to make your character move around and interact with different objects. While it's definitely on the short side, the overall package could be considered a great value, if it wasn't for one particular puzzle. I can't express enough how much I hate puzzles where you're asked to count something in the environment, especially when it's done after you already passed by everything. Such a cheap way to elongate the game with unnecessary backtracking.


20. Art Style: Pictobits (DS) - 2:01

I have heard so much praise for this game that I finally decided to give it a try. Turns out I could not disagree with the general opinion more. Sure, the premise of picking up ”bits" and matching them with falling shapes is a clever take on the classic tetris formula. The 8-bit aesthetic is great and the music remixes are certainly a nice addition. But underneath it all, is a frustrating and imprecise puzzle game that ramps up its challenge way too quickly. Probably the biggest fault for me was the screen size, coupled with unnecessarily big blocks that made it hard to see the shapes as they come down. Controls were also a pain, ironically, because even though the blocks were big, I kept selecting the wrong ones and often times struggled with placing them at the right spot. All in all, a big disappointment.


21. Mafia III: Stones Unturned (PS4) - 3:52

Another solid, albeit very short, expansion. Story rightfully focuses more on Donovan, probably the best character in the original game, and his camaraderie with Lincoln. You both set out on a mission to stop a unfriendly face from the past and get to experience a great new location, unlike anything else in the city of New Bordeaux. The action is heavy, you will be spending most of the time shooting at enemies or traveling between locations, where you will shockingly do more shooting. Definitely not a knock against the game, as the gunplay is one of the highlights of the original, and feels just as smooth here, with an addition of a couple cool weapons. Lastly, just like the previous DLC, Stones Unturned is short and you'll be able to get through the main content in under three hours. There are also a couple of side missions, but they're not very substantial. Something to keep in mind when considering a purchase.

June's been a sick month, 5 games down and we're not even half way done with the month! Lets go!



25) Persona 5 4/3-6/1(PS4)

Wow what a game. I think this might be my GOTY when it is all said and done. Like with plenty of JRPGs, I think it goes on maybe a dungeon too long but you can never complain about getting extra content for your buck. Game rolled me about 120 hours deep, played it on Hard because there's just no other way to experience such a game. The music is superb, especially maybe the track of the year in "Rivers in the Desert", I like the ability to switch characters and to have them gather up experience which was a big problem in previous installments. I can say safely that every single character I got to use was apart of the trip and journey, which is awesome. The SMT classic negotiating is a great move to bring back and I like fighting demons I had previous fought because pretty much they have the same strengths and weaknesses in past games even though the game has two brand new magic spells, Psy and Nuclear which throws things off as far as who is weak to what going by SMT memory alone. The game gives you more than enough time to finish up a mandatory dungeon/arc and you add so many dang things you can do from social links to minigames to boosting your stats. The menus look amazing and are chock full of art, the music as aforementioned Meguro hits out of the park and the list of characters, while admittedly they don't stray too far off from previous installments(Ryuji is the hotheaded bestfriend like Junpei and Yusuke, Morgana is much like Teddy as that "Mascot" character who is trying to find his place), are still well done and the neat references to past fictional thieves is well done. Tons of positives to be had with this game!

My gripe still stands of the whole "Main character dies, everyone dies" being nonsensical and illogical and the quicker this gets abolished, the better everyone will be. The other problem is like with other games, the social links discontinue at a given date which granted you are given notice of beforehand but in my situation I sort of got screwed over from concluding a social link(Temp.) because your school life comes to danger deep into the game(Without spoiling things) and it stops you from finishing this link if you didn't do so already or had known about this plot in the story. I don't know if this game is as cruel as past games where as if you don't finish your social links by the end of the game, you need to start over(Which is silly in itself) but I still feel like I got a lot of them done. This in spite of continuously being denied from doing anything day or night because of being forced to go to sleep for storyline purposes which can be very, very annoying but I guess they want to force you to do a 2nd playthrough.

Two (IMO) overblown negatives I see some people have are the homophobic tones in this game which are hardly anything at all, it's a flamboyant couple who I thought fit the tone of comic relief rather well as it got a chuckle out of me and the over-analysis of the localization which I would have had no idea about had it not been for the stories made by Kotaku and the lot. Neither struck me as negatives unlike the other stuff up above, neither bothered me as well.

Recommended. Yay or Nay

I thought NiOh would have this GOTY on lockdown for me but as expected Persona 5 came through. It spent me about 140-150 hours to take down and I took my sweet time with the game to be not feel overwhelmed or feel like I am playing this game for the sake of playing it and it worked wonders for this game. I can hardly say I needed to grind for this game and looking at other players recc. levels(Great, great feature btw!), I was quite a couple of levels down before finishing. To put that in perspective, tons of players seemingly finished the game over level 80....I think I just hit level 75 to finish the game, on hard! Game in the beginning doesn't do the Pokemon mentality of giving your team and personas EXP boosts but later on, you get Personas who can gather EXP while riding the bench and with specific social link choices, you can get your party members who are reserves to get experience too so you don't feel too overpowered at the same time unless you truly go out of your way to make it so.

Game hits on so many aspects and aside from the few nitpicks, it's a must play for any JRPG fan and anyone looking dive into the genre, would not do themselves any wrong by making Persona 5 their 1st choice as such.



26) Assault Android Cactus 5/27-5/28, 6/2(PS4)

Giving Assault Android Cactus a whirl and boy is the game absolutely fun! Think of this game kinda like Super Smash TV if any of you guys remember that bad boy in the late 80's/early 90's. It's a arcade style shoot em up that you are running around a map blasting everything around you that's after you. Unlike Smash TV, you are given a health bar and it isn't a one hit KO deal which is great given there is plenty of bullet hell. Game does have some challenge, particularly the boss battles which are rough. The music is phenomenal, and it has numerous characters including earning a new character to use. It has an all female cast by the looks of it but all of the characters feel different, some much goofier than others. The best part is the game is very simple and easy to figure out and each character has a different primary move and a powered up move and given power ups like shutdown/freezing the enemies, making your character super fast, getting 2 helpers to boost your damage ala Gradius/R Type and white particles that allow you to do more damage....you are given loads of firepower to help you survive the onslaught and vast amounts of enemies this game has thrown in thus far. It's a battle royale fight to the finish and the way to win is to outlast your opposition and be the last one standing against hoards of machines and other threats like bees.

Very, very good game again. Lone complaint I can possibly say on this game is not giving you the necessary battery power after killing a group of enemies automatically, instead you are forced to go and walk towards it which includes having to put yourself in harm's way to go and get it. Very suspect game design choice in my honest opinion, as there were times that I killed an enemy but because I wasn't close to the battery powerup(It goes wherever after coming from a dead enemy when you kill an enemy, so one time it went to the otherside of the dead enemy from where I was and I died due to no battery). Should be an automatic powerup after you kill an enemy that doesn't force you to drop everything and to play a game of chase the battery powerup.

Otherwise, the campaign is a couple of hours and it offers multiple playthroughs as you get 9 different female androids to use. My two personal favorites were Starch(PINEAPPLE!) and Holly though I did use Coral for the final boss, as that was necessary given her damage output. What the game does well, it does really well but there were some deaths where I finish one phase of a boss fight, than with very minimal battery power left, I need to get the battery and I get walloped or don't even get the chance to given the battery didn't gravitate towards me unfortunately.

Recommended? Yay or Nay?

Definitely worth your time, I only divulged into the main campaign but there are other modes like boss rush that I haven't tested around with. Main campaign will take a couple of hours to beat, might be quicker or slower for some depending on how they can adjust to the bullet hell portions. I found that some characters were utilized FAR better than others in certain scenarios, like I never used Coral in any previous stage prior to the final boss but she made too much sense from a damage output to not pick her as everyone else could not do enough in time. There's some strategy in which android to pick which is always appreciative.


HALFWAY DONE! On track to be above 52 games!



27) D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die 6/3-6/4(XB1)

Don't know if there is a weirder game that I have or will have played than this game. Sometimes the weirdness is there just for the sake of being there but it also does offer up something unpredictable and hilariously over the top in a game that does get very wacky in it's explanation. Some of the dialogue seems like something someone in real life would never say("Little Peggy" routinely mentioned instead of baby or my wife seems very unrealistic) but you can easily ignore that. Some of the characters are so far out and so batshit crazy that you find yourself laughing out loud to the point that you think this is like Law & Order on drugs. Feels like a parody, intentional or not, of a law show on TV. If there's a game that sorta reminds me as far as an episodic and flow style goes, Wolf Among Us would be a nice comparison.

The game is a few hours and it does end on a clusterfuck of an ending and given the sales weren't too swell and that Swery65 has departed Access, very doubtful there's a followup to this game but I thought this was a decent enough entry. The QTE make Telltale's look tame, very well done though for me, I am not so accustomed to the XBOX controller so my noobness once in a while forgot which buttons meant what but clearly that would be me in the minority so I can't possibly hold that against the game. The collectables hardly seemed any worthwhile to go out of your way for though there are "sidequests" in this game that offer up additional minutes of gameplay but again you aren't missing much.

Recommended? Yay or Nay?

I felt like I could not take this game seriously enough to honestly muster any emotion of the game, which might have been the goal by Swery65 so I think this game really comes down to coming in with a mindset of not taking this game too seriously and expecting the unexpected and you'll come out of this with a plesant surprise. It's not must play by any means so don't go out of your way for this game but if you get this for free like me, there would happen to be worse ways to spend your couple of hours.



28) Disney Afternoon Collection 6/4-6/5(PS4)

I agree with a previous poster in this thread who also mentioned they would combine the games into one, would feel it'd cheapen my goal to have all the games listed as individual counts. Said the same for Metal Slug Anthology so I will stick to that. Think it makes sense to talk about each game individually.

(The repeat system is so, so, so good btw. Big ups to Capcom for putting that in, it makes things so much less complicated and frustrating over cheap fall deaths. Not sure why Megaman Legacy Collection I doesn't have it?)

Ducktales 1: Very, very good game though the cane usage doesn't feel as fluid as I would like it to be. You have to really pick up on that from the get go. Game does make you go through levels a second time if you didn't pick up something along the way as it stops you from going into the ruins unless you got a key from Transylvania. Don't know if I love the game like some others do but I know I didn't necessarily play this in the 80's to get caught up in nostalgia. The cane swipe is a frustrating mechanic to use which I will explain more in the sequel.

Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers: Pretty fun game, arguably my favorite of the entire set. I found myself bobbing and weaving through levels rather than actually fighting enemies as the combat is strictly you picking up boxes to throw at enemies. Think it's funner to play it by dodging enemies through the levels. Some levels are made obsolete and can be skipped entirely for some strange reason. No difference between Chip and Dale as characters go, because their look.

Talespin: Could have been the best game of the bunch but two things that stick out at me about this game....

A) The backwards movement will stop you from progressing and you could actually trace back in a level which is frustrating at first....it is vital to change your rotation of your ship to take down the opposition but it doesn't move the screen alongside with you when you do this so you're inadvertently going backwards in the level when there's hardly any point ever to do this. Not a big deal in comparison to the second gripe

B) The boss fights are inconsistent, one boss requires you to shoot at a diagonal shot glance when the diagonal shooting in the game is limited to one shot per frame when your ship makes it's 180 degree turn. Not a good thought about boss fight, other boss fights are good enough to offer challenge but be fun too. I often repeated on a boss because I believe this game makes you start from the beginning of the level if you lose.

It is the most unique of the games as it's the lone non platformer of the group but those two things hold it back from really being top notch.

Darkwing Duck: The game I was looking forward to the most does not disappoint though the grappling system does get on your nerves quite often as your muscle memory will make you want to jump up to avoid danger yet you need to drop down off the grapple hooks to really do damage on boss fights. 3/4 of the bosses revolve around this gimmick so this game becomes enjoyable or not if you can "get" the grapple hook system or not. I love the boss variety as this was the first game that had bad guys from the show on it, I like the attention to detail.

Ducktales 2: Feels like much of the same in comparison to the 1st game though this game does take a page out of Darkwing Duck and incorporates the grappling mechanic. Doesn't really change much at all in comparison to the 1st game, which is a good thing, at least for me. Different levels, some different gimmicks in the levels but it feels almost identical to the 1st game.

Chip and Dale 2: Game unlike all of the rest really goes to task on incorporating dialogue and a story. It's funny because the dialogue actually lasts longer than the levels more times than not as again I found myself just avoiding and running through levels rather than actually fighting the bad guys. This game didn't have a boss after each level but I like the boss fights much more than in the 1st game, more variety though the final boss has an obnoxious amount of health and you find yourself either mistiming the bomb throw or it not hitting the boss despite the explosion radius clearing hitting it.

Recommended? Yay or Nay?

If you can get it on sale, go for it. I essentially paid a smudge over 2 bucks for each game so I feel like I got my bang for my buck out of this collection. If you at all like 2D platformers, go for it. Great theme music in its 8 bit glory too. The rewind ability is such a win too, so good for people of all skills to get into. These games will go quick sure but there are six games in this collection, there's something bound to be in it for you. Add other features like Boss Rush and Time Attack which are essential for trophies/achievements and you got something worthwhile in this game. Do wait for a sale though, don't know if I would get it at 19.99 but the games are solid for the couple of hours they will all give to you combine.



29) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons 6/5, 6/9, 6/10(XB1)

Man what a bummer of a video game......and that isn't because the game is bad. It does what it does well.....just geez I can't remember too many more games that conclude on such a dark note, the game is filled with like all of humanity's worse kind of acts. Experimentation, trickery, you had suicide implemented, a tragic backstory in the beginning and an unfortunate death. It's weird too because the game is very pretty art wise and is bursting with personality but the dark tone this game implements is contrasting against such.

You control 2 different characters with the joysticks and use (In my case) the bumper controls to implement different moves such as swimming, jumping to ledges and pushing a lever together. What could have done been done better are segments like rowing the boat which were painful to do as well as turning a lever to adjust it to move to the right place to progress in the story. In particularly the boat segment, it did hurt my thumbs trying to navigate the damn thing. But looking back, that's the lone real blemish of this game. Sure the game is like 3 hours so it is on the short side of things but given I played this for free on the XB Game Pass and that I think the game accomplishes quite a lot in that brief time, it isn't too bad that the game concludes in such a short time.

Recommended? Yay or Nay

Game is worth your couple of hours, quite a lot of thought was put behind this game. There was only one real blemish along the way personally for me and even then that segment is like 5-7 minutes in itself. Game is a real bummer again though, had me really sad for 2 different segments.

Games I've completed:

• Pokémon Moon
• Uncharted 4
• The Legend of Zelda: BoTW
• Mario kart 8 Deluxe

Those I plan to play:

• Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Doom
• Fallout 4
• Dishonoured 2
• Crash bandicoot 1
• Crash Bandicoot 2
• Crash Bandicoot 3
• MGS V
• Hitman
• Watchdogs 2
• The Witcher 3
• Far Cry 4
• Wolfenstien: The New Order
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Middle Earth Shadow of Middle
• Super Mario Odesssy
• Mafia 3
• ...

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15 | The Surge | PC
Time: 18 hours
Score: 8/10

The Surge is one of the biggest surprises of 2017 so far. After the lukewarm reception to Lords of the Fallen, which I admittedly did not play, my expectations were rather low.
But Deck13 has managed to leave its own mark in a genre dominated by Dark Souls.
The highlights of the game are the level design, with shortcuts and connections everywhere, and the dismemberment system. The game constantly makes you feel like you are making progress, be it opening up a new shortcut or gathering crafting materials by slicing off someone's helmet. There are more than a few downsides though. Graphically the game looks a bit dated with, in my opinion, a not so spectacular art-style. And boss fights are also not the highlight of the game. Despite that the game was a joy to play and maybe I'll go back to NG+ later this year.

26. Epistory - Typing Chronicles (5 hours)
The Typing of the Dead-style use of typing combined with an action-adventure framework makes for an enjoyable experience, even if I wasn't a huge fan of the combat.

Full list to date.

This is a simplistic PnC game where you guide an old man on a journey. You control the environment mainly moving background hills or objects up and down and clicking on them to interact, in order make the way for him to progress.
It's a simple and short game but has a lovely watercolor visual style.
Recommend it for anyone who is looking for a simple relaxing game to play.



RiME is a 3D Puzzle Platformer where you guide a child as he travels through an island in order to reach a tall building. The game has pretty light puzzles but I quite enjoyed the visuals and music.
It's a rather relaxing game although the ending was too emotional for me and may not sit well with younger players ^^;

24. Escape Goat - 3,6 Hours




Platform: PC (Steam)
Completed On: 11.6.2017
Rating: 7 / 10

This was a quite funny little platformer with interesting ideas. Liked the soundtrack and the retro graphic style. Gameplay was solid, the controls felt a little too sharp.
Played through every room and completed the game.

OP.

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Game 9 - ABZÛ (PS4) - 3/5 - 3 hours, 2 minutes

Wanted to do some space clearing on my PS4 hard drive so I decided to give this one a go finally. As someone who is genuinely afraid of deep/open water and nearly all sea creatures to a sad extent this was surprisingly not terrifying for me. I had one bad jump scare with a shark early in but otherwise I had a pretty great time.

Going in I was expecting this to be a 2D adventure/exploration game so I was surprised to see that it was 3D instead. Everything looked amazing aesthetically and it's one of the prettier games I've seen in a long time. This kinda felt like Flower just in the sea instead. The controls took some adjusting but there was nothing that couldn't be handled.

Click to expand...

Game 10 - Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (PS4) - 3/5 - 40 hours, 32 minutes

Years late but I actually finished this game this playthrough attempt! I've been a fan since I first played in around 04 but I've always hit stopping blocks in my playthroughs as far as difficulty went. The furthest I had ever made it in the past was the second

Spoiler

Riku

fight. I thankfully passed that on the first try here and then had little to no difficulty afterwards because I accidentally ended up overleveled after making the ultima keyblade. I really didn't have any problems at all with the game as far as difficulty and I would've had the trophy for not dying if I didn't get clumsy with the slingshot heartless in Traverse Town.

I'll always love this game but finally getting through it in 2017 has made me realize I dislike or even hate a good half or more of this game. I'm all for having more world exploration and such but the platforming is so bad at times. Also wasn't a fan of places such as Monstro or Hollow Bastion with lots of combat in areas that you can fall and end up elsewhere. Atlantica seems to get a lot of complaints but that was one of my more enjoyed areas/worlds.

A bit of me still can't believe this game is a thing that actually exists.

Taking a break from KH games for now but I'm looking to hopefully tackle some of the rest in the PS4 collection this year also.

Click to expand...

Full list

24. NieR: Automata
★★★★☆ - 34h 45m - 4/26/2017
Fun, fluid combat (though somewhat shallow) and a cool sci-fi aesthetic. I don't love all of its design choices, but the game deserves praise for its attempts to capitalize on the unique strengths of the medium to tell a layered story.

25. Horizon: Zero Dawn
★★★☆☆ - 20h 30m - 5/3/2017
The gameplay never fully clicked with me, sadly. Fortunately, I found the world and story interesting enough to see it through to the end. Awesome enemy design and striking environments.

26. What Remains of Edith Finch
★★★★☆ - 2h 04m - 5/4/2017
Features some novel uses of gameplay to convey narrative over the course of several emotionally stirring vignettes, one of which is the most profound depiction of mental illness I've experienced in any medium. Everyone should play this game.

27. Prey
★★★★★ - 27h 48m - 5/10/2017
Immersive, tense, cerebral. It may not be the revelation the System Shock series was, but it gets so much of the core experience right that it would've been worthy of the name. Loved the exploration and environmental storytelling.

28. Emily is Away Too
★★★★☆ - 2h 13m - 5/31/2017
More engrossing and nostalgic than the first. Cleverly weaves your conversations with multiple characters to create compelling drama and breaks the fourth wall in delightful ways. Unfortunately, my experience was soured when the game punished me at the end for a choice I didn't make.

For some reason this got released in the US with a misleading boxart and various stuff cut out from the original game.
It is otherwise a decent shoot'em-up and one I've played in arcades back in the day but never beaten The usage of a checkpoint system late in the game was irritating though.



I made an ISO of my Dreamcast copy, dunno why I bought it at the time without ever owning a DC but I decided to play it recently and...I prefer Gunbird 1 more. This one went bullet hell after the first stage and it made beating certain sections way tougher than it should be.
Still has same charm as its predecessor but all the bullets on the screen soured me :/



This is a short and light hearted PnC game where you control tiny robots each with their own ability in order to solve puzzles and progress through areas. The humor's pretty good and while the visuals have their issues, it still managed to be fun all the way through.

Headlander
Platform: PS4
Time: 06:00
Date: 06.14
Score: (2/5)

Headlander has a really cool mechanic of being a detachable head that can knock the heads off the bodies of robots and then steal those bodies. Unfortunately, all this really translates into is playing fetch quests with different colored bodies, which can open varying levels of locked doors. I expected things like sneaking past security check points using a soldier's body, hacking a terminal with a scientist's body, etc. Instead, it's just fetch quests and colored doors. Even the robots weapons, which vary somewhat but not in any really meaningful ways, are pretty random and completely disposable (outside of color).

Also, I'm a little annoyed by any game that presents itself as a Metroidvania, but which does not require any sort of exploration or backtracking. Headlander doesn't really bother with fundemental Metroidvania principle of showing the player something they cannot get/use/reach/have, and then later giving the player the ability to go back and get that thing they saw before.

27. Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek (5 hours)
It only took me that long because the game deleted my save file somehow when I was close to the end. That's hardly the only issue I experienced with the game, but it's a fun one nonetheless.

Full list to date.

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16 | Dishonored 2 | PC
Time: 22 hours
Score: 6/10

Dishonored 1 and its DLC was one of the best games of last generation so needless to say I was pretty stoked for the sequel. But while Dishonored 2 is a very good game in its own right, it doesn't really reach the same level as its predecessor. The narrative feels like some lousy excuse to guide you from one set-piece to the next and most of the characters in the game feel very undeveloped. Context is missing in the game. And Karnaca doesn't have the same thematic cohesiveness that Dunwall did, nor its mysterious atmosphere. The gameplay in Dishonored 2 is still fantastic and improved over the original. Emily has some really cool abilities and every mission offers you multiple pathways and a plenitude of secrets to uncover. The missions themselves take place in beautiful and very distinct locations, from the famous Clockwork Mansion to the Addermire Institute. The biggest drawback of the game is, of course, the performance. I am sure Dishonored 2 can be a beautiful game but I was forced to play on minimum settings with a GTX 770 and even then I was still a long way removed from a stable 30 frames per second. This put a major damper on my enjoyment of the game.

I am still excited for the next installment in the series, Death to the Outsider, but I sincerely hope that Arkane will address the aforementioned issues and especially the performance.

OP

20.
Xbox 360

I honestly think this game gets more stick then it deserves. Yes, the ending is ultimately a wet fart after the epicness that came before it, but the whole game cannot be discounted because of this. IMHO, the game is better then Mass Effect 2. The story is more compelling, I had more fun grouping the team together. My actions felt more impactful in the short term rather than the long-term. Shepherd is so much more rounded in this game, having his/her own personality rather than just an avatar to say what I tell him/her.
I also completed all of the DLC on this run, which is some of the best add on content i have played. My criticism's are, that it's probably a bit too long and bloated in some sections, and they really should have just done away with the pointless planet exploring mechanic. But overall a great game. And it was bags of fun being an ass-hat to anyone and everyone, getting the bad ending in the process.

8/10

15h-ish. 68% of the game complete. All 9 Tombs and Baba Yaga's DLC complete.

ROTR fells like the natural evolution of Tomb Raider 2013. The Challenge tombs are now smaller and more compact, the shooting feels more natural and satisfying, and the story, while it's totally your typical Uncharted-ish pulp drivel, at least it's not offensively bad.

The gameplay itself is great though, and the game has benefited immensely from the shift to a pure open-world system. I don't appreciate the cliffhangerish ending though!

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

20h-ish. Campaign mode complete.

This game was pleasantly surprising and disappointing at the same time. Got it for free on a Humble Store promotion not too long ago and at first, it played a lot like Dungeon Keeper, and the trademark Kalypso humor fit the setting well. Of course, the first several hours were fun like hell.

When the honeymoon phase wore off, though, I realized that Dungeons II is actually a simplified copy of DK: no lairs, no meaningful monster interactions, fewer monsters to choose from... the owerworld phases were a welcome break from the routine at first, until you realize that all of them can easily be bruteforced.

So, most of the game is actually pretty boring
After that, the game loses some steam that it doesn't get back, but the last levels of the game are more interesting than the sluggish beginning and make up for a more pleasant experience. PIty the rest of the game is not up to snuff.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

Game 1-Criminal Girls 2 Party Favors-Vita-Beaten on January 2nd
-I really enjoyed the grind in this game. I usually hate grinding but this game makes it very easy to do so. Fun little game that took about 25 hours. 8/10

Game 2-Shantae Half Genie Hero-Vita-Beaten on January 6th
-This was the perfect game after the long grind of my previous game. Very light-hearted and fun! Perfect on the Vita! 8/10

Game 3-Alone With You-Vita-Beaten on January 14th
-While this adventure game wasn't great, it was very relaxing to play which is what made me enjoy it overall. 7/10

Game 4-Call of Duty Infinite Warfare-PS4-Beaten on January 15th
-I might be in the minority that only play the story mode in Call of Duty games and have to say that I never tire of them. They are like a summer blockbuster. I really liked the on ground parts of his game but didn't really like the flying portions. Still waiting for a return to WWII. 8/10

Game 5-Severed- Vita-Beaten on January 17th
-I really enjoyed this game outside of a few difficulty spikes here or there. Great atmosphere and great touch controls which I usually hate. 9/10

Game 6-Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7-Vita-Beaten on January 19th
-This was the weakest game I have played in a long time. This game was before Lego characters talked so all it is is a disjointed story with very weird grunts/sounds from the characters. I really like the Harry Potter universe but this game is just bad. At least I got it super cheap from a PSN sale. 4/10

Game 7-Neverending Nightmares-Vita-Beaten on January 21
-I really enjoyed this little (2 hours long)horror game. It had great atmosphere and sound especially with headphones on. The title explains the game perfectly as you keep repeating the same nightmare over and over again with slight differences everytime you die. The story is slight but interesting as well. 7/10

Game 8-Trails of Cold Steel 2-Vita-Beaten on February 17
-Over the last 13 months, I have beaten all four of the recent Trails games and have loved every single one of them. This one took me 50 hours which is why this is he first game I have beaten in almost a month. If you like RPG's this is one of the best. 10/10

Game 9-World of Final Fantasy-Vita-Beaten on February 25
-Where January was meant for shorter games for myself, February has been dedicated to longer RPG's. I really enjoyed this game for the most part. It was great to see all the supporting stars from previous Final Fantasy games. The story was not great but kept me interested for the most part. I finished the game with the original bad ending and then saw all that I had to do to get the good ending and just decided to call it. I watched the good ending on YouTube. I had just had enough of all the random battles at that point. 8/10

Game 10-Odin Sphere Leiftrauser-Vita-Beaten on April 1
-Wow. Where did March go? I played a lot of games in March just didn't finish any. I finally beat this game on April Fools Day and as a game, it is no joke. What a great game! I really enjoyed the gameplay and while the environments repeated themselves over and over, the gameplay made up for it. 9/10

Game 11-The Walking Dead Episode 3 Above the Law-PS4-Beaten on April 2
-I am a sucker for all these Telltale games. Can't get enough of them. If you liked the previous games, you will like this. I like how Clem is really developing as a character as she is gets older. 9/10

Game 12-Mr. Shifty-Nintends Switch-Beaten on April 22
-I really liked this game as it's like the Hotline Miami series, which I love. If it hadn't been for the slowdown in the Switch version, I think I would have liked it better than the Hotline Miami games. 8/10

Game 13-Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Episode 1-PS4-Beaten on April 29
-I feel like this was the weakest of any Telltale series game. It was boring as I had to start the game over three different times because I fell asleep. I do really like the opening song "Why Can't I Touch It" by the Buzzcocks. Hopefully the series will pick up with future episodes. 6/10

Game 14-What Remains of Edith Finch-PS4-Beaten on April 29
-Favorite game of the year so far. Great atmosphere and strange(in a good way) story. Loved the Holloween music in one of the stories! 10/10

Game 15-Full Throttle Remastered-Vita-Beaten on May 1
-I have to admit that I didn't really like this game. If it wasn't for an online guide, I would have never beaten the game. It also was very choppy(not the frame rate but the game)which I'm not sure if that was in the original game or not. 5/10
Last edited by Bastion; 05-01-2017 at 07:56 PM.

Game 16-Gal Gun Double Peace-Vita-Beaten on May 22
-Inreally don't have much of an opinion on this game. It is a on rails shooter where you shoot girls. Without a gun peripheral it just isn't much fun in my opinion. 5/10

Game 17-The Walking Dead: A New Frontier-Episode 4 Thicker than Water-PS4-Beaten on May 25
-Again, good episode. 9/10

Game 18-The Walking Dead: A New Frontier-Episode 5 From the Gallows-PS4-Beaten on May 31
-I really liked the entire series and thought this was a good concluding episode. Not as good as the first two but still good. I am looking forward to what happens next as the ending sets it up pretty well. 8/10

Game 19-Assassin's Creed Unity-PS4-Beaten on June 4
-I really enjoy the Assasin Creed games. I haven't played all of them so I haven't got burned out on them yet. I only play the story missions so it keeps me focused because the map is just filled with tons of things to do so it can be overwhelming. I didn't try the co-op missions in this game so I can't speak to those at all. 7/10

Game 20-The Little Acre-PS4-Beaten on June 5
-This is a very brief(about two hours) point and click adventure game. I had an average time with this average game. I got this for a couple of $$ on a PSN sale and played it as I knew it was really short. 6/10

Game 21-Quantum Break-Xbox One-Beaten on June 15
-I absolutely loved this game. Had I finished this game last year, it would have been one of my favorite games of 2016. I love the time powers and I really like the mixture of game and tv show. This game had great production value and is something you just don't see much. I think Defiance is the only other game that had a show go along with it. 10/10

Game 22-Destiny-PS4-Beaten on June 18
-I bought Destiny the day it came out back in 2014 and played it for awhile but then quit. Now with Destiny 2 right around the corner, I decided it was time to finish the game and all of the expansions. I have to say that I really enjoyed the gameplay. The story wasn't great but I was never bored. This summary is for the original Destiny only and will be adding the dlc add-ons as I play through them. 8/10

Game 23-Destiny The Dark Below DLC-PS4-Beaten on June 18
-This was the first expansion to Destin and added three story missions to Destiny. It took me about an hour to get through all three story missions. It was more of the same but still good. 8/10

Game 24-Destiny The House of Wolves DLC-PS4-Beaten on June 19
-This was the second expansion for Destiny and I liked this much more than The Dark Below as it had better atmosphere in my opinion. 9/10

Game 25-Destiny The Taken King DLC-PS4-Beaten on June 21
-This was a great addition to Destiny. Really enjoyed the story missions. Now for the Rise of Iron. 9/10

Game 26-Ghostbusters VR Now Hiring Episode 1-PSVR -Beaten on June 23
-This was a fun little experience for $4 from the recent PSN sale. It was only about 15 minutes but it was fun and very cool to be in the Ghostbusters universe. Recommended if you get it for $5 or under. 7/10

Game 27-Rogue One: X-wing VR Mission-PSVR-Beaten on June 23
-This was a great VR experience and if you love Star Wars, it will be a highlight of your gaming life. This was awesome! It makes you feel like you are there shooting down the tie-fighters. It did only take me only 16 minutes to beat it but it was a free download since I own Star Wars Battlefront. I also came away a little dizzy but not bad. 10/10

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21. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III - 57 hours
Huge disappointment for me as W40k fan. Dawn of War III feels extremely cheap, i already forgot campaign (took around 15-20 hours to complete) and most of multiplayer matches plays really bad. Only 4 maps for 3vs3 is a joke, escalation phases are unbalanced, in first 10 minutes there is always not enough resources and otherwise, in last phases there is so much resources, there is no time to use them all properly. Yeah, sometimes matchmaking works and you get equal teams, and in those rare moments this game is really awesome. But it's like 1 great match on every 5 really bad and boring matches. At least there is no penalty for leaving match earlier so i can leave as soon as i see that my team is dumb or enemies are too powerful. Maybe it'll be a good game few years later, after all DLC and patches, but now it's not worth attention, even if you're huge W40k or RTS fan.

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I haven't been playing as many single player experiences as last year, I've been taking my time on fewer games and allowing myself to get completely addicted to Overwatch. But there are quite a few games I've finished since I last updated my list, let's catch up.
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14. The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild (79.5h)

Clocked 79.5h in a week. Totally didn't notice it got that absurd.
Can't say the game was flawless, there's a lot I'd change about it. Divine Beasts were very refreshing but I miss regular dungeons, there was definitely space for both. Boss fights were very mixed, some were cool, some completely sucked. Progression isn't as satisfying as it used to be.
Overall enemy variety was abysmal, it was very interesting exploring the world, even though repetitive, it would usually feel good to find Koroks and Shrines. The enemy camps though, I'd always run away from them, it became really annoying to find the exact same 3 types of enemies everywhere and to get all of my weapons broken at each camp.
The overworld Bosses had so much potential, too bad there were only 3 (4 if we are to count Lynels). The only one I look back fondly is Molduga, because 1. I encountered it after a long time thinking I had found all types of bosses 2. It's regional specific, making it special. Getting lost on Hyrule was very compelling. Finding new cities was always a joy, even though the Gerudo is miles ahead of all the others when it comes to having a fleshed out characterization, the only one I really didn't care much about was the Rito Village.
BotW was a great experience, but when I think about it now, all I can remember is that even though the world is HUGE, most of what is done in it is very repetitive, so I don't think I'll remember it as fondly.


15. Steredenn (13h)

Steredenn is a fun roguelite shmup that I played because of its roguelite elements which ended up consisting of everything I disliked about it. Outside of the gun drops, there really isn't that much variety to it. Only the first 2 or 3 bosses actually change on each playthrough and they aren't even big changes, it's basically 2 different attack patterns. The runs end up feeling mostly the same everytime, except for the gun drops. The thing is, there are 2 categories of guns: the ones that are usable and the ones that completely suck. So I caught myself on this loop in which if I didn't get the guns I liked on the first two stages (which were very specific types, think around 3 out of 24) I might as well restart the run.

[URL="http://store.steampowered.com/app/80330/The_Blackwell_Legacy/][/URL]
16. The Blackwell Legacy (4h)

This was a decent point n'click adventure, the mistery story was engaging. Some puzzles felt smart, some felt super illogical. Although nice that everything was voice acted, it was way too easy to find sound bugs. I intend to play the rest of the series.

[URL="http://store.steampowered.com/app/360830/YookaLaylee/][/URL]
17. Yooka-Laylee (19.5h)

Oh Yooka-Laylee... how I wanted to love you. It felt like the bare minimum of an effort to build a Banjo clone, which is unfortunate because I know the talent is there. Maybe Playtonic just didn't give themselves enough time. I had fun with the game, I did, but looking back at it, it was just very mediocre all around. It is very uncohesive, it feels like there was a checklist of features each level should have, and different people took care of each and then everything was mashed together. Rextro minigames are all super super awful, most transformations are completely useless and although some manage to be visually creative and unexpected, the mechanics introduced are just boring for all except one. The levels felt like huge sandboxes wih missions scattered throughout, there was no cohesion at all, it's like a camouflaged version of N&B's mission based design. Enemy variety is abysmal. The cast personality is almost there but it feels underdeveloped. The powerups are just plain boring, I kept waiting for something that would introduce a fun mechanic and it just didn't happen, all of them feel just like keys to specific locks. The music is incredible. NPC's are just arbitrarily put in every stage, they don't usually feel like they belong. Overall the game just felt really unpolished.

3h-ish. Only one decoration, choose sergeant Lanzerel who survived to the end, got Thunderer as a horse, decided to charge at the final battle.

Another of the Choice of Games CYOAs, Sabres of Infinity is a war story set on an alternate, low-fantasy XIXth century. You play an up-and-coming Cornet who gets himself involved in a giant war against the other major power of the time and tries to both survive, climb up the ranks and behave like a proper officer.

The writing is actually quite good: it shows that the author has investigated XIXth century warfare, as battle scenes are quite elaborate and descriptive. Perhaps as a CYOA it's a tad too easy, as I managed to get a good ending without dying once - it's also on the short side, since it's continued on its sequel Guns of Infinity.

Still, for 2-3€, it's easily a great way to spend a couple hours, and it's even got some replayability, so go for it if you like the genre.

My Score: ★★★★☆

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This had to be the most boring Metroidvanai game I've ever played. it starts off fine but as it kept going it just got very dull and uninteresting. Leveling up doesn't even give you stat boosts. There's little variety in combat but there are a few decent puzzle and platforming sections.

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#28: Puzzle Kingdoms: 26.3 hours

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It's Puzzle Quest! But a more different one. It uses match-3 puzzle mechanics in the vein of Bejeweled, but instead of swapping blocks you slide a row or column one space. The biggest difference to previous games of this style is that instead of gathering mana of each colour and using them to cast equipped spells, mana is directly funneled into equipped units.

You can bring up to 4 units into battle, each with a charge meter, and attack and defence values. When you match gems of the colour of your units, the unit furthest to the front that isn't fully charged receives meter. If your units of that colour are all charged, or if you have no units of that colour, the power goes into your hero's mana pool for casting spells. When units are charged you can use your turn to deal damage, but if multiple units are charged they each receive an attack bonus. Different units attack differently (top of the list vs random vs top of the list but excess damage overflows), and whoever loses all their units loses the battle.

So you wander around the map fighting battles, clearing a kingdom lets you move on to the next one but also unlocks minigames to unlock more gear. To unlock new units you have to generate a certain amount of power in a given time limit, and to unlock new spells and gear you have to clear a board in a certain number of moves. The later is interesting as the mechanic of a board where new blocks only spawn manually and there's no gravity isn't used anywhere else.

Each of the kingdoms you conquer gives you a new build slot, and each kingdom lets you make a build worth 100 points, with some colours made cheaper and more expensive in each kingdom. There's a lot of levels to the build customisation but the limits are also very tight.

Like the other Infinite Interactive games the game's story seems to actively repel attempts to care about it, and the gameplay is a bit of a slog by the end. I settled into a build I liked fairly quickly and then hit the level cap halfway through the game. At that point it was just going through the motions, until I got bored and started leveling a different character with a slightly different build.

If you're hankering for some mindless puzzle RPG gameplay then give it a shot, but probably just give up when it starts to drag.

Currently playing: Speaking of dragging, I'm still making my way through Inazuma Eleven

This is a short bullet hell with a neat scoring system, where in if you hold the shot button, you perform a short ranged attack that makes score coins get attracted to you allowing you to level up your shot faster. Furthermore, if your character is close to enemy bullets their attack power is increased.
I wasn't too fond of the soundtrack but I liked its occult/supernatural theme.

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18. Formula Fusion (PC, 2017) - 6:48
Completed all events in the United Transamerican States campaign.

Let's get this out of the way: Formula Fusion is unpolished to the extent that it feels like it should still be in Early Access. Basic UI features like an explanation of the different race modes was missing until recently. Performance is still very hit and miss, with stuttering practically ruining the flow of some tracks. And there are glitches and bugs that still need to be ironed out. For example, once you beat the final Elite championship, the game soft-locks; you can't leave the results screen and have to close the game manually using Alt-F4. On top of all this, Wipeout Omega Collection came out a few weeks ago with tons more content and polish (though also a higher price point to match). So it's tough going for the people at R8 Games right now.

The thing is, underneath all those issues, Formula Fusion is actually pretty fun. You'd think that after a week or two of playing pretty much nothing but Wipeout, that it would be hard to come back to playing a pretender to the throne. But the racing in Formula Fusion feels surprisingly good even after playing the real thing. It's not quite as floaty as its obvious inspiration, and steering and airbrakes both feel more direct, which makes it easier to get into. But especially in the middle speed classes, before everything goes completely bonkers, it's quite easy to enter a state of flow where you anticipate every curve and bump in the track and act without thinking. If you can set aside the performance hiccups (or are lucky enough not to run into them), you can fall into a "one more race" mentality before you know it.

There are several deviations from the traditional Wipeout formula, not all of which are successful. One that does kind of work is the loadout feature, which lets you customize your craft with cards that you can purchase with your race earnings. The most obvious customization has to do with weapons; unlike Wipeout, you have to select your weapon ahead of time, and all weapon pickups on the track merely replenish your ammunition. This lets you specialize on a single weapon, and additional mods can improve your chosen mode of attack significantly. Other cards improve various aspects of your craft's performance, but it's hard to really get a feel for how effective these changes are, as they're incremental improvements to your base stats. The names of the cards imply some neat new features, but in practice it's hard to know if they mean anything or are just flavour text.

The unlocking mechanism for courses in Formula Fusion is a bit weirder, at least for campaign mode. The faster speed classes unlock new courses that are more technical than your starting set, which isn't an uncommon way to do it exactly. But coming off a second run of Wipeout HD's campaign, which ease you into new tracks by having you play them in slow speed classes first before graduating you to faster ones, it's easy to feel like Formula Fusion's dropping you into the deep end. This is especially true later in the game, when you get tracks like Mannahatta Reverse. Worse, that particular track gets introduced to you in an Endurance event.

Formula Fusion has two race modes besides your usual race/tournament/speed lap modes. Eliminator events cut the last racer to cross the finish line every lap until only one player is left. Endurance events, on the other hand, only give you one life and ask you to race for as long as possible without dying. The racer with the longest distance wins. At higher speed classes, the damage you take from hitting walls becomes a major issue. So imagine being introduced to one of the twistiest tracks in the game in a sudden-death mode where even finishing a single lap is a miracle when you don't even know the layout yet. It's a potent recipe for frustration.

There is so much promise in Formula Fusion, and it seems like R8 Games are dedicated to improving the game post-launch. In a few months, once all the bugs and performance issues are ironed out, this will be a game that can stand alongside its venerable contemporaries. And even with all its issues, I enjoyed my time with Formula Fusion and look forward to future campaigns in the series. But I also can't blame you if you decide the game isn't worth your time or money yet. Just be sure to keep an eye on it.

Game #48 - Headlander
Time: 6 hours

Cool little "metroidvania" with fantastic art and voice acting. The maps are good and the head swapping mechanic is neat, but I felt like 90% of the upgrades I got I never used, which was a bummer. The story is also gibebrish, but if you are a fan of the genre is deffinately worth playing, especially since its not very long.

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#53 Call of Duty Ghosts ★★.5 - PS3 - June 3rd - 5 hours
As far as COD campaigns go, this was pretty bad. Quite ugly and boring.


#54 Darksiders ★★★.5 PS3 - June 8th - 12 hours
Decent Zelda clone, got a bit sick of the last dungeon and the combat, spamming the same moves over and over. Lacked originality when it came to gameplay and items and such


#55 Dragon Age: Origins ★★★★ PS3 - June 17th - 28 hours
Decided to replay this, not perfect but the good outweighs the bad. I only find the combat bearable playing as a mage. Fuck the Deep Roads.

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#29: DEFCON: 0.6 hours

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Interesting concept, seems like it has depth, ultimately unable to hold my attention for very long. As a timer ticks down to armageddon place your missile silos, nuclear subs, long-range radar and airbases around your region in order to achieve two goals: When nuclear war breaks out kill as many people as possible while losing as few of your own.

#30: The Novelist: 2.7 hours

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I'm probably going to be thinking about this game for a long time, it's short but very impactful. The Kaplans are spending the summer in a holiday home on the coast, and they all need something. Dan is trying to write a novel to salvage his career, Linda is trying to salvage their marriage, and Tommy is struggling at school. The game is broken up into nine chapters where you, as the benevolent spirit of the house, uncover their needs and their motivations. Ultimately you decide whose needs wins out that week, whose needs are partially-met, and who is left disappointed. Great core idea for a game and it gives you a lot to think about.

Currently playing: I'm still making my way through Inazuma Eleven

25. Prey - 30 Hours



Completed On: 15.6.2017
Platform: PC (Steam)
Rating: 9 / 10

First of all: i bought this game with minimal or none hype. Saw one or two trailers and got interested. And man, was i surprised by this game. I played all the other Arkane games before but this one really got me. The atmosphere really sucked me in.
I liked the story (although the storytelling is a bit boring in the middle), it starts out fantastic and intense and finishes quite surprising.
I also liked the setting a lot, I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan.
The station really feels lonely and empty. Although the lighting is bright and the architecture feels immense, there is always a feeling of darkness and void that surrounds you.
The graphics are great too, better than Dishonored imho. Lighting is great, a few textures are not sharp but thats it.
The game is all about exploring. It's not a open world per se and that's fine by me.
The only negative thing i have to say is that there are just a few weapons and only 3 of them which are useful. Two of them are standard weapons.
I played through the whole game, hard difficulty and left a few side quests unfinished.
This is a hot candidate for GOTY 2017.

Now playing: Star Wars KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda, Zelda: BOTW, Castlevania: SOTN and Chrono Trigger.

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22. Vanquish - 8 hours
Bought it only to support SEGA PC ports initiative and not regret it. Decent TPS game, but i really can't say much about it. It's was nice and fun to play, but overall it's nothing really special.

25. Defunct (Steam, 2017/06/04, 1.4 hours)

Your little broken robot character gets left behind, through unfortunate circumstances. Your mother ship continues to cruise through low orbit. The main goal is to catch up and get back on board to fix your crummy unicycle "leg". You can use the terrain and its hills to accelerate, but only by leaning in on the down slope. The physics gameplay relies on building momentum and go fast. It's all a very nice mix of third person platforming and racing. There's really no skill ceiling. Yes, you can fumble your way, all the way, till the end OR you can do it with insane style and crazy tricks. Defunct is very brief game, even though you do cover a lot of ground. It's meant to be replayed for the fun of gameplay, to gain skills and to make it an even briefer game. The graphics are stylized and look like a PS2 era title up-res'd to HD. Sounds kinda bad, but it actually works in favor of the core gameplay. Everything runs super smooth and as fast as greased lightning. They really nailed the sense of speed and flow. The traversal is such a delight in the unique little gem.

26. LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4, 2017/06/08, ~6 hours)

LBP3 is charming as ever. Waiting a bit before jumping in paid off, never had any issues with major bugs I've heard about around its launch window. The new characters helped a lot with dodging franchise fatigue and they added a lot of fresh blood to the gameplay. The new gadgets, Sackboy gained, were also nice additions. The story mode was surprisingly short and merely an introduction of all things new, but enjoyable nevertheless. The devs really offloaded the content creation onto the crowd sourced back-end. Not complaining though, since I never paid full and got the game with PSN+. I'll keep LBP3 installed and check out some user created content in the future.

27. Montaro (Steam, 2017/06/09, 1.5 hours)

You terrorize japanese suburbs as a cheeky shiba inu in this endless runner. Packed with dodge memes, shima pantsu, nice little tunes and fun gameplay. Perfect little palate cleanser, when you got a few minutes to waste. There's really no completion here, for it being endless, so 100% cheevos must do. I'll never understand the Steam ecosystem that spawned around its trading cards. Montaro is 99 cents, it dropped 3 trading cards, each 25 cents when sold, the game almost paid for itself, lolwhat.

28. The Turing Test (Steam, 2017/06/18, 7 hours)

This first person corridor puzzler is following the Portal template closely. You go from room to room, solve logic puzzles, which require a little bit of dexterity. The story is, meanwhile, told in conversations between your character and an AI. There's no humor though. The Turing Test is more hard science fiction peppered with existentialism and morality. It all boils down to the human condition in general. I've enjoyed the whole package: the puzzles are very manageable, the writing is great and the voice acting tied everything together. The environment designs reminded me a lot of Interstellar: worn, utilitarian, futuristic, yet believable and lots of grounded NASA resemblance.

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Hoo boy, I completely lost track of this over the past few months. I've fallen a bit behind an average rhythm and have essentially been playing catch-up the last couple of weeks. I won't be able to go into greater detail on most of what I've played, but I just wanted to at least give a quick update. Also, spoiler alert - what follows are some shoe-ins for my top 10 of 2017.

Game 3: Resident Evil 7 - Finished: 21.02.2017 ; Playtime: 8 hours

I was really sceptical about RE7 going in, because of the tonal shifts, because of the first person perspective, because of Capcom's recent output for this franchise, and so forth. Ultimately, I ended up really liking it. It's definitely not as strong as REmake or 4 (my personal favourites), but it is a great survival horror game, which is worth a lot. My main gripes with the game are that enemy variety is kinda poor (it feels as though you end up fighting molded 90% of the time, which gets old after a while) and the game doesn't really punish you enough for dying (regular autosaves). For reasons of time, I haven't been able to do a second run, but I'd really like to play on Madhouse to hopefully get something that's closer in difficulty to my first complete runs of REmake.

Game 4: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Finished: 08.04.2017 ; Playtime - 100 hours

This begins a series of fairly hefty titles that have altogether taken up a downright ridiculous amount of time. A big part of that was my wish to basically just do everything in the game, which meant getting 100% for some (like Zelda) or going for platinums (all the PS4 games).

I'm not sure what I could possibly say about Breath of the Wild that hasn't already been said countless times - it really is a modern classic. Finally having played it after years of anticipation feels almost surreal. It is truly commendable how Aonuma's team has taken many of the recent trends in open-world game design and molded them into something that feels both fresh and well-established. I'm not typically a big fan of open sandboxes because they tend to dilute the experience, but here, it works excellently because exploration is so much fun. I love the heavily physics-based approach to problem solving that has been taken here, which makes the Divine Beasts really unique in terms of dungeon design within the Zelda series. The combat, despite not being nearly as hard as it seems at the outset, is a lot of fun (which it has to be if clearing out the 50th Bokoblin camp is still supposed to hold your interest). My only real issue with it is the fact that the story takes a backseat and that there are no larger dungeons in the game. I do like the way you slowly get a sense of just how terribly wrong things have gone in this version of Hyrule, but I now really want to know what a more traditional epic akin to OoT might look like with these overall design conventions.

Game 5: Age of Mythology - Finished: 11.04.2017 ; Playtime: 15 hours

This was really just a quick diversion. The AoE games and this spinoff(?) were some of the first PC games I really got into, so I like to go back and replay them a bit from time to time. It is for this reason that I have a deep appreciation for their re-releases on steam and the recent content updates they've received. At the same time, it really hurts to realise how long it's been since AoE III.

Game 6: Persona 5 - Finished: 28.04.2017 ; Playtime: 143 hours

My very first Persona game - and what a great one to start with. To say that I was deeply impressed by this would be an enormous understatement. Sure, there are some issues with the localisation and characterisations, but the complete product is just so ridiculously stylish that I frankly can't help but love everything from its presentation to its godlike soundtrack (I've lost track of how many times I simply put down the controller to listen to whatever theme was playing at the time for a bit). The combat system is also really up my alley, and the social systems are really just the cherry on top of an already amazing experience. I can't stress how glad I am that I've finally decided to give this franchise a shot.

Game 7: Yakuza 0 - Finished: 25.05.2017 ; Playtime: 250 hours

Continuing with this trend for a bit, here comes another franchise I had close to no knowledge of until recently and decided to jump into on a whim. And sure enough, just as with Persona, I came away greatly entertained. You'd pretty much have to be dead inside not to be floored by how expertly this game goes from being ridiculously over-the-top to being heartbreakingly serious. I wasn't quite sure if I'd like the combo / finisher based melee combat system (I actually thought it'd have more of a focus on ranged combat, as Western crime-themed games do), but it's more fun than it has any right to be and the heat actions just add to the overall hilarious presentation. Not to mention the countless substories that explore a number of social issues in a serious, yet light-hearted fashion. Perhaps the best indication of how much I enjoyed my time with this game is the fact that I taught myself basic Mahjong in order to get 100% completion. Kiwami and 6 have certainly shot up on my list of games to look forward to.

Game 8: Horizon: Zero Dawn - Finished 31.05.2017 ; Playtime - 58 hours

Looking back, I can't help but shake my head at the countless comparisons between Horizon and Zelda - beyond the surface level, they really are two very different beasts. For me, the only important thing they have in common is that I really enjoyed them both. I really like Horizon's world and leading characters - Aloy in particular. To me, it's very interesting to see elements from many different types of games pop up here, ranging from context-based climbing all the way to dialogue wheels. Sadly, most of these are not as fleshed out as I'd like them to be (I'd like more freedom when climbing, and I'd like my dialogue options to go beyond just getting additional information). Of course, these are just small issues, and the real standout here is the combat. There's something deeply satisfying about weaving between enemy lines, carefully picking off targets with a mixture of traps, precision shots and melee strikes, just as there is about toppling a Thunderjaw or Stormbird for the first time. I was also positively surprised by the narrative, which I had assumed to be an afterthought. The way the game first sets up its world and then slowly begins to show you what happened to humanity and what the actual threat is is quite amazing, even if I saw the fact that coming from a mile off.

PS: Since I'd never paid much attention to this game pre-launch, I was shocked to find out that the 'A' in 'Aloy' is not pronounced the same as in 'aloe'.

I'll stop here for now, but I have a few more games to add over the next couple of days.

Game #26 Yakuza 0
PS4
Havent played a Yakuza title in a long ass time
, man I regret that. This game was so good, so much to do. I spent so much time fucking around and the story got me really into it as well.

Game #27 Yakuza, PS2
Since I loved 0, I jumped right back into the original game, despite having kiwami preordered. Game holds up in a lot of ways, but it is still rough in a lot of ways too though.

Game #28
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
PS4
For a palate cleanser, I played a short simple shooter. It was surprisingly a space navy game. I kinda enjoyed seeing small things like the flight deck crew skittle outfits. But yeah, kinda boring, very short.

Game #29
Letter Quest Remastered
PS4
Had no intention of playing through this in one sitting but here we are. Fun word game, I've been a sucker for these kinds of games since bookworm by popcap.

Game #30
Wolverine
Nes
Piece of shit but I played through it for fun. Took about an hour, but I totally cheated with infinite lives

Slowish month I must say, and it doesn't look like the rest of it will be any better. I decided to start playing Stardew Valley this month. Oops. 100 hours in and not done yet. Don't think I will be for quite some time. Managed to squeeze a couple of retro games in here and there tho...

...and reached 52 games!


Wario Land 2 - Game Boy Color - Completed June 1



Wario Land 3 - Game Boy Color - Completed June 4



Super Castlevania IV - SNES - Completed June 4



Super Mario Bros. - SNES - Completed June 12



Super Mario Bros. 2 - SNES - Completed June 15



Super Mario Bros. 3 - SNES - Completed June 17


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