Homefront: The Revolution - Not bad, pretty dull in terms of mission variety, but only had 2 major bugs. one of the bases wouldn't let me capture it and I got stuck in a van. Don't know how much work has been done post-release, though the patch was a good 12GB!

it's pretty much just a far cry game without the charismatic villain.

Resident Evil Revelations 2 up next! - Enjoyed the silliness of the first one, so looking forward to 2.

Main post



25 | Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments | PC
Time: 12 hours
Score: 8/10

Crimes and Punishments is a major upgrade over previous Sherlock games and the best one to date. The structure of six independent cases works perfectly and leads to a much more satisfying game than the overarching story of previous games. The graphics look amazing, the environments are varied and the gameplay of looking for clues and drawing conclusions is really satisfying. While the game isn't hard by any means, it is still very much possible to draw the wrong conclusions from all the clues you have collected and accuse the wrong suspect. The ambiguity makes it very important to pay attention during everything that goes down during a case. Downside are some super frustrating mini-games (luckily you can skip them!) and the quality of the cases seems to vary. I personally loved 4 out of 6, liked 1 and felt rather indifferent about another 1. All in all a great game.

Game 1-Criminal Girls 2 Party Favors-2016-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-2016-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-2016-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-2016-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-2016-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 5-7-2012-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-2016-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 2-2016-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-2016-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-2016-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-2017-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-2017-Nintendo 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 1-2017-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-2017-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-2017-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-2016-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-2017-PS4-Beaten on May 25
-Again, good episode. 9/10

Game 18-The Walking Dead: A New Frontier-Episode 5 From the Gallows-2017-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-2014-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-2016-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-2016-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-2014-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-2014-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-2015-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-2015-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 1-2017-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-2016-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
Last edited by Bastion; 06-23-2017 at 10:13 PM.

Game 28-Destiny Rise of Iron DLC-2016-PS4-Beaten on June 25
-I am now ready for Destiny 2. Really enjoyed this expansion. More Destiny. 9/10

G ame 29-Guardians of the Galaxy The Telltale Series Eposode 2-2017-PS4-Beaten on June 26
-Hmm..... I love what Telltale has done with the Walking Dead and Batman and pretty much everything else but I am not feeling this series. Maybe it's because I feel the franchise is just plain weird. I don't know. 5/10

Game 30-Fate: The Silent Oath-2017-PSVR-Beaten on June 30
-I really enjoyed this adventure even though it did make me a bit dizzy. The game was short and rough around the edges but still a great experience. I hope to see a AAA game do this type of game! 7/10

Game 31-Spider Man Homecoming VR-2017-PSVR-Beaten on June 30
-I really wasn't very impressed by this experience. It was ok but the graphics were really rough. It was cool shooting from my webslinger(via two PS moves). It only lasted maybe 15 minutes but it was free! 5/10

Game 32-Outlast Whistleblower DLC-2014-PS4-Beaten on July 8
-I love survival horror games so game is right up my alley. I really liked the main game and this dlc was just as good if not better. Very atmospheric and dark. Looking forward to playing Outlast 2 soon. 10/10

Game 33-Titanfall 2-2016-Xbox One-Beaten on July 10
-I loved this game. The mixture of shooting and platform was perfect. The only thing that I didn't like was the assembly line level as I just didn't know where to go. 9/10

Game 34-Soma-2015-PS4-Beaten on July 19
-This game was awesome. It was a very unsettling experience which I loved! I really liked the story and gameplay. E only thing that I thought was a bit annoying were the "monsters". Even though the weird "monsters" helped make the game more tense, it seemed like they were very random and hard to escape at times. I think that was the point overall, but still annoying. 9/10

Game 35-Sniper Elite 3-2014-PS4-Beaten on July 23
-I have always loved sniping in games, and his game lets you snipe all the time and does it wonderfully! I never get tired of the slow-mo effect when sniping and watching the bullet penetrate the body of the enemy. Great stuff! 9/10

Game 36-House of the Dead IV along with HOTD IV SP-2012-PS3-Beaten on July 25
-This was the first House of the Dead game I have played to completion and I enjoyed it a lot. Very cheesy story and voice acting but that's ok as it's an arcade game. It looked good on the PS3 and works very well with move. Not quite the same as the old light gun games though. Those guns felt better. 7/10

Game 38-Tokyo Xanadu-2017-Vita-Beaten on July 26
-This was a great, modern day action rpg. If you liked the Trails of Cold Steel games with the action of Ys and the personality of Persona 4, this game is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed all 40 hours I played and actually played to get the true ending after the credits originally rolled which I have never done before. That says something. 10/10

Game 39-House of the Dead III-2012-PS3-Beaten on July 26
-After beating HOTD IV yesterday, I decided to go ahead and play III. I liked this one better simply because it had shotguns instead of uzi's. 7/10

Game 40-Night in the Woods-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 6
-This game was very chill and easy to enjoy. I enjoyed the coming of age story and the conversations that took place throughout the game. The story does end up a bit strange but I am open to anything when it comes to video games. 8/10

Game 41-Rime-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 7
-This game is in the same vein as Ico, Journey, Abzu, and Bound. I find all of these games incredibly relaxing to play. There really is nothing negative to say about the game other than the story is really non-existent until the end where it becomes quite touching. Great experience! 10/10

Game 42-Batman The Enemy Within Episode 1 The Enigma-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 8
-I loved the first Batman Telltale game and so far, I love Season 2. Batman fits so well into this type of game. It is my favorite Telltale series by far. 10/10

Game 43-Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 11
-Wow! This game is one of the best games I have ever played. Maybe my new favorite game. Unbelievably good. Superb graphics, audio and atmosphere. I loved every second of it. 10/10
Last edited by Bastion; Yesterday at 10:47 PM.

Game 44-For Honor-2017-PS4-Beaten on August 12
-For Honor was free this weekend to try so I downloaded it and played the entire story campaign. I really liked the sword gameplay but the story was weak. This game had beautiful graphics and overall really enjoyed my time with the game. 7/10

Game 45-Frisky Business(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 13
-I have started enjoying visual novels the last couple of years on the Vita so when I saw this game on sale for like $7 I got it without looking at length or any game is very short short-like an hour short-but is a fun little visual novel. There are some typos which is make it seem a bit amateurish but for the most part the writing is ok. Most visual novels are quite long so having a short visual novel was nice. 6/10

Game 46-Blackwood Crossing(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 14
-Hmmm......Not really sure about his game. It was short(about three hours) but would have taken forever without a guide to help get me through it. I liked the graphics and the ending but everything else was ok. The worst part about this game was how slow the main character moved. 6/10

Game 47-Tacoma(2017)-Xbox One-Beaten on August 16
-I have played a lot of "walking simulators" the last couple of years and really enjoy them. If I am being honest, this was one of the weakest. It was very short and a bit boring overall. The graphics were very basic and there was nothing really that stood out. The twist ending at the end was good, but predictable. 6/10

Game 48-Undertale(2017)-Vita-Beaten on August 17
-This was one of the most unique games I have ever played. Great writing and humor, especially in the latter part of the game. I loved the fighting mechanics of this game as well. Very clever! I also liked that it was short-around 5 hours or so. Two negatives-I didn't like the 4:3 screen. It would look much better if the game filled the whole screen. It made font quite small on the Vita. I also thought he main character should walk much faster. Give me a run button please! 8/10

Game 49-Sniper Elite 4(2017)-PS4- Beaten on August 21
-I loved this game even more than Sniper Elite 3. The sniping just never gets boring. Love the WWII time period as well. Great game! 10/10

Game 50-Uncharted The Lost Legacy(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 27
-Great game! Love the graphics and gameplay. The only thing I didn't like as much were the characters. While not bad, they just weren't as funny as Drake. Missed the Drake-Sully interaction. With that said, everything else was superb! 9/10

Game 51-GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: A TELLTALE SERIES EPISODE 3: “MORE THAN A FEELING”(2017)-PS4-Beaten on August 31
-Well it is more of the same which means it ok. I continue to just not like this universe and find it a bit boring. The best episode so far in this specific series. 6/10

Game 52-Life is Strange Before the Storm-Episode 1-Awake(2017)-PS4-Beaten on September 2
-Well I hit the 52 mark with a game I was really looking forward to as I enjoyed the original. I thought episode one was a very good starting point and look forward to episode 2. 8/10

Game 53-Deadpool(2015)-PS4-Beaten on September 4
-I recently watched the Deadpool movie and loved it so I thought I would try out this game, especially since it was cheap on the PAX PSN sale. Overall, the game is ok. I enjoyed e gameplay, for the most part, as I love hack and slash games. This game also had guns which was fine. He biggest issue with his version of the game was that the game paused for a second, almost like it was loading, literally at least once a minute if not more. Outside of this, the frame rate was good nreally hampered the overall enjoyment of the game for me. 5/10

Game 54-Skylar and Plux Adventure on Clover Island(2017)-PS4-Beaten on September 5
-This was a very fun, little platform platformer. It only lasted a couple of hours and you can tell that it wasn't made by a triple AAA studio, but I still had a lot of fun. 7/10

Game 55-Michael Jackson The Experience HD(2012)-Vita-Beaten on September 9
I love Michale Jackson songs but am not a huge fan of music rythm games. This one is the best one I have played simply because I love the songs. I got the game free on the day the Vita launched due to a PSN glitch that gave the full game free instead of the demo. 7/10

Game 56-Dying Reborn(2017)-Vita-Beaten on September 10
-I enjoyed the game overall even though it was very rough in many areas. It is a horror game where your goal is to solve puzzles to escape the room. I got it for under $5 which is what I would recommend and no more. 6/10

Game 57-Color Guardians(2015)-Vita-Beaten on September 11
-I really enjoyed this game more than I thought I would. It was an endless runner that makes you constantly switch colors and lanes to pick up orbs. If you don't switch to the correct color at the right time, you will run into an object that kills you. Luckily there are checkpoints that save it from being too frustrating, the bosses add more challenge to the game and were fun in hindsight but frustrating at the time. Solid little game. 7/10

Game 58-Manifest 99(2017)-PSVR-Beaten on September 16
-This was a great little vr experience. I say experience because it wasn't really a game. The only gameplay involved is looking around with your eyes looking for things. Still a nice experience and would recommend it for the price. 9/10

Game 59-Arcana Heart 3 Love Max!!!!!(2014)-Vita-Beaten on September 20
-I had to double check that I had the title rigt and yes, there are five explanation points. Anyway, this was a fun fighting game. I played through three characters in story mode and then played through all the characters stories in the "After Story" mode which is a visual novel with one fight(one round) per story. Enjoyed it overall but the story was a bit stupid. 7/10

Game 60-NBA 2K16(2015)-PS4-Beaten on September 21
-I wanted to play the story mode that Spike Lee directed. It was ok. Now I'm ready for NBA2K18. 7/10

Game 61-J-Stars Victory VS+(2015)-Vita-Beaten on September 24
-This was an ok game. I played through the story mode. Really this was about clearing space on my memory card for Dangonranpa v3 which comes out his week. 7/10

Game 62-Butcher(2017)-Switch-Beaten on September 29
-I love this game! I loved the gunplay and the atmosphere and the music and the entire game. It is a like Doom in 2D with a mix of Hotline Miami. Highly recommended! 10/10

57. Prey (2006) (5 hours)
A very fun shooter that makes good use of its gravity mechanics.

Full list to date.

OP

22. Tales of Symphonia - 4 - There is a lot I liked about this game but it also really reminded me how ridiculous JRPG stories were. That said the game was very well done and the combat system is lovely. Spent over a month on this game to get it done and I didn't play it all the time. It was kind of hard to play at times which is odd because I enjoyed all of it. "This coffee is hot. No its cold. I lied its hot"

23. Gone Home - 5 - I have been meaning to play this for years and man the narrative was good. Thought it was going to be a horror game but nope, just a storm outside. So well done, simple and a good pallet cleanser after a long JRPG

Game #40
Ys
TurboDuo
Started up Book I & II, I know the newer releases are technically superior but I prefer the aesthetic of the original. A quickie, but I love the franchise so much, will probably get back to it and finish Ys II sooner rather than later.

Game #41
Game of Thrones(Telltale) Episode 1
PC, Steam
Started it up after catching up with the series. It was okay. But the format is def getting a bit stale and this one is years old at this point.

Game #42
Yakuza 4
PS3
The Yakuza marathon continues. Y4 is the weakest in the franchise IMO. It should have been focused more on Saejima, I think. His story was the best, and didn't get enough time.

OP

---

Game 33 - Resident Evil 5 (PC) - 4/5 - 10 hours~ *

More RE series playthrough progress. Went out of order because I was co-oping with a friend who was playing this for the first time.

Still a pretty big fan of this one overall. Playing in co-op obviously makes a huge difference but I'm inclined to say that this is my favorite out of 4/5/6. The stretch of stuff on the ship until the very end sections is a bit of a misstep but it's no different than the Island in 4 or a bunch of sections in 6 for me.

Absolutely love both DLC chapters as well.

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Game 34 - Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (PS2) - 2/5 - 5 hours, 30 minutes *

Only my second time playing through this one. In the past I've talked about 0 being my least favorite classic style RE title but this really has me reconsidering. There's so many questionable design choices (the way the characters swap with little or no warning resulting in potential loss of access to weapons is a big one) and the fact that it feels like a step back from 3 and even 2 gameplay wise doesn't do this any favors. The Bandersnatches are also hot trash and the worst enemy in the series which says a lot when this series also has Oozes and Molded.

This really just feels like the classic RE formula stretched to its limits. The backtracking and exploration that was previously sublime in the earlier games (particularly 1) becomes excessive and annoying here. This playthrough was only five and a half hours but it felt like it took double that amount. I feel like with some fat trimming this could be a lot better than it is but it isn't meant to be.

Not a BAD game by any means but definitely the black sheep of the RE series imo.

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Game 35 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) - 3/5 - 9 hours, 12 minutes

Yet another game I've played for years but never finished (until now).

Pretty solid overall (my favorite of the first 3 games at least). Overworld exploration was a bit of a stepdown I'd say but the dungeons mostly made up for it. The Ice Palace was sure something.

Not a huge fan of this or moreso the sequel aesthetically but it's a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.

Never realized just how much OOT takes ~inspiration from with this game. Like I definitely knew there were connections but not to this extent.

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Haven't updated in a while. Original Post

22. Persona 5 (PS4)


Probably one of the best games I've played this year, but I'm not sure if it's my favorite Persona. The presentation was amazing and the characters were overall good, but something didn't quite click around the end game.

23. Life is Strange (PS4)


Beat this before, but I wanted to go back and get the different ending. I think I still prefer the Chloe ending

May

24. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin (PC)


I've been making my way slowly through the souls series. Beat the first one last year, so I thought I'd go ahead and try the second. While I beat it, I did not like the aesthetic of it at all.

25. What Remains of Edith Finch (PC)


Loved the style, loved the story. Great "walking simulator".

26. Takume: The Dreaming Daughter (PC)

Took five minutes to beat. Can't even find a good size image online. I don't know why I did this to myself

27. Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)


I thought it looked really nice, but the story and characters were better in the first one.

28. Remember Me (PC)


Interesting story and environment. Gameplay was note fun though, bad way to use Batman style combat.

June

29. TitanFall 2 (PS4)


Good gameplay, but I don't see why everyone was hyping it as the best FPS campaign.

30. Tales From the Borderlands (PS4)


Good game, interesting characters, lots of humor, still has Telltale engine issues

31. South Park: The Stick of Truth (PC)


Another one I've beaten before. I wanted to play an RPG and decided on this. Didn't really satisfy the itch, but still a good game

32. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC)


This was a good FPS story campaign. Much better than Titanfall 2. I played this after I saw the trailer for the upcoming game, so exicted now

33. Refunct (PC)


Fun little parkour game I got during the steam sale. Quick to play, and for the price I found it worth it.

34. Pony Island (PC)


Interesting game, though I didn't know what was happening half the time.

July

35. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (PC)


This scratched that itch for an RPG. I still love the combat in this game, and the world isn't too bad. I think I spent too much time playing this one

36.Crash Bandicoot Remake (PS4)


Fuck this game almost made me destory my controller. Fuck the High Road.

37. Crash Bandicoot: Cortex Strieks Back Remake (PS4)


Better than the first, didn't die nearly as much

38. Crash Bandicoot: Warped Remake (PS4)


Better than the first and second, but I still don't like the driving parts.

39. Pyre (PS4)


These guys can do no wrong. Seriously, I thought I wasn't going to like this as much as the other games, but by the end of the game, I was agonizing over my choices.

August

40. Aviary Attorney (PC)


I was surprised by this game. It had charm and humor, and your ability to actually solve cases changed the way the story worked.

41. Tacoma (PC)


I still don't know how I feel about this game. Story was interesting, but I felt the environments could've been much more fleshed out.

Original Post

31) Doom - 8 hours - 8/15
What an adrenaline rush this game was. Start to finish it was fast paced, brutal, and an absolute blast to play. There were some sections that were frustration, but the core gameplay was rock solid and there were times that I was laughing because of how much fun it was to jump around with a shotgun killing demons.

#21 Implosion: Never Lose Hope – Completed 7/10/17
#22 Abzu – Completed 7/30/17
#23 Jet Set Radio – Completed 8/6/17
#24 Splatoon 2 – Completed 8/15/17

Well, this took longer than I thought it would – and I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting a game or two here. Its certainly been a while, huh? Well not due to lack of trying, I haven't beaten too many games in the last 2 months. At any rate;

Implosion – I was feeling the itch for a new Switch game! But seriously, I wanted to play something on it before Splatoon hit, and I ended up buying a few indies, this being one. It's pretty good! Not the best game on the Switch by any means, but definitely worth what I paid. A nice little isometric action game, not unlike what you'd see from Platinum Games. Solid play.

Abzu – It was pretty and besides that I don't have too much to say here. It was probably worth playing for the eye candy, at least.

Jet Set Radio – I pretty much tore through this in a few days. I was feeling something 3D platform-y that would still be somewhat short that I could breeze through in a few afternoons. I never played it growing up, but it definitely aged better than I was expecting it to! Solid Tony Hawk-lite mechanics with an awesome soundtrack and a charming setting/artstyle.

Splatoon 2 – I owned Splatoon, but I never really played it much – and I outright never touched the single player. I decided to check it out this time around since the game was sticking with me a lot more this time around, and I've been picking at the single player every now and then popping the Switch out of the dock at my desk and plopping on my couch to play a few levels. I'm glad I did, because the campaign was surprisingly great.

This game's visuals must've been impressive for its time but the overall gameplay is quite outdated as it has a few timed events where if you don't perform actions on time you get a game over.
Worse thing about it is that ti has some pixel hunting for certain items.

original post

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Game 29: Ridge Racer Type-4 (PS1) - 3 hours

It was decent enough racing. The presentation is great by PS1 standards, the light visual novel elements during the Gran Prix are fun at first. When it comes to gameplay, there'd only be some nitpicks, like the lack of good sound effects when you crash into something (which RR games before this one actually got right). Plus if you're bad at drifting, you'll for some reason change perspective by accident a lot. However the biggest detriment is the fact that this game only has 8 tracks and you will not care to replay them a bazillion times.

That final boss fight really felt luck based, as I kept praying he doesn't use his more powerful attacks on me. I really should've made some more Meteorite Bracers =_=
Overall though I find the game to be pretty good up til the end game, and despite some dull shortcomings I really enjoyed it.



Great 2D platformer but man that final stage was a pain in the ass, you REALLY had to bring your A-game here or you won't be beating these final acts with ease.

Game45: Level 22 - 4h - 6.5/10 - PSVITA
A nice little stealth game, with a lot of nice humor. The game is fairly easy, but it's fun to play and the humor is really top. Loved it, and it was free with psplus.

Game46: Downwell - 4h - 6/10 - PSVITA
Heard a lot about it, a lot of good things. I find it is a fun game, but too limited and nothing I will remember in the future. A super hard vertical shooting game, with some randomness... probably a good mobile game, but just a normal game overall.

Game47: Root Letter - 15h - 7.5/10 - PSVITA
I don't know how much I really liked that game... I can say that I overall liked the story, but not the gameplay, I would have preferred a lot just to read the text than to have to explore the locations and doing the investigations... that's why at a certain point I used a guide, and I liked it much more than before.


New update from the main post: almost there.... Main Post

HiroTSK5

Main post



26 | West of Loathing | PC
Time: 12 hours
Score: 8/10

West of Loathing is an RPG with turn-based combat with some hilarious writing and a very fitting art style. While the combat is really easy (even on hardcore difficulty), the jokes and writing are where the game really shines. It ridicules common tropes in RPG's and all of this occurs in a lovely Western setting. The game took me around 12 hours and doesn't outstay its welcome. While there isn't much of a main quest, it is best to see this game as a collection of mini-stories in an absurd universe filled with demon cows and killer clowns. Also make sure to check out every spittoon you see.

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#38 Path of Exile The Fall of Oriath

Beat this over a month ago an apparently neglected ta post about it! Games super good!


Beat .hack//Infection in just over 8 hours. An no I wasn't skipping the story or optional stuffs this year! Its just that short... or I'm just that good? Nahhh!


Games Beaten: 09 / 52
Total Playtime: 124:04:28
01 - ??

26:20h. Endings ABCDE plus several Bad Ends, sought on purpose. About 40% of secondary questlines completed.

Warning: unmarked spoilers. Really, if you have even a passing interest on the game, don't read the following.

NieR Automata started pretty dull. It was so grey, black and generally drab. The combat was nice, but not enough to keep me interested. Still, I soldiered on, and by the time I completed route A I was having a lot of fun.

I forced myself to complete route B, which was, to be honest, a chore, being mostly the same than route A. After getting the ending, I was ready to abandon the game after that, but I remembered reading that the game cannot be fully understood without completing the five main endings.

Boy am I glad I decided to continue. The game changes totally on route C. The game world is turned on its head, the storyline goes nuts, and so do most of the characters. By the time you get ending E, NieR: Automata has grown to an epic scale. Totally worth the slog through route B.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

Some lovely animations and visuals in this game but overall it is a game of its time. I found a few puzzles to have some irritating solutions to them, not to mention that you go around with dozens of items and you only use a handful of them to clear puzzles.

Voice acting is on the weak side, and all ina ll, it is worth playing if you were a 'PnC historian' explorer like myself

Original Post


Game #25 - Kamiko - 3 hours
Platform: NSW

For #5, you really can't go wrong with this game. 100% all 3 characters and would definitely play more if there was dlc. This game reminds me of a very basic zelda and the art style of Hyper Drifter Light.

9/10




Game #26 - Stories Untold - 2 hours
Platform: Steam

I liked the different take on story telling, combining text adventure with physical interactions. A few moments were frustrating and I think the game had a lot of potential but didn't pan out.

5/10



Game #27 - Ori and the Blind Forest DE - 12 hours
Platform: Steam

I enjoyed the platforming, art style, music and atmosphere. This is a game done right, unlocking new abilities along the way and the ability to easily backtrack to use your new abilities to gain access to new areas. My only gripe is the story, I may write up a LTTP because of how upsetting the whole story is when you think about it.

10/10

Original Post

32) Sunset Overdrive Season pass - 4 hours - 8/20
I played Sunset Overdrive last year and it was one of my favorite games of the generation so I've been looking forward to getting the season pass to give me a reason to jump back in. It was on sale this week so I grabbed it and blasted my way through and it was a ton of fun. The movement system and style of the game is fantastic and I was laughing so hard at some of the DLC.

This was a charming, albeit slow, Action Adventure game. There are LOTS of collectables but I didn't bother getting all of them, and likely skipped some of the secret upgrades.
Regardless I liked its twin-stick like combat and while it has its flaws it is still a lovely game that I recommend to fans of Metroid and Metroidvanai-like games.

Huge catch-up post here (half a year's worth of completions!), as I haven't had the time to really update in a while.

Looking at my finished games, its clear that 2017 is the year Nintendo pushed its way back into promimence, at least for me - lots of PS4 games on the back burner, with others being shelved entirely in favor of a PC playthrough (NieR: Automata).

Or maybe Persona 5 just ate up my all my time allowance for PS4 games, I dunno.

10) Super Bomberman R
Platform: Switch
Finished 3/15/17 - Around 4 hours
Launch title. Played through the unpatched version's story mode and thoroughly disliked it, VS. COM AI was also super cheap. Played it again post patch and its like a whole new game, excellent series entry.

11) Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Platform: Switch
Finished 4/2/17 - Around 65 hours
We're coming up on the end of August and no game has managed to unseat BotW in my personal game of the year assessment. Depending on how NieR Automata ends (and how good Horizon, which I own but still havent played, actually is) this may change, but I dont like their chances. And I still have to beat the DLC!

12) Lego City Undercover
Platform: Switch
Finished 4/15/17 - "Over 15 hours"
This was a very solid open world game, although the framerate is pretty awful... theres only so much you can do with a Switch CPU i suppose. Fun humor.

13) ACA NeoGeo: Rising Star
Platform: Switch
Finished 5/4/17 - Around 30 minutes
I didn't enjoy this at all. Bland and simplistic, without much of a hook.. you can find better shmups on the eShop.

14) Streets of Rage 2 3D
Platform: 3DS
Finished 5/20/17 - 1 hour 52 minutes
Nostalgia overload! The 3D effect was also really well done. Streets of Rage/Bare Knuckle needs a Sonic Mania style update.

15) Kamiko
Platform: Switch
Finished 5/20/17 - Around 1 hour 30 minutes (1.5pt)
A well done top down action game, if a little shallow. Not too bad for 5 bucks, but not super great either. Only the first girl is worth playing as, the other two were uncomfortable to use.

16) Skylar and Plux: Adventure on Clover Island
Platform: PC
Finished 6/17/17 - 3.7 hours per Steam (1pt)
Thoroughly mediocre Ratchet and Clank clone. Bought it to support 3D platformers on PC, but this one ain't good.

17) Emily is Away 2
Platform: PC
Finished 6/18/17 - 4.7 hours per Steam (2+pt)
The sequel to one of my favorite indie games. Lots of cool new ideas here, but sadly it isnt as well thought out, and the concept is no longer original. (The first game is free on Steam, if you're so inclined to check it out - be sure to go in blind if you do.)

18) Final Fight 2 (VC)
Platform: 3DS
Finished 6/24/17 - 1 hr 47 mins (1+ pt)
Playing this game in such close proximity to Streets of Rage made me realize how much easier Final Fight is in comparison. Mind blown!

19) Final Fight 3 (VC)
Platform: 3DS
Finished 6/24/17 - 1 hr 9 mins (1 pt)
And this game was even easier. All the button combos and special moves in the world cant save you when theres no challenging opposition to expend it on.

20) Mighty Gunvolt Burst
Platform: Switch
Finished 6/24/17 - 2 hrs 54 mins (1 pt)
A competently done Mega Man clone, with a fun upgrade system to tinker with (you can spend CP to customize your shot speed/size, bullet type, elemental effects, special abilities, etc.) Reminds me more of the X series than the OG games, though. What Mighty No. 9 should have been.

21) Rudymical: Dark Witch Music Episode
Platform: Switch
Finished 6/24/17 - Around 2 hrs (1++ pt)
A terrible, terrible game, and probably the worst Switch title I own. A music game with bad music and seemingly random note patterns is just ugh.

22) Witch and Hero
Platform: 3DS
Finished 6/29/17 - 4 hours 6 minutes
Where have you been all my life??? I absolutely loved Witch and Hero, its one of the most enjoyable tower defense games I've played. Doesn't overstay its welcome.

23) Crash Bandicoot 1 (Crash Trilogy)
Platform: PS4
Finished 7/1/17 - Around 6 1/2 hours
Wow, this game was still hard as shit. The dropoff between this game and the second installment (which I'm still in the process of beating) in terms of difficulty is just incredible, the second game was definitely the sweet spot. Still fun, but only if you're nostalgic/masochistic/both.

24) Persona 5
Platform: PS4
Finished 7/8/17 - Exactly 99 hours and 57 minutes
The numbered sequel to my favorite game of all time (Persona 4 Golden). It was... pretty OK? The social links were less interesting, the plot was (mostly) eh, and the game just dragged on for too long. I'd still be down for a enhanced version that irons out some of the niggles - a Switch port I guess, I dont think the Vita has the hardware beef to run P5.

25) Mortal Kombat X
Platform: PC
Finished 7/14/17 - 6.3 hours as per Steam
I didn't enjoy this game at all, glad I didnt buy this at full price. The story mode was incredibly crap, and the base game isn't enjoyable enough to make up for it... the unlockables are also unappealing.

26) Witch and Hero II
Platform: 3DS
Finished 7/15/17 - 3 hours 5 minutes (1 pt)
A fantastic sequel to Witch and Hero, albeit one that screwed up the difficulty curve pretty badly. The first game was often edge of your seat difficult, but they gave you too many new powers in the second game (mainly, the ability to move the Witch independently of the Hero) without adjusting the toughness accordingly.

27) LASTFIGHT
Platform: PC
Finished 7/18/17 - 29 minutes as per Steam
A very nice-looking (visually) Power Stone clone with strangely unappealing character design. Pretty fun, but is the sort of game that gets its core fun from playing locally with friends. If you can't manage a couch multi session, stay away.

28) Ryse: Son of Rome
Platform: PC
Finished 7/19/17 - 6.4 hours as per Steam
A fantastic looking game, and not much else - the gameplay is pure dreck. Thoroughly deserves its reputation as PC GAF's cheap ass testing game for new rigs. Basically, I powered through it so I could reclaim the space it was taking up on my HDD.

29) Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series
Platform: PC
Finished 7/23/17 - 12.4 hours as per Steam
Finally, finally finished GoT after almost a year. Not great, but not as bad as some people would have you think. More true to the spirit of A Song of Ice and Fire than the actual show has been as of late.

30) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Platform: 3DS
Finished 8/16/17 - 20 hours 34 minutes (1 pt)
It's amazing how little of the first game I remembered... it was like playing a brand new title in parts, whicy was great. Still very solid, though character development is dicier than I recall.

31) Minecraft: Story Mode
Platform: PS4
Finished 8/19/17 - Around 10 hours
Played this on the Season Pass disc, only managed to force my way through the 5 episodes, and refused to play the sixth even if it was given to me for free - thats how bad it is. The worst Telltale game ever, by a mile.

32) Sine Mora EX
Platform: PC
Finished 8/20/17 - 69 minutes as per Steam
Replayed this old Vita favorite with a proper controller, game is still freaking awesome. Highly recommended if you havent played it yet. (Note: The Steam version is free for owners of the original, ICYMI)

33) Strikers 1945
Platform: Switch
Finished 8/21/17 - Around 4 hrs (5+ pt, 1CC)
Now this is what I'm talking about! Superfun vertical shmup done correctly, loads of fun. Somebody hurry up with that Cave library, please!

34) Hollow Knight
Platform: PC
Finished 8/21/17 - 21 hours and 16 minutes, plus another 3 1/2 hours
WOW. Just wow.

It took decades, but it finally happened - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is no longer my favorite Metroidvania of all time. The old king is dead... Long live Hollow Knight. Presently no. 2 on my GotY list, after BotW.

Yeah, its that good. Brilliant visuals, pinpoint control, incredible interweaving level design, and a Dark Souls style sense of discovery that just wont let up. If you like the genre in any way, buy this game.

wyvern_bloodfist

My main post.


26 | Touch My Katamari | PS Vita
6.5 hours | Completed Aug. 19th

My first time playing a Katamari game. This was a pretty fun experience, but it was really short even though I did pretty much everything there was to do in the game. I liked the colourful and quirky style of the game and the soundtrack was pretty amazing as well. The gameplay can get quite repetitive but it's still loads of fun trying to roll up the biggest Katamari possible. The performance was pretty solid for the most part, but there were some really noticeable slowdowns at times. I didn't really like the dialogue bubbles popping up constantly in the middle of the screen while playing and I hated the violently loud alarm sound that plays when you have less than 30 seconds of time remaining, but other than that I enjoyed the game quite a lot, I just wish there were more levels. I think I'll check out one of the home console Katamari games next, this definitely piqued my interest towards the series.


27 | Dark Messiah of Might and Magic | PC
9 hours | Completed Aug. 22nd

I played this ages ago but never actually finished it so I finally went back and beat it. The story and the characters - including Sareth, the main character - were quite dull to be honest but the gameplay is really great. I had forgotten just how superb the combat in this game is; you can kick, dismember, impale, incinerate and freeze your enemies in many ways and use the environment to your advantage while doing so. A lot of modern games could definitely learn a thing or two from Dark Messiah. The game is fairly linear but the levels are still quite large and there are quite a few secrets to find. The inventory management was a bit annoying and I thought carrying a ton of special weapons, different spell scrolls etc. didn't really sit right with this game. The platforming, if you could even call it that, was kind of rough and unpredictable because it is a Source Engine game but fortunately there isn't much of it. Overall, it's a really neat underrated (or perhaps just forgotten) ARPG with stellar combat and some flaws. I'd definitely recommend this if you like the Elder Scrolls or want to see what Arkane Studios did before working on Dishonored and Prey. Pick it up on Steam, it's only 5€!

I've been horrible at updating my progress in both this thread and the Books/Films one. Right now I'm at 39 games...Or is it 40?

The list so far goes...

1. Donkey Kong Country - - - 2. Super Mario Land 2 - - - 3. Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald - - - 4. Moirai/Super Mario Run - - - 5. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - - - 6. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - - - 7. Wario Land: Shake It! - - - 8. Shovel Knight - - - 9. Pokémon Trading Card Game (GB) - - - 10. Sin and Punishment: Star Sucessor - - - 11. Star Fox 64 - - - 12. Bayonetta - - - 13. Ninja Gaiden (NES) - - - 14. Kirby's Adventure - - - 15. Contra III The Alien Wars - - - 16. Ducktales Remastered 17. Guacamelee Super Turbo Championship Edition - - - 18. Boxboy! - - - 19. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD - - - 20. Portal. - - - 21. Sonic CD - - - 22. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. - - - 23. Bayonetta 2 - - - 24. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons - - - 25. Paper Mario: Color Splash - - - 26. Portal 2 - - - 27. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - - - 28. Pokken Tournament. - - - 29. Shantae Pirate's Curse. - - - 30. Metroid Prime. - - - 31. New Super Mario Brothers 2. - - - 32. Crash Bandicoot. - - - 33. The World Ends With You. - - - 34. No More Heroes. - - - 35. Kingdom Hearts - - - 36. Journey - - - 37. ICO. - - - 38. Chrono Trigger. - - - 39. Octodad Dadliest Catch.

...And just now I "beat" Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Quotations, because I looked it up and apparently got one of the bad endings. I was wholy aware of before this, so that I was able to obtain an ending caught me totally off guard, figured it was just yet another normal battle. Torn on whether to count it or not. Loving this title to bits but counting it as done would help me get progress elsewhere (that and I made a bet I could finish all games/books/films before October 1 lol). Whatever the case I'd go back to it, because it is a gem.

EDIT: The hell with it, I knew of an IC and I'm not leaving until I see my IC!

EDIT2: Beaten the day afterwards. Ashamed I ever considered NOT beating it in full. Wotta gem!

39) Voodoo Vince Remastered(XB1) 7/9-7/10, 7/12

This game was coming fresh off what I feel are amazing platformer games in the Crash trilogy so this game really needed to step up and not get left in the dust so the judgment below might be fair or unfair but I have been in a platforming mood for much of this year so we want to keep the theme going with this game!

This game was going to fall under the ”Meh, it's okay. Not bad though" grading up until the final level where once again a platformer is ruined because of obnoxiously bad and ridiculous swinging carnival mechanics. Take you back to my 1st game completed of 2017, Psychonauts and the god awful Meat Circus level with the lousy swinging mechanics that hampered my experience with the game. What was it with these games in the early 2000's and these ridiculous swinging levels between these two games? I'll get back to a second on why the final boss/level is lousy but lets go back to Voodoo Vince. See unlike with Psychonauts, this game doesn't have the creative humor and natural flow in script that the former ended up having. You have a lackluster main protagonist who tries to be slick but comes off very much bland in dialogue and in his punchlines/humor, you have some very simplistic game design choices with the stage that doesn't offer up anything memorable or new if you have played plenty of platformers and you have enemies that maybe outside of 1 or 2, simply do not do enough damage to put you in serious peril throughout your journey.

What the game does do well is offering up tons of alternatives in its game. Rail shooting part? Check. Racing? Check. Airplane navigation sections? Check. This isn't a start to finish platformer which is very much appreciated. The character outside of Vince are also not too badly done, I thought the villain was inept enough to be charming at times, and the other side characters play their parts well even though the main character really lets the game down by being so boring and bland. The game has a Grabbed by the Ghoulies type of look as far as graphics go which wasn't so bad and I think from a graphical standpoint, the remaster does do well enough where the game doesn't look outdated.

However, here come the problems. First off, there are some very technical problems with the landing of the game where there were clear times I landed on a platform but the game still counted it as an instant death which is bizarre. Granted, I was teetering on the edge of making a jump but making a jump is making a jump and it is frustrating to die on something rather unearned. Also, about 95% of your deaths will be fall deaths so if fall deaths aren't your thing(Understandably, it is overused in video games as an obstacle IMHO) you will be frustrated at times, there are two particular sections where this game really frustrates you and it is the Butler section and the aforementioned awful final stage. Now lets get to why that final stage is oh so bad......much like with Psychonauts, the battles aren't the problem, it's the inept swinging and navigating in these sections that are troublesome. See much like with Psychonauts, this game for god knows what reason has a punishment in it where if you do not time your jump or floating or swings, you will fall all the way down and have to start from the beginning again and even further if you lose all your lives as you have to do a boring, drawn out minicar target section. Who or why these people during this era of platforming thought this was a good idea is beyond me. So many damn one hit Kos in this section and the random robotic final boss arm that can squash you and take about half your health each shot is ridiculous too, for me because the swinging is so damn rough, you can very seldom see as you are swinging point a to point b to point c. Then you have an airplane section that all of the attacks from the boss can 1 hit KO you so essentially I am blinding barrel rolling that would make Pippy The Rabbit proud and blindly aiming at the target on the boss to not get killed or to not have to restart the entire segment again.

The enemies have maybe killed me once or twice because they do so minuscule damage or they can be easily avoided or get done in with your voodoo power(Which BTW there's absolutely NO difference or matter when you get the optional powerups, all that is different is the character animation so essentially you are good with just one of these powerups) though the 1-2 times I did die is because out of nowhere, these strong gator enemies come in who can wipe you out in 3 good shots. You add the already talked about weak main protagonist and you have some serious game crippling flaws that admittedly not everyone will and can get over.

Recommended? Yay or Nay

Had this game ended prior to the final level(s), would have been a yay but the final segment was just that bad it downgraded it to a nay. I just think this game is so easily forgettable and that there are just so many more platformers better this day and age that you will do well to spend your time elsewhere in my honest opinion. Unlike with Psychonauts which had charm in it's characters, this one is dragged down by Vince himself where unlike say Clank or Murray who are purposely dry cut at times, where the character gives you no reason to really care much about the game itself. It sucks because had you switched Gex from Enter the Gecco as a main character alongside the level design of Voodoo Vince, you might have had something better but alas.

The music was pretty lackluster which sucks given the theme of this game is New Orleans so you'd think this game would pop out more great jazz tunes but alas....not until the ending credits do you see anything worthwhile from a soundtrack perspective goes. The worst thing I can ever say about a platformer is that the platforming brings the game down and that would be the case here because again I appreciate and like the ambition this game brought with the minigames. The side characters brought a little something to the stew, there is decent length of about 10 hours on a non-completionist run and the bosses aren't necessarily push overs....it's just the platforming is not crisp at all. And with so many platformers out there that excel at this, whether it be 2D or 3D, it is evident that the platforming segments of this game really stick out and not in a good way for this game. It's not a matter of aging well or not, because games came out before this that did well ala Banjo Kazooie or Jak and Daxter 1 that both still hold up very well....it's just the mechanics behind the platforming leave much to be desired. The cannonball segments are pure trial and error, the swinging mechanics are ridiculous where there's no exact radius of how close/far you need to be to get a chance to extend your rope and the jumping/floating in this game can be deceiving enough that you either seemingly don't make the jump when you clearly see you land on the platform or the mind boggling decisions to have some platforms have a roof/top cover on it where you simply struggle jumping vertically and may end up dying because your character has to chance it and make a jump far out enough where you aren't bumping your head on something but time it enough to get on top of a platform.

Is the game terrible? Nope. It's playable and it's not awful but so many games do their platforming better and I get why this game never got a sequel.

40) Salt and Sanctuary(PS4) 7/19, 7/22-7/25

Here's a game I was late to the party 1 year because had I played this in say 2016, this would have been easily midpack for my 2016 GOTY which says something which IMO was a mighty fine year all around in gaming. However, better later than never as the old catchphrase goes as Salt and Sanctuary tickled both my Dark Souls and more so my Metroidvania fancy. The game is more Castlevania more than anything else IMO and the lone Dark Souls traits are the souls system of where you die after dying, you lose whatever you had and some of the customization borrows from the Souls series Besides that, this game just isn't a 2D Dark Souls like plenty of people are saying. There is so much Castlevania influence from the air dashing to the worlds connecting with one another but unlike with Castlevania, I just wish there was a way to see the enemies health bar as you would blindly swing non boss enemies until they died not knowing how much health they have. Yeah over time, you kind of pick up on how many hits it'd take at your level it would take to down an enemy but regardless for experiencing new monsters for the 1st time, it would have been great to see so you'd know when to back off and momentarily retreat. Besides that, the game really scratched a huge Castlevania itch that I had been having which may be why I ended up appreciating this game so much more.

Very minor gripes outside of the lack of enemy health bar would be the facial designs for the main protagonist seem sort of goofy but it's not a big deal considering you'll cover the person's face within a couple of hours into the game, the game not having anywhere near Castlevania's iconic soundtrack themes and the story was forgettable at best but outside of this, the gameplay in itself dictates how quality of a game this is and you will come to overlook these setbacks for what was a great game altogether.

Recommended? Yay or Nay?

The game ran me about 18 hours but those 18 hours were tons of fun and this game becomes such an easy recommendation for any Castlevania fan. The game isn't too challenging depending on what build you make for yourself, I myself made a strength build and went to the end game with a weapon I picked up around 8-9 hours into the playthrough and simply buffed the weapon up. This was one of those games where half the bosses I either first or second tried and the other half ran me up a good half hour to take down but everyone goes as their own pace. Never did I feel anything was excessively difficult that I had to grind for levels, quite often I died because of a mistake I made or just rotten luck that the boss followed back to back attacks in perfect fashion to wipe me out.

Easy game to recommend, one of the best games I have played this year. A lot of effort and polish went to this game and it shows and you should have loads of fun playing this game. I don't feel like any one area of the game overstays it's welcome and within like maybe 10-15 minutes you'll be in and out of an area before stumbling upon the area's boss battle. With different builds like a magician, warrior among others to play with, numerous playthroughs can and maybe will be had with this game so it's an easy get for the price it is going for.

41) Cosmic Star Heroine(PS4) 7/26, 7/29-8/2

I can sort of relate to people's thoughts on last year's Furi when it comes to this game because I feel there just wasn't a difficulty that satisfied my want in an RPG. The 2nd easier difficulty felt far too easy sans a couple of fights in the game where I would bulldoze through enemies and the 2nd hardest difficulty made each battle a legit chore, talking 5-7 minute fights(At least for me). Not each boss fight, each regular fight. It made the game go progressively go slow in an RPG that isn't too necessary in doing so. I felt like there wasn't a right difficulty in this game in what was otherwise a more than solid entry. The game length is relatively short for this type of game, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it but given the game isn't a full charged release. The inability to do any kind of grinding sort of is a bad decision where if you are stuck on a boss especially at a higher difficulty, makes it much more tedious to have to repeat the same fight again and again. I tried the 2nd highest difficulty for this game and the game became too much of a chore by say Chapter 3 with the fights but the greatest thing this game provided was the ability to switch difficulty at any point, which was a god send of a decision by whoever.

The art design and gameplay is a real throwback to games ala Phantasy Star and Chrono Trigger and it is easy to see the influence behind these games. Some characters feel like they are just there and it would have been nice even if the game had fleshed out some of the background stories of said characters even if it was done by readable bios because it felt like you are forced upon a character for a few fights, wham bam, thank you and good night and they are forever in your party. Each character has their own traits though some characters share similar enough traits with one another. The music is very good and it does indeed fit the narrative of each scene in the story and the story is pretty simple but simple enough to follow and isn't too convoluted enough to lose track of things, which is always appreciated.

Recommended? Yay or Nay?

I think you should go for it, the game is somewhat bare bones with strategies and the two big glares I had with the game with the game not having a proper difficulty for what I was looking for and the inability to grind to make up for the lack of know all of picking right decision after right decision in a tough battle are drawbacks in what was otherwise a solid throwback JRPG style of game. There's better going for this game like the art work, music, story to not give it a shot, especially if an RPG fan. The game isn't very deep and there's very minimal optional content in this game though the optional bosses are pretty difficult as one would expect so there's some content to do before going to the ”No return" section of the end of the game. I think for the 15 or so hours you'll have on a run of this game that you'll experience more good than bad, especially if you happen to have a knack for these style of games.

OP

Game 22: IS Defense (PC) 26/07/17 - 26/07/17 4.5 Hours
A fun on-rails shooter to kill time. There are only 3 levels and you have to kill enough certain things to progress onto the next level and there's plenty of upgrades to choose from. It does get repetitive at the end.

Game 23: Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (PC) 29/07/17 - 06/08/17 11 Hours
First time playing a local co-op game with somebody and I had fun while also frustrated with the person I was playing with as they have hardly any experience playing video games in general. I felt the game was pretty fun with play with another and I'm hoping to find more local co-op games like it in the near future.

Game 24: Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight (PC) 09/08/17 - 14/08/17 3.9 Hours
I made the mistake of playing this on Easy mode because I wasn't sure I wanted to spend so much time on it but with deep regrets, as you start off the game with a fully upgraded health bar and other very helpful accessories. I just continued on with my game and completed it in a short amount of time. I've played the previous Momodora games and I look forward to the next one.

Game 25: Seraph (PC) 20/08/17 - 23/08/17 6.7 Hours
This was an interesting game, you basically jump around doing acrobatic moves to avoid your enemies while shooting at them with an auto-aim gun. The game also has artificial difficulty built into the game for those doing too well. There's also an upgrade and a deep crafting system involved. It is a solid game but however, the game does get repetitive with the same enemies and levels as they're supposed to be generated and the objectives don't change much as you progress through the game.

Gabriel Knight 2 took the jump into FMV territory which had become a fad of sorts during that era. Some will say that the cutscenes are cheesy but there are some decently acted scenes throughout the game.
There aren't many puzzles in the game as it mainly involves interacting with items, objects and people in order to progress.
The FMV scenes can be skipped but as they make the bulk of the game's plot, they can be irksome for some who are good at sight reading and can much faster read a dialog scene then click to go to the next dialog to wade faster during a conversation.

All in all I liked the story but it felt pretty slow due to the FMV cutscenes.

Main post



27 | Mad Max | PC
Time: 30 hours
Score: 5/10

Mad Max checks too many boxes on the list of open world diseases. Collectibles and clearing icons on a map are the main activity of the game. Luckily, the driving and car upgrade mechanic is still fun and traversing the world is a real pleasure. Nevertheless,
clearing camp after camp and hunting scarecrows and snipers quickly turns into a very dull list of chores. The combat, while an interesting take on Batman's rhythmic system, can't save the gameplay loop. The main quest itself is equally dull. Aside from Chumbucket there aren't really any memorable or likeable characters. In the end it's just another excuse for more driving and fighting.

Aside from one of the end sections, which had a really lame gameplay shift, it was a charming and simple PnC game. I do have a few other gripes about it but otherwise it is a lovely game, and my fav. from the developer.

Click to expand...

IMHO Sonic 1 is a solid platformer with its 3DS or Taxman versions being the definite ver. of the game.
The music is great, the colors are lovely and it has some nice 16-bit era platforming challenges. Memorizing the proper path to take in the later levels makes navigating them easier, esp. in Labyrnith.

OP

AUGUST

29.
Playstation 4

Now, everyone seems to have the opinion that Arkham Knight is the worst of the trilogy, but after playing this through again, on Knightmare difficulty no less, I have to disagree. The fighting is slick, there are so many moves and equipment to use. I actually enjoyed the tank sequences and I enjoyed Joker's involvement. There are so many little nuances that often go missed, like the thugs random nattering around Gotham or Joker's many quips and musings. The side missions are by far the best, though Riddler can go suck, I'm not interested.
I've literally spent the month playing this for a second time round, and would definitely recommend it
9/10

Jawmuncher

Resident Evil Revelations 2

Not as outright mad as the first game, but really liked it overall. got the bad ending so went through twice... I'd fallen out of love with Resi I think, glad to be brought back. I'm actually considering playing 6.

The Sexy Brutale up next.

43: Castle In The Darkness (PC) / 6.29.17 / 11.5 hours / 100%, All achievements
CitD is a very well designed side-scrolling action adventure filled with secrets, I'd call it one part SotN-style Castlevania and one part NES Castlevania. It's challenging but highly rewarding, and I especially like the simplicity of the stats and the instantly noticeable upgrades with swords, armor, etc.. It gets a little too heavy on the tedium when backtracking, especially considering there isn't much in the way of movement upgrades, no in-game map, and a sparse amount of warp points, but 100% was still well worth the satisfaction.

44: RIVE (PC) / 7.1.17 / 3 hours / Hard
A polished side-scrolling twin stick shooter/platformer with good controls and a great soundtrack. Nothing really remarkable about it though, and the repetitive quips and low amount of enemy and environmental variety took its toll on me.

45: LUFTRAUSERS (PC) / 7.7.17 / 5.5 hours / Max level, unlocked SMFT
Another arcadey hit from Vlambeer, this time a shump with a cool give and take mechanic where you stop shooting to heal. The ability to customize ships so they can become a wrecking ball to smash enemies up close, or infinitely dolphin your way in and out of the water, is really neat. My main issue is that once you get the hang of things, only a handful of ship parts feel like they can get you a prominent score.

46: Super Mario Maker (Wii U) / 7.9.17 / 13 hours
Wanted to return once more to this as I'll probably won't be playing my Wii U much after this year. Nothing much more to add to my thoughts back in 2015, it's awesome and one of the most significant pieces of software Nintendo has ever put out. I got to experience the new stuff like the checkpoints and red coins this time around, which are great additions.

47. Defunct (PC) / 7.18.17 / 2.5 hours / 2 playthroughs, all collectibles, extra levels
Defunct is all about going fast, which is accomplished by an interesting movement and momentum system. The closest thing it reminds me of is Tribes, where you use hills and slopes to gain speed, which can get you massive distance and jump height. It's pretty fun, but also very short and forgettable.

48. The Sexy Brutale (PC) / 7.20.17 / 7 hours / All collectibles and achievements
If I had to make an analogy for The Sexy Brutale, it's a game that fires on all cylinders, but with a weak combustion engine. The story, characters, lore, gameplay, and mansion design are all fairly strong at their core, and the way they come together is nothing short of brilliant. But the unique and interesting groundhog day gameplay loop/puzzle solving doesn't evolve much across the game length and it feels a bit shallow with a lot of missed potential. The intricate, wonderfully detailed mansion design is barely utilized for its inner-connectivity and nonlinearity, and when it is it can be a chore. Conceptually the ending is amazing and was stuck in my head long after the game ended, but in the moment I thought it was drawn out, a bit heavy-handed, and kind of a pacing-killer.

At the end of the day, I liked Sexy Brutale and it certainly made an impression on me, but I can't help feeling disappointed because I wanted to love it. It all feels like missed potential and a slight misstep from just completely blowing me away, and I couldn't stop thinking of ways it could be better. Still, I'd recommend it to anyone, I think it's a real gem of a game despite the issues I had.

49. The End is Nigh (PC) / 7.22.17 / 32 hours / 100(+42)%, a couple speed runs
Another fine platformer from Edmund McMillen. Excellent level design from start to finish, sublime controls, great soundtrack, and secrets and collectibles that provide that extra challenge. Almost certainly going to end up on my GotY list at the end of the year. I will say I do think there were too few portals to ease backtracking, and I don't think the interconnected world design was quite up to snuff (a lot of little points of no return, and most of the game is linear left to right).

50. Pyre (PC) / 7.27.17 / 19 hours / Hard difficulty, some versus matches
After experiencing some disappointment with Transistor, Supergiant reeled me back in with Pyre. I was wholly invested in the characters and story from beginning to end, and I thought the core gameplay/combat was very fun. The way your choices transform the outcome of the game feels both weighty and organic, and it manages to intertwine gameplay and story in a way few other games do. There are still some niggling issues I have when it comes to the AI, base difficulty level and difficulty curve, pacing, etc., but I still really enjoyed the ride.

51. Kingsway (PC) / 7.28.17 / 16 hours / beat 3 different endings
Half fictional operating system, half loot-based WRPG. The gimmick is very, very cool, and the way it interplays with typical RPG and rouge mechanics is quite clever. I will say the novelty wears off pretty quickly, and it doesn't really evolve much or get any crazier than what's shown in the trailer. You'll probably see about 90% of what the game has to offer on your first win, as there isn't a ton of variety and the procedural generation is very basic. It's also probably one of the easiest rogue-like/lite/permadeath games I've ever played, and I found myself accidentally over-leveling and feeling burnt out by the end of each run.

What kept me coming back for a couple more runs though was how surprisingly addicting the loot game is; equipment can drastically make your character more powerful and you will find yourself speccing differently so you can wield a certain weapon. The limited spell slots where you can replace your basic attack or even the escape function is actually a great idea, and overall I liked how different characters/builds could be across multiple playthroughs. I don't see myself coming back to it, but it's a really neat game.

52. HITMAN (PC) / 8.1.17 / 80 hours (in 2017, ~200 overall) / All achievements, All ET and Normal mode unlocks
Debated putting this here considering I've been playing it on and off after basically beating it at the beginning of the year. With the conclusion of the last ET of the season, however, I don't see myself playing much more, and even if I do, I think it's a fitting game to put as my 52nd. I'm actually not going to talk about it too much though because I already have on here; whether it be in the OT, recommending to others in miscellaneous threads, or writing paragraphs about it for its #2 spot on my 2016 GotY list. It's simply one of the most fun sandbox games I've ever played, and it practically re-defined replayability for me. Although IO-I took a hit, it sounds like season 2 is still well in the works and I can't wait to see what they do.

And done with my 52. I'll continue to keep track of what I'm playing on here but I probably won't write as much.

Main Post

OP

24.Oxenfree - 5 - I was in the mood for another short story centered game and god damn this hit the spot. Gameway was simple but the story was very engaging, greatly written and the voice acting was on point. Spooked me out a few times too.

26. Guacamelee - 5 - I loved this game way more than I thought I would and I plowed thru it over a weekend. The game has so much going for it. Handles well, story is simple and cheesy but still entertaining. Combat was well done too.

27. Wolfenstein: New Order - 4- With my last shooter this one started rough for me. I kept running balls first in and well...that doesn't work. Once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed. Story was good even with BJ being a pretty stereotypical action movie star it worked for the narrative and had me engaged.

58. Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (9 hours)
It's fun, but you'd think that after nine years of these Lego games (ignoring the three years since this game's release), Traveller's Tales would have refined the controls more than they have.

Full list to date.

Can't even find my original post, may have even deleted it. Here's the list fresh again, hoping to complete!

1 - Mafia 3.
Played through the story missions, felt like I was spinning my wheels in the end so didn’t do a single side mission I think. Cool story, serious looker.

2 - Sniper Elite 4
Loved the 3rd game, the 4th was more of the same. A bit more of a story here, the little mission hubs were a welcome change.

(During this time I picked up and dropped Dead Rising and Final Fantasy Type - 0)

3 - For Honour
Came and went. Cool idea.

4 - Killzone Shadowfall
Prep for the upcoming Horizon, I played through this. Solid game, some fun moments, super cool visuals. Gets a lot of hate, I guess a launch FPS gets heat.

5 - Resident Evil 7
Scary as hell.

6 - Titanfall 2
Beat the campaign in 2 single sittings, very cool experience. Another 5 hours would’ve made it a serious contender for GOTY.

7 - Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
A huge step up from the last DLC, I want more of this.

8 - Alien: Isolation
Very tense, very long.

9 - Persona 5
Satisfying, long, and hard fought. Persona games are always bittersweet to complete.

10 -Crash Bandicoot
Part of the Remake trilogy, stiff as nails.

11 - Crash Bandicoot 2: Wrath of Cortex
Much softer, a ton of fun.

12 - Crash Bandicoot: Warped
A little too reliant on the gimmicks for my taste, but still super fun.

13 - Telltales: Batman
I played each episode between another game to simulate the release, Telltale games have a great spot every now and then.

14 - Horizon: Zero Dawn
GOTY

15 - Hitman
Spaced these episodes out between games like the Telltale Games, very slick experience.

16 - Dark Souls
The first one, never finished it way back when!

17 - Soldier-X 2: Final Prototype
Why do shmups always have super weird stories?

18 - SSX
The recent one, good for some fun. I miss tricky.

19 - Mickey Mouse Castle of Illusion (Megadrive Version)
A little rough around the edges compared to memory.

20 - Mickey Mouse Caste of Illusion (Remake)
A very nice surprise, I was addicted to this.

21 - Sonic Mania
GOTY #2

22 - Resident Evil Zero
Never played it way back, loved every second of this. Even if I get too scared to play.

23 - Lara Croft GO
A great palette cleanser, I need Deus Ex GO on PS4 asap.

24 - Jak and Dexter
The PS2 on PS4 version, still super fun.


I realize I still have more that half to go, hopefully I can catch up. I have quite a few games unfinished over the years, not to mention the influx of upcoming games this fall. Heres hoping. Last year I logged 21 games from Sept to Jan, so I still have a chance, after failing 2016.

Game #29 - Shovel Knight - Plague Of Shadows - 8 Hours



Completition Date: 4.8.2017
Platform: PC (Steam)
Rating: 9 / 10

This superb platformer was even better than its predecessor. It has phantastic gameplay, a great soundtrack and some really nice 8-bit graphics.
Total recommendation.


Game #30 - Q.U.B.E. - Directors Cut - 4,5 Hours



Completition Date: 26.8.2017
Platform: PC (Steam)
Rating: 7 / 10

A fun little puzzle game similar to Portal, but with a few new twists.

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35. Cinders - 7 hours
Nice visual novel with 4 endings including multiply different end conditions variations. Story is another cinderella fairy tale variation, nothing really phenomenal but good enough and there is a lot choices to make. Have offline achievements and skip mode to quickly do new walkthroughs and see all endings.

Although overall slow and it's early PS2-like visuals stand out like a sore thumb, it is a decent murder mystery PnC game.
I did feel it dragged by the end but I'd recommend it for fans of the genre.

Original post


26. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4, 2017) - 10:34
Completed on Moderate difficulty.

In pre-release interviews about the game, Naughty Dog mentioned that Uncharted 4's DLC-expansion-turned-standalone-title Uncharted: The Last Legacy would have a length roughly similar to the original game in the franchise. But The Lost Legacy resembles the first Uncharted in more than a few ways. It's a game about two partners in adventure getting to know each other; it largely takes place in one lush, expansive environment; and it arrives without the weight of expectation that shaped the last few titles starring Nathan Drake. If Uncharted 4 is the Uncharted we needed, a game that could bring Drake's story to a graceful and fitting end, The Lost Legacy is the Uncharted we really wanted: the sights are breathtaking, the action is intense, and the leads are enjoyable to be around.

The worst thing about this Uncharted offshoot is that it doesn't really do anything new to further the formula. You'll recognize a lot of the mechanics from Uncharted 4, and the combat cycle is very similar: hide in the bushes and try to whack a bunch of dudes without being noticed, and then shoot your way out if things go south. Like 4, The Lost Legacy rarely requires that you shoot a gun, if you're good at sneaking about, and if you didn't like that part of Nathan Drake's final adventure, you're not going to like this either. Personally, I thought it was great, though it can make the pace of large encounters glacial at times.

Let's talk about Chloe Frazer for a second, though. The Lost Legacy is proof that she can carry the torch of the franchise; in a lot of ways she's more likeable than even Drake. Surprisingly, she also provides some emotional heft, not something you'd expect from a character whose previous catchphrase was "you're gonna miss this ass." Her motivations are believable and natural throughout the game, which is no mean feat given how some of those motivations flirt with the same dangerous territory as Rise of the Tomb Raider's daddy issues. Naughty Dog has clearly opened the door for more Chloe adventures in the future. If they materialize, I'd be totally on board.

Freed from the crushing weight of maintaining and evolving Drake's web of relationships, The Lost Legacy gets to start with as clean a slate as you can get when relying on previously established characters. Chloe and Nadine are people we've met before, but have never gotten to know as well as we do here, and though the nature of their relationship is different between the one Drake and Elena shared in the first Uncharted, it drives the plot in similar ways. But also, because not every moment is imbued with layers of meaning created by previous games in the series, it means The Lost Legacy can afford to be a little more lighthearted and freewheeling in general. Not to mention that the lack of flashback segments intended to fill in people's backstories means The Lost Legacy is also paced better than the last two Uncharted games.

Despite not breaking any new ground, The Lost Legacy shows there's still plenty of life left in the franchise. If we're lucky, this could become the launching pad for a new adventurer, rather than the coda to the story of an old one.

Rise of the Argonauts (PC)
Deadlight, (PC)
The Dark Eye: Demonicon (PC)
The Elder Scrolls III: Morowind - GOTY Edition (PC)
Refunct (PC)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Knights of the Nine (PS3)
Torment: Tides of Numenera (PC)
Mars: War Logs (PC)
Dirt 3 Complete Edition (PC)
The Dwarf Run (PC)
Dragon's Crown (PS3)
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late (PS3)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Shivering Isles (PS3)
Hero of the Kingdom (PC)
8 Bit Bayonetta (PC)
Digital Devil Saga (PS2)
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (PC)
The Detail (PC)
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Baal (PC)
The Temple of Elemental Evil (PC)
Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom (PS3)
Wild ARMS XF (PSP)
Fallout 4 (PC)
Mind Sphere (PC)
Suikoden V (PS2)
Shadow Hearts: From the New World (PS2)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2)
Gabriel Knight: Sins Of The Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition (PC)
Agatha Christie - The ABC Murders (PC)
Grandia (PS1)
CAYNE (PC)
Deadly Sin 2 (PC)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - GOTY Edition (PC)
2000:1: A Space Felony (PC)
Hexcells (PC)
Game of Thrones RPG (PC)
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night (PS1)
Beyond Good & Evil (PC)
侠客风云传(Tale of Wuxia) (PC)
Jade Empire (PC)
Adventures of Mana (PSV)
Anachronox (PC)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 (PC)
FATE (PC)
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (PC)
WORLD END ECONOMiCA episode.01 (PC)
STREET FIGHTER x TEEKEN (PSV)
Batman: The Telltale Series (PC)
ELEX (PC)
Cat Girl Without Salad (PC)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Gothic (PC)
MDK (PC)

PC: 39
PS1: 2
PS2: 4
PS3: 5
PSP: 1
PSV: 2
Overall: 53

original post

Game 30: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (DS replay) - 5 hours;

It's still amazing how fun the series' battle system still is when translated into stylus gameplay.



Game 31: White Day (PS4) - 8 hours;

This game certainly isn't lacking in atmosphere or tension. It kind of ends on a whimper, yet the road up until the end was an often very unnerving supernatural horror adventure. Being from 2001 some of the hide & seek gameplay isn't as completely refined as other games, but the atmosphere holds up better than certain modern counterparts. I think puzzle solving and exploration are crucial for survival horror to feel meaningful and there's some decent enough examples of both in here. However, this game can be a little too cryptic. In fact, I think that anyone who plays this is going to need a guide at some point, which is not something I'm particularly fond of.

Game 43
The 3rd Birthday
PSP
Third game in the Parasite Eve franchise. It was fun, but disappointing and went way out of its way to try and be a mindfuck. So much of it wasnt spelled out clearly and findingout you arent really Aya was kind of disappointing.

Game 44
Yakuza 5
PS3
Working my way through the Yakuza franchise still. Finished 5 just in time for Kiwami. I liked 5 a lot. Looking forward to 6 next year, and I wish I could stick with all of these characters. Huge improvement over 4. Looking forward to 6 and Kiwami. Gonna tackle Dead Souls later as well but not as invested in that of course.

Game 45
Ys II
TurboDuo
Finished Ys II as well. Holds up so great, love the 80s anime aesthetic over the remakes even if they are more technically sound.

Original post


27. Gravity Rush 2: Another Story - The Ark of Time (PS4, 2017) - 2:11
Completed on Normal difficulty.

Gravity Rush 2 is one of my favourite games of the year so far, but it's not without its issues. Combat continues to be a sticking point for the franchise, especially aerial targeting. The feeling of flight and all the other joyous elements of the game overcome these problems, but they remain frustrating.

Unfortunately, Raven's two-hour DLC episode, offered to players for free as an apology for the game's late launch (which I'm sure almost no one remembers now), suffers disproportionately. Its highly linear and focused on combat, which means you run up against the uglier parts of Gravity Rush more often than in the main game. The pacing also feels off; a substantial portion of the two-hour experience consists largely of walking around an abstract level searching for blue orbs. You don't have access to your gravity powers (a sin the main game also committed frequently), and your reward for getting each blue orb is a piece of dialogue most of the time.

Considering that it's free DLC, it's hard to complain about a new episode, especially one that fills in one or two blanks in Raven's backstory. But other than the story implications (which frankly are confusing in and of themselves), this isn't a particularly essential part of the Gravity Rush canon.

I just saw this thread recently so I doubt I'll beat 52 games, but I started keeping this log of games I beat around February to encourage myself to play my backlog and revisit games I haven't played in a while. I'm not including games I have on-hold or dropped.
Games with a '*' mean that I've beaten them before.

1: Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - Date = January; Difficulty = New Mode; Rating = 8/10

i haven't play any of the other donkey kong games sadly. just got this game a few years ago because i had some extra cash and said fuck it. finally got around to playing it and had a lot of fun. my only complaint is that the controls felt finicky but that was probably because you have to use the analog and can't use the d-pad.

2: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - Date = Feb. 9; Difficulty = Hard; Rating = 7/10

very fun western shooter. you play as a bounty hunter out for revenge. Gameplay isn't too amazing and all the enemies pretty much act the same except for a few exceptions. IMO this game was all about the story. there's also an arcade mode where you try to beat a level as fast as you can while trying to combo as many kills as you can to score points and a duel mode which is pretty much a boss rush mode as far as i can tell, but i didn't really enjoy either one i just stuck with the story. will probably return to beat this game one more time because you have to beat the game once to unlock the hardest difficulty.

3: *Call of Duty: United Offensive - Date = Feb. 19; Difficulty = Hardened; Rating = 7/10

Used to play this game a lot as a kid and it hasn't really aged too well. If not for the nostalgia factor i probably would rate this lower but since it holds a place in my heart I feel like being generous.

4: The Stanley Parable - Date = Feb. 20; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 8/10

Walking Simulator. Can't really see myself enjoying this game with any other narrator. Funny a majority of the time but there are a few endings that are a bit dark. This isn't really a game to beat as it is a game to experience. I don't mean to sound like I'm full of crap but I just cant think of any other way to describe a walking simulator.

5: Rayman Origins - Date = Feb. 25; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 8/10

very fun 2D platformer. i really love the art style and the music. gameplay can feel repetitive at times especially after you travel to the first five worlds it then unlocks another world for the first four that you played. i didnt really enjoy too many of the boss fights either or the levels that you have to chase the chests for the red teeth. i did like the levels where you rode the mosquito a lot. i still need to collect one more red tooth so i havent played what i assume is a secret world.

6: The Spongebob Squarepants Movie - Date = Feb. 28; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 5/10

i played this game as a kid but i never beat it because you have to collect a certain amount of items to continue and i didnt want to do it as a kid. i remember liking it as a kid but now it just feels boring. the hardest part of the game are the challenges throughout levels and none of them are really that fun but it was still nice to go back and play this and now that i beat it i doubt ill ever play this again. kind of scared to play battle for bikini bottom because i remember loving that game but i think these were the developers that made that game as well but who knows maybe they just rushed this game to have it come out around the same time as the movie.

7: Dark Souls 3: Ashes of Ariandel - Date = Mar. 1; Difficulty = NG+; Rating = 7/10

Played with a friend. We had a few laughs and we beat the dlc pretty quickly but Dark Souls is pretty easy when you play co-op. As usual the story is pretty vague and I have no idea what the fuck happened but the final boss seemed like it would be fun to solo so im gonna have to beat the dlc alone one day.

8: Tomb Raider (2013) - Date = Mar. 3; Difficulty = Hard; Rating = 8/10

didn't expect to enjoy this game as much as i did. i honestly thought i would just get bored and drop it but i had fun killing, finding collectibles, and upgrading my weapons. story wasn't too bad either, not great but not bad. hard difficulty wasn't hard either. i died in a few spots but i never got stuck or frustrated. gonna have to pick up rise of the tomb raider when it goes on sale (and when I have money).

9: *Mass Effect - Date = Mar. 15; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 8/10

before replaying this game if you would have asked me to rate this game i would have gave it a 9/10 but after replaying it i realized it's not as great as i first thought. side missions are ok but all the outposts and mines and whatever else you have while exploring planets have the same layout. exploring worlds is often boring because there are POI on the map and nothing in between and some of the POIs are just dog tags or surveying minerals/artifacts and that's it. the best missions are obviously the main story missions but there aren't many. in fact i think you can beat this game pretty fast if you didn't explore worlds or bothered going through gear. which reminds me customization is great. you can choose your weapons, armor, grenade type, and other equipment for you and your squadmates. there are also weapons mods and armor mods that can increase accuracy, damage, health, shields, and a bunch of other things. i remembered loving mass effect 2 but who knows maybe ill think differently after replaying it again as well. although i do remember enjoying mass effect 2 more than 1.

10: *Mass Effect 2 - Date = Mar. 24; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 8/10

replaying mass effect 1 and 2 made me realize i enjoy both of them about the same. mission wise i feel me1 story is better and the missions feel more important. although me2 i think does a great job giving your squad members more background than they did in me1 and i care more about all of them. movement in me2 is better but they really cut back customization.
there are a few other things but these stuck out the most and both are enjoyable but both suffer from flaws. nothing is perfect after all. oh yeah, apparently technology went backwards or something because in me1 you had infinite ammo but your gun would overheat and you would have to wait for it to cool down but in this game suddenly there's ammo ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

11: Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City - Date = Mar. 29; Difficulty = NG+; Rating = 9/10

Played with the same friend that I played Ashes of Ariandel with. A lot more fun than the first dlc too. Pretty good last bit of content for dark souls. kind of sad but i think overall it's the best thing for the series and Im sure From will return to this one day. if not the souls series at the very least a spiritual successor (like what dark souls was to demon souls). there was a total of four bosses in this dlc and the first and the last were the best imo. also some cool new weapons as well.

12: Mass Effect 3 - Date = Apr. 4; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 7/10

I don't really have a whole lot to say. I enjoyed the game but not as much as the first or second. I didn't mind the endings, but I get why people were upset initially because the ending cutscene doesn't really show much.

13: Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior - Date = May 3; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = lol/10

My friend and i got 99%, what the FUCK did we miss?!

14: DooM - Date = May 15; Difficulty = Hurt Me Plenty; Rating = 8/10

i really enjoyed this. i think it says something that this game could hold my attention but the 2016 doom couldn't. i just got bored with the new doom and i beat the tutorial level and the first level and didnt feel like continuing. ill probably try it again but yeah. still have to beat the fourth episode of this though.

15: Mass Effect: Andromeda - Date = July 6; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 6/10

I feel like this is the Fallout 4 of the Mass Effect games. I like the gameplay but the story and characters are pretty meh. The biggest improvement is the movement it just feels a lot better than the previous games, and I also like that when you are near cover your character just kneels down you don't have to press a button. I'm still indifferent that there are no classes and you can level any powers you want. I mean it's kind of cool but I don't know I still wish there were classes. I hate the fact that they got rid of paragon and renegade. Now your options are being caring/funny/logical/professional. Load times are kind of a problem too. Traveling to different systems then landing and then leaving the planet, and if you accidentally went to the wrong place then more load times with no way to skip the landing and take off screens(I cant remember if this was a problem in the original games or if I just didn't notice it). This is especially annoying on some side quests where you go to one planet to do one thing that takes like 2 minutes and then you have to leave to another planet. I like the research and development aspect of the game as well as the AVP perks that deliver credits, materials, and other goodies about once every 40 minutes. Makes it less of a hassle to go find things yourself. Lastly, from what I understand this game was developed by Bioware's B-team (I could be wrong) and overall this isn't a terrible game by any means. It just had too much to live up to due to the originals. I think anyone who enjoyed Mass Effect 3 (the worse of the original trilogy imo) will find some enjoyment in this game. After all it's still Mass Effect, just without all the charm of interesting characters

Also "My face hurts."

16: DOOM 4 - Date = July 13; Difficulty = Hurt Me Plenty; Rating = 8/10

great game. glad i came back to this. didn't really understand all the hype for this game and whether i wanted to or not i expected to be blown away and when i first played the first and second mission i wasn't. but it's great, i even went and got all the campaign achievements except beating the first level on the hardest difficultly. holy shit is that hard.

17: Emily is Away - Date = July 24; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = fuckyou/10

ay yo, fuck emily. bitch you're the one who wanted to bring alcohol and kick it. fuck you mean things are still weird between us, bitch we slept together 2 years ago. fuck you, little sensitive ass bitch. (it's like a 5/10, that's my honest opinion. beat it once and uninstalled, don't really got a lot to say.)

18: Darksiders - Date = Aug. 9; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 5/10

boring game. reminded me too much of god of war and the whole time i was thinking that id rather play that. the combat is so boring that im actually curious if i go back and play the god of war games would i find those boring too. Normal difficulty was easy and i thought about changing the difficulty to the hardest but i never did. the puzzles were whatever too. the story has an interesting premise but is poorly executed IMO. none of the characters are interesting and the voice acting isn't that good. i also dont like the art style, it reminds me of World of Warcraft and i never liked the art style for WoW either. ill probably still give darksiders 2 a shot because from what ive heard the combat is better in darksiders 2 but the story is worse, but i dont really care because like i said earlier the story wasnt good in darksiders 1 either. i looked up reviews/afterthoughts and this one person wrote "darksiders 1 is the very definitions of a 5/10" and i agree with them.

19: Spec Ops: The Line - Date = Aug. 11; Difficulty = Combat Op; Rating = 5/10

The gameplay is pretty boring, but all the praise this game gets is for the story. The story isn't that great either in all honestly but I was interested enough to play through the game. I also recommend playing this game on the easiest difficulty because you won't really get any satisfaction playing through game. All the enemies are boring, your squad mates are stupid (even commanding them to kill an enemy takes too long, you're better off killing them yourself), and the only enjoyment I got is that occasionally when you get a headshot the enemy's head will explode. Obviously people who like this game and achievement hunters will mostly likely go through the hardest difficulties which is understandable, but if this is your first play through then yeah I would recommend playing on the easiest difficulty just to see if you enjoyed the story before you decide to kick it up a notch. I played on Combat Op (normal difficulty) myself and had trouble in about 3-4 areas and each time I thought "I can't believe I'm going through this just to see how this game ends." That's about all I have to say for the gameplay, so on to the story.

I thought the story was very intriguing the way it starts out. Here's a quick rundown of who you are and why you're there. Sandstorms hit Dubai hard and no one (or hardly anyone) was able to evacuate. Colonel John Konrad is commander of the 33rd Battalion U.S. Army, and he volunteers the 33rd to stay behind and help the people of Dubai (defying orders, if I'm not mistaken). Months later a radio message is received from Dubai saying, "This is Colonel John Konrad, United States Army. Attempted evacuation of Dubai ended in complete failure. Death toll: too many.”
In response the U.S. decides to send a three-man squad on a recon mission (that's you and your squad mates, you're also from Delta Force). And now you're playing!

I won't go into too much of the story, but one of the selling points of this game is to "challenge the player's morality". Some of these decisions were the easiest choices of my life. One of the choices is you have to shoot one of two men who are guilty of committing crimes. One man's crime is stealing water (which is a pretty big deal) for his family. The other man's crime (who is a soldier) is guilty of killing the man's family for stealing water. Hmmmmm, I wonder who I'm going to shoot the guy who was trying to help his family and decided to steal water from assholes or the guy who massacred innocent people who didn't do anything (You might be able to shoot neither, but the way you get into this situation made me think that if I didn't I was just going to get a death screen). I also want to point out that your choices do not matter in this game. You can do whatever and it won't have an affect on the ending. Instead your choices during last mission will determine which ending you get. The twist at the end pissed me off too. I was so disappointed that they build up this villain and it just amounts to nothing. Which is sad because I thought the main antagonist was the most interesting character. You and your squad are pretty boring. I really wanted to like this game but I didn't.

20: Life Goes On - Date = Aug. 21; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 7/10

fun 2D puzzle/platformer. you also die a lot but that's okay because you're suppose to. odd pricing too, $13 on steam. i'd recommend waiting for a sale because the game is pretty short.

21: Singularity - Date = Aug. 30; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 6/10

Average gameplay and an okay story. Heavily inspired by Half-Life and Bioshock, so if you enjoyed those games you might enjoy this game as well. Probably won't return to this game.

22: Grim Dawn - Date = Sept. 4; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 7/10

My first isometric aRPG (well first one where I beat the story). I'm definitely going to play more with different classes and try online with people. I got a little bored near the end of the game but then I started playing with a melee weapon instead of a gun and I had fun again.

23: *Wolfenstein: The New Order - Date = Sept. 8; Difficulty = Bring Em On; Rating = 6/10

I really want to like this game because I really like the setting. However, the gameplay is just kind of 'eh' for me, and all the enemy types are pretty uninteresting. I don't really like any of the characters either, except maybe the black guy who plays guitar. That one scene where he gets B.J. high is awesome. I hope the New Colossus is better but I'm definitely picking it up on a sale.

24: Raymand Legends - Date = Sept. 12; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 9/10

I love this game. Good improvement from Origins. I love the art style and the gameplay is so fun. I wish you could play online co-op with someone, but sadly there's only local co-op. I'm sure this will become one my favorite video games of all time. Definitely one of my top games I played this year.

25: Killing Floor 2 - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 8/10

I haven't played this game in a while, but I've easily put more than 30 hours this year so far. Good co-op zombie survival game. Even better with friends.

26: Planetside 2 - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 7/10

I have a love/hate relationship with this game. My enjoyment relies heavily if I'm in a full platoon and if we have a good leader. Otherwise I'm just playing alone and dying a lot. Have put 40+ hours this year so far.

27: Red Orchestra 2 - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 9/10

I wish I had a gaming PC when this game came out. So much fun. Put 30 hours this year so far.

28: Rising Storm 2 - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 9/10

So I played Red Orchestra 2 a while back and wasn't too crazy about it. Then I heard about the beta for Rising Storm 2 and decided to give it a shot, and I'm so glad I did. Whatever didn't click in RO2 clicked in the beta, and when the beta ended I went back to play RO2 and I loved it too. They have similarities but also play very differently. However, this game needs to be worked on. Shit load of bugs and a lack of content. I know I gave this game a 9 but at the same time I don't recommend this game to anyone unless I know 100% that they're going to enjoy it because the price isn't it worth it in its current state. I have put over 200 hours in this game since it released in May, and I haven't played since August.

29: Trackmania 2: Stadium - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 9/10

Do you have a game where you just listen to music/podcasts/audiobooks? Well this is my game for that. I have put over 40 hours this year so far.

30: Blackwake - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 7/10

I haven't played this game since March. I'm following Blackwake on steam and the devs seem to be consistent on updating which is a good sign. That being said the game still needs work. I hope the devs make this a great game. They definitely seem passionate. I put in around 30 hours.

31: Overwatch - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 7/10

the game is whatever, but the porn is fantastic.

32: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - Date = N/A; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 8/10

I don't know why I keep coming back to this game. I play this game for like two months then stop for a while and then come right back. It's an endless cycle. I hate this game, but I obviously enjoy it. Like 30 hours this year so far.

33: Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds - Date = Sept. 18; Difficulty = Normal; Rating = 7/10

an enjoyable beat me up. i beat the story within two and a half hours. However, there's a lot of replayability such as leveling characters (there's four to start with, two dlc characters, and a few characters you can unlock), an arcade mode, and PvP.

34: Song of the Deep - Date = Sept. 21; Difficulty = Intermediate; Rating = 6/10

an ok game. the gameplay is very tedious and you see all the enemies very early on in the game. the only difference is that they get stronger later on and they are different colors than their weaker counter parts.

35: Half-Life: Opposing Force - Date = Sept. 24; Difficulty = Medium; Rating = 7/10

i consider this a must play for any half-life fan (although, i'm sure they've all played this already). you get to go through black mesa as a soldier. i'd honestly love a sequel to this game to see more of your character's story but we haven't even got half life 3 so... yeah.

36: Back to Bed - Date = Sept. 25; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 5/10

not a bad game but super short. it's a puzzle game where you guide a sleepwalker to his bed. there are two chapters with 15 levels each. after you beat them you unlock two more chapters that are 'Nightmare' difficulty, but as far as i can tell the only new feature is that now you have to get a key before you guide the dude to his bed.

37: Half-Life: C.A.G.E.D. - Date = Sept. 26; Difficulty = Medium; Rating = 6/10

After finishing Opposing Force I was in the mood for some more Half-Life. I saw this Half-Life mod in the recommended section and I figured I'd give it a whirl. I enjoyed it but it was way too short. It didn't even take an hour to complete. I hope the modders keep at it and eventually make their own games.

38: Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony - Date = Oct. 1; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 6/10

Finally got around to beating the second dlc for GTA IV. Both were pretty boring mission and story wise. The PC controls suck for flying as well and for some reason on the last mission it was nearly impossible to control the bike. It just kept spinning out on me.

39: Papers, Please - Date = Oct. 1; Difficulty = N/A; Rating = 6/10

I don't really have a whole lot to say about this game. I enjoyed the short amount of time I put into it, but I feel no need to go for the other endings.

40: Remember Me - Date = Oct. 3; Difficulty = Errorist Agent; Rating = 6/10

I have similar thoughts on this game as I do on Spec Ops: The Line. They both have mediocre gameplay and an intriguing story with a disappointing ending. Although, I do like Remember Me more.

I've been able to clear and start a decent amount of games in the past couple of months.

The most recent games I've finished or close to finishing are:


10. Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood MSQ[Complete]

11. Dragon Quest VII 3DS[Complete]
Such a long game but I've finally finished it and knocked down another mainline DQ game. I enjoyed the story and world but some parts tended to drag on a little bit. It's another charming DQ game with some interesting story bits.

12. Starcraft[Complete]
I had the urge to replay this since I haven't in years so I went through the entire story. I adore Starcrafts gameplay and had a blast going through the world and story again.

13. Fire Emblem: Echoes[Complete]
I love me some Fire Emblem and this game ended up being fantastic as expected. The splitting character stories and battles was interesting and fun while the story was decent enough especially compared to Fates. I really enjoyed the recruitable cast this time around which made picking who to use that more fun.

14. Suikoden[In Progess]

15. DMC [In Progress]
I'm really not a fan of the voice acting and personalities in this game but the music and gameplay is actually pretty fun. I'm only on chapter 5 so there's still a lot to go through but overall the game is okay. This one shouldn't take very long to complete.

There's a lot of games I have yet to finish but don't plan to focus on until this batch is cleared out which should be very soon. I'll update my original post with hours it took later on.

Original Post

OP.

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Game 36 - Dead Rising 4 (PC) - 1/5 - 7 hours, 9 minutes

Welp that's one way to make Dead Rising 3 look better than it actually is. (I say that as a mild fan of it to begin with.) This is absolutely one of the most disappointing games I've ever played.

Okay but more seriously, this doubles down on the bad elements of 3 while ruining things that were previously fine. 3 left a lot to be desired as a Dead Rising game at times but at least it was a solid time killer on its own. This has a whole lot of nothing and I probably wouldn't have finished if I wasn't bitter that I paid for it and then played too long to get a refund.

I'd say I'm hoping for a DR5 that will be a step in the right direction but knowing Capcom, they can keep it.

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Game 37 - Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix (PS4) - 3.5/5 - 35 hours, 30 minutes *

Not my first time finishing KHII but it was my first Final Mix playthrough. Game held up relatively well and I mostly liked it as much as I expected. It is a bit disappointing that the worlds are a lot less linear but I'd take it over some of the platforming mess that came with the original game.

I do want to complain a minute about the additional story boss that came with Final Mix.

Spoiler

Roxas

was surprisingly hard and a harsh difficulty spike in an otherwise easy game. My only game overs in the whole run were here and then once I got past this bit, the other bosses came easy. In concept it's a really cool boss but I'm not a fan of what it does to the game's difficulty balance/curve.

Can't wait to play KH3 hopefully sometime before I'm dead!

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Game 38 - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GBC) - 4/5 - 15 hours, 40 minutes

Yet another game I've played a lot over the years but never finished (until now). I was really pleased with this one and it's definitely my favorite out of this series run so far (going by release order). Moving even further away from the difficulty seen in the first two but I'm okay with that as I was mainly here for the exploration, atmosphere, and puzzles anyway.

Koholint has a lot of character and I'm definitely noticing a pattern in which my favorite Zelda games take place outside of Hyrule. (This being my fave 2D, Majora's Mask being my favorite 3D). Granted this can change once I either revisit or play for the first time the others but I have a feeling those two are solid for my top spots.

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