Game 4: Elite Beat Agents -- DS -- 4 Hours -- "Beat" on 2/7/2016

Elite Beat Agents is a quirky, Western-only game that I really wish I had played as a kid. Alas, I actually thought the idea was the dumbest thing ever due to the graphical style and "tapping numbers? Boring!" Fun fact as well, the game is Western-only, because it's actually a completely different thing in Japan! Known as Ouendan (Well, "Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan" to be precise), it has an entirely different tracklist, story, and set of characters. So... it's actually a Japanese exclusive, that got heavily changed to make our Elite Beat Agents. Pretty weird situation with the game that makes me wonder how it even came out over here. After the heavy localizations it's a different game entirely!

(I also had the same "Boring" thought process towards Phoenix Wright, another game I really wish I played as a kid. "Courtroom sounds so stupid for a game," *goes back to playing Animal Crossing Wild World*)

And before I dive into any actual impressions, one more thing. I just have to say how WEIRD it is that I can say "DS game title" followed by "as a kid". Then I realize the sucker is over eleven years old. I'm not old, but boy do I feel it when looking up dates.

Annnyyyways. The game.

It's a fun rhythm game that plays exactly like the popular PC game, "osu", You tap, drag, and spin to a beat that is mapped as contracting numbered circles that will pop up all along the screen.

For the most part, the songs that were chosen are both enjoyable to listen to and play along with. Their are a few bad apples in both departments (all subjective for the enjoyable to listen to part), but I feel the need to specifically mention one song from each category. Material Girl. I had no idea that I could dislike a song more for absolutely no reason. It's not even a bad song, I just really.. can't stand it. I don't know why. Then you have "Canned Heat", a song that is enjoyable to listen to, but has one of the WORST beatmaps I've had the pleasure of playing in an official rhythm game title... Actually, no, some of Persona Dancing's tracks have this beat, but Canned Heat really is bad. It's also why I have the game marked as "beat", because I don't care to play it again on the hardest (and funnest <3) difficulty, even though two of my favorite songs are barred behind it. So while I've played every song in the game, and have unlocked all difficulties, I've not actually played all songs on Hard yet. And I can thank Canned Heat for it.

Something I was unaware of because I bought the game second-handed with half of Medium difficulty already unlocked, there is actually a kind of over-arching story to the game that goes along with each stage's personal story. And it's stupid in all the best ways. Along the way though, when it wants to be? It's a freaking sad game. Holy jeez, I knew about this song/story from reading about it on here in years past, but it hit me hard anyways.

The game's final stages start with a It is so cheesy, and I love it. The accompanying tracks to make for the final two stages are also really nice choices that fit the bill.

Because I brought up the visuals earlier, I must say that they hold up stupendously well. All of the hand-drawn characters are great. The movements are silly, the facial expressions fun, and the general designs like what you'd see in an actual cartoon. The agents that dance on the bottom screen don't have the same pros. They look like big ol' chunks of polygons. But it's fine, you're not watching that anyways, the bottom screen is for your notes, and they still look fine.

So yeah. EBA is fun, and I don't know why it took me so long to get around to it. Maybe things would have moved along faster if I didn't play "September" for an hour straight? Who knows.

If you have a DS/DSLite/DSi/3DS/3DSXL/New3DS/New3DSXL, I can't recommend Elite Beat Agents enough. It's super cheap these days, and has held up well for almost ten years. Yeah, you have a beatmap or two that shouldn't even exist, but it's worth pushing through.

Just remember. You're the Inspiration.


Edit: So after Googling some stuff, apparently there's uh... there's actually another mode after Hard.. Huh. I already wrote this all down, but if I actually feel the urge to COMPLETE the game I'll update my post with the time.


///ADDED BIT///

At 5 1/2 hours played, I've unlocked the final difficulty. It feels kind of... off? I was hoping for some more beats, but it instead chooses a speed route. The notes pop-in with just enough time for you to hit them. Wouldn't be an issue if the tail notes were obvious. But they aren't, and unless you already know the song there's not really any way to know when you're supposed to hold the stylus down.

The game is still top-notch, but I think the best experience is with Hard Mode (Sweatin'). The final difficulty little more than a novelty, imo.


Main Post

1. Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition - 99 hours
2. The Witness - 16 hours
3. XCOM 2 - 40 hours
4. Tomb Raider (2013) - 16 hours
5. Tales from the Borderlands - 10 hours
6. Street Fighter V - 20 hours
7. Borderlands - The Pre-Sequel - 20 hours
8. Dark Souls 3 - 45 hours
9. Pokemon X - 35 hours
10. Ratchet & Clank (2016) - 25 hours (Platinum)
11. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - 15 hours
12. DOOM (2016) - 13 hours
13. The Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time 3D - 17 hours
14. World of Warcraft: Legion - 80 hours
15. 10000000 - 7 hours
16. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition - 12 hours
17. Dragon Ball Xenoverse - 14 hours
18. Nuclear Throne - 7 hours
19. Thumper - 6 hours
20. Titanfall 2 - 6 hours
21. The Witcher 3 - Hearts of Stone / Blood and Wine - 40 hours
22. 10 Second Ninja XX - 3 hours

Significant Multiplayer Time:
1. Rocket League
2. Street Fighter V
3. Starcraft 2 - Legacy of the Void
4. Hearthstone
5. Diablo 3
6. Overwatch
7. World of Warcraft: Legion

Playing:
Persona Q - Shadow of the Labyrinth
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition
#ymbab
Overcooked
Lara Croft GO

Decided Not to Finish:
1. Darkest Dungeon - 25 hours - I really liked this, but I switched to Dark Souls 3 when it came out and lost steam on this and couldn't get back into it. I had killed a few medium difficulty bosses, and I would estimate I was about halfway through the game.
2. Picross 3D Round 2 - 40 hours - I played a ton of this but at some point I had learned all the interesting deductions to be made. I got to full completions on about Book 20 out of 35? A good game, but to complete just felt like a grind. I might come back to it at some point after I've put it on the digital shelf for a while.

Hey guys! Long time lurker, first time poster. I applied to join Gaf on the 1st Jan as I saw the new thread for the new year and thought I'd take part. I don't plan to go too nuts with my reviews/comments, but just my brief thoughts on the titles I finished.

As someone who drops a lot of games but is okay with that because I either feel I've got my moneys worth or seen as much as I need to see, I hope finishing more games becomes more rewarding as I share this journey to 52. I've played a number of games so far already and keen to finish more


1 | Critter Crunch | PC | 9.4h
A really fun match 3 puzzle game that I adored on the PS3 so was keen for a replay on Steam and picked it up on sale. Great little hidden gem I feel.

2 | Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition | PC | 44h
One of my favourite open world games - much better than the GTA series imo. This is my third playthrough of the game (X360 + XB1) but first time giving the DLC a shot which didn't blow me away, but were great additions. Such a fantastic game world that I can never get enough of.

3 | DLC Quest | PC | 2.5h
Quite a funny parody on how DLC has affected the industry in the last few years. Doesn't take itself seriously, a good laugh and short enough to not overstay its welcome.

4 | Crimzon Clover World Ignition | PC | 4.4h
A pretty crazy bullet hell shooter that I saw was getting some praise in a Steam sale thread so thought I'd give it a go! Was very fun, but short. Finished it a few times with different ships and game modes and I still pick it up here and there for a session

5 | Mighty Gunvolt | PC | 2h
A cute old school Mega Man style game that features characters from Azure Striker Gunvolt and Mighty Number 9. Wasn't too difficult at all but enjoyable. Finished with Gunvolt and played a few levels with the other characters.

6 | Huniepop | PC | 14.7h
Yeah um. I shamelessly enjoyed this so much. Laugh out loud Bejeweled clone x dating sim that gets pretty 'adult'. Fully voiced too! Time well spent haha

7 | Hotline Miami | PC | 5.8h
I started this YEARS ago and it has taken me this long to finish it. Everyone knows Hotline Miami is awesome, and it is. I need to somehow play the sequel eventually... damn Australia banning it.

8 | Yokai Watch | 3DS | 21h 47m
I was really, really looking forward to this and thought it would be the next Pokemon for me. When I visited Japan it was everywhereee. Turns out when I finally got to play it, I liked it, a lot, but it wasn't a new addiction. Another fun, lite, RPG that is easygoing but has some strange localisation decisions. If Nintendo decide to release the sequels here I'll definitely play them

9 | Grow Home | PC | 3h
For a game that was picked up on a whim for $1 on the humble store, Grow Home was a great pickup and enjoyable. Controls took a while to get used to but it was 3h well spent.

Currently working on:
Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen
Killzone Mercenaries
Final Fantasy Explorers
Rogue Galaxy
Shovel Knight

Index:

01. Pushcat (Steam, 2016/01/01, 12 hours)
02. Saviors (Steam, 2016/01/01, 1.6 hours)
03. Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey Remastered (Steam, 2016/01/13, 9.7 hours)
04. Snakebird (Steam, 2016/01/22, 9 hours)
05. Neko Atsume (Android, 2016/01/22, 10 hours)
06. The Talos Principle (Steam, 2016/02/03, 14.5 hours)
07. The Next Penelope (Steam, 2016/02/12, 4.2 hours)
08. Supercharged Robot VULKAISER (Steam, 2016/02/14, 2 hours)
09. Touch My Katamari (PSV, 2016/02/15, ~4 hours)
10. Super Galaxy Squadron EX (Steam, 2016/02/21, 6 hours)
11. Ori and the Blind Forest (Steam, 2016/03/11, 10 hours)
12. Antichamber (Steam, 2016/03/19, 6.6 hours)
13. Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4, 2016/03/21, ~11 hours)
14. Murdered: Soul Suspect (Steam, 2016/03/30, 9.5 hours)
15. ESCHATOS (Steam, 2016/03/31, 2.5 hours)
16. Bit Blaster XL (Steam, 2016/04/12, 12 hours)
17. Refunct (Steam, 2016/04/30, 0.6 hours)
18. DARIUSBURST Chronicle Saviours (Steam, 2016/05/08, 41 hours)
19. Yakuza 5 (PS3, 2016/05/16, 64 hours)
20. Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge (Steam, 2016/05/17, 3 hours)
21. TinyKeep (Steam, 2016/05/18, 4.6 hours)
22. inFAMOUS First Light (PS4, 2016/05/22, 6 hours)
23. Absolute Drift (Steam, 2016/05/24, 5.3 hours)
24. RefRain -Prism Memories- (Steam, 2016/05/24, 3.5 hours)
25. Shelter 2 (Steam, 2016/05/28, 2 hours)
26. Sky Force Anniversary (Steam, 2016/06/20, 6 hours)
27. Amaranthine (Steam, 2016/06/25, 2 hours)
28. Dying Light (Steam, 2016/07/10, 45 hours)
29. Furi (PS4, 2016/07/15, 18.5 hours)
30. The Path To Luma (Android, 2016/07/21, ~3 hours)
31. atorb (Steam, 2016/07/23, 5.8 hours)
32. The Hurricane of the Varstray (Steam, 2016/07/23, 9.1 hours)
33. Sonic the Hedgehog / Sega Classics (Steam, 2016/07/24, 2 hours)
34. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 / Sega Classics (Steam, 2016/07/31, 1.8 hours)
35. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles / Sega Classics (Steam, 2016/08/04, 3.8 hours)
36. Koi-Koi Japan [Hanafuda playing cards] (Steam, 2016/08/05, 4.3 hours)
37. Parallax (Steam, 2016/08/06, 5.6 hours)
38. Zenzizenzic (Steam, 2016/08/13, 4.3 hours)
39. Ratchet & Clank (PS4, 2016/08/14, ~8 hours)
40. Handsome Mr. Frog (Steam, 2016/08/16, 3 hours)
41. Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine / Sega Classics (Steam, 2016/08/26, 2.5 hours)
42. Grow Up (Steam, 2016/08/28, 7.4 hours)
43. RefleX (Steam, 2016/08/30, 7.7 hours)
44. Steredenn (Steam, 2016/09/08, 26 hours)
45. Killzone: Mercenary (PSV, 2016/09/12, little less than 2 battery charges)
46. Tengami (Steam, 2016/09/12, 1.4 hours)
47. Spelunky HD (PS4, 2016/09/13, 4 hours)
48. Deathsmiles (Steam, 2016/09/19, 5 hours)
49. Tricky Tower (PS4, 2016/09/25, 6 hours)
50. Uncharted 4 (PS4, 2016/10/09, 18h35m44s)
51. DOOM 2016 (Steam, 2016/10/13, 15.7 hours)
52. PAC-MAN 256 (Steam, 2016/10/15, 4.2 hours)
53. Downwell (PS4, 2016/10/16, one DS4 charge)
54. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (Steam, 2016/10/20, 5.8 hours)
55. The Secret of Monkey Island 2: Special Edition (Steam, 2016/10/31, 7.4 hours)
56. Dying Light: The Following (Steam, 2016/11/01, 21 hours)
57. DELTAZEAL (Steam, 2016/11/06, 15.6 hours)
58. The Room (Steam, 2016/11/12, 3.2 hours)
59. The Room Two (Steam, 2016/11/13, 3.4 hours)
60. Retrovirus (Steam, 2016/11/25, 14.2 hours)

Index

01. Pushcat (Steam, 2016/01/01, 12 hours)

Part Bolder Dash, part Columns, 50 puzzles from easy to super hard. The game requires mostly brainwork to progress, but a few puzzle screens also demand dexterity. I enjoyed Pushcat: the right level of difficulty, nice sprite work, scanlines (!) and great puzzle design that applies all mechanics in clever ways.

02. Saviors (Steam, 2016/01/01, 1.6 hours)

Widescreen vertical SHMUP, very fun, controls great, good balance and polish. Not the prettiest designs and horrible CG character portraits in its story mode. Core gameplay and soundtrack make up for all other shortcomings though. Cleared almost the whole game on 1 credit, but the final boss smoked me. The difficulty ramps up slowly, this SHMUP is very beginner friendly and enjoyable.

03. Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey Remastered (Steam, 2016/01/13, 9.7 hours)

RPG with scrabble battle system, nice music and animations to sweeten the deal. There's a bit of grinding and luck involved. Completionist really need to love word puzzles in order to 100% this one. I had enough after beating the final boss and there's plenty more like time trials, endless mode, etc.

04. Snakebird (Steam, 2016/01/22, 9 hours)

Perfect snakebird puzzle game, 50+ intricate stages, very little wiggle room (pun intended), flawless design and super polished. Delightful presentation and music, the animations and sounds as adorable as it gets.

Game 5: Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC) - around 70++ hours.

Finished the 3rd class storyline in my account --- Jedi Knight. Unlike the unpredictable Imperial Agent class storylines, JK is pretty a straight forward Star Wars affair complete with Bioware's chosen one tropes. It's....eh..ok I guess. It does have its moments however. Unfortunately the companions are mostly boring and annoying except for the Sith dude. I'm thinking of going forward to the latest expansion with this class due to it being the only Republic character I've completed.

List: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190947896&postcount=193

Claimed, Wonder how this will go

Game 06: Life Is Strange
PS4 - 18 hours - Beaten 07/02/16 - &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
Oh man this game was hella awesome. It's a massive step forward in the whole 'point and click adventure' genre. Exploring the world, interacting with everything, talking to people, making choices, taking photos, it all worked so well, and I fell in love with everyone in Arcadia Bay, and Chloe is the best, best friend ever.
Also, I legit cried. I love this game. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to the soundtrack because this had some great tunes in it.

Main post

Claimed. I didn't think that I had it in me to participate, but I've actually been moving at only a little less than a game/week this year. Playing adventure games with the wife really speeds things up, as she just wants to blow through them if we get the hang of the game.

Game 1: Shovel Knight - 12 hrs
Beaten the first week of January, somehow I found it easier to play on my Vita than television. If I make it through Plague of Shadows (it's tough!) I plan to count it as a separate game.

Game 2: Grim Fandango Remaster- 8 hrs
Classic LucasArts remake was exactly on genre for the aforementioned wife. I'm counting games where we pass the controller back and forth, 'cause that's real couch multiplayer right there.

Game 3: Broken Age - 6 hrs
Chasing that Grim Fandango fix, decided to finally wrap Act 2. It was a better experience in PS4 than trying to play it with a remote mouse app from my couch. Flicking the right stick around to find objects which you can interact with feels like cheating, but eliminates pixel hunting (not that there's a lot on BA, anyway).

Game 4: The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - 5 hrs
Chasing that Grim Fandango fix, a current-gen horror adventure game hit the spot. Decent narrative that had us speculating for a bit on the nature of the MC. Unfortunately, the game has one of the worst opening areas of any adventure game I have ever encountered. For your first puzzle, you just have to cover every inch of ground in the opening area springing traps. Diving into the PS4 trophy percentages, only 60-something percent of the players who boot the game make it through that puzzle (or they skip it, like I did at first). I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the other trophies for the game are completed by 50% or more of players- if you get into how the game does puzzles, you want to see how it plays out. But c'mon, "The Astronauts", take note and learn the difference between an immersive tutorial and brute marching. The second puzzle in the game, where you find a body with severed legs on a train track and have to recreate the scene, is much more engaging and immersive.

Game 5 - Transistor - 10 hours

No sophomore slump for Supergiant- if anything, Transistor is even more elegant in the way that it encouraged me to mix and match weapons and effects. That said, the closing gauntlet of the game, with the Men and Haircuts, got a little tedious. At no point was it unreasonable in its difficulty, I just would have preferred more creativity with enemy design. The Men cannot be hit unless lured out, have an attack that one-shots (unless you hit it first), and have at least one other buff. I found areas where the Process had leveled up to jam Red's sight or glitch her out of the planning mode to be much more difficult and intriguing.

Game 6 - Bastion - 12 hours

After wrapping Transistor, I went back to wrap up Bastion. I guess that I was closer to the ending than I thought, although I will probably go back to finish some challenges in NG+. The Galleon Mortar is OP, especially with it's black tonic ability. As for the story, I found the morality near the end troubling and the final choice difficult. A few months back a friend said that he was disappointed that the overall plot was about detante, but I'm not so sure. By the time the Kid is
Game 7 - Rocket League - ?? hours

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

Game 8 - Dark Souls II - 150 hours

Thanks to the bonfire ascetics, I never proceeded to the throne of want and just stayed in NG. That just ended- somehow, I hadn't spoiled On to NG+!

Game 9 - Journey - 2 hours

A RTTP for me, but I was reminded that there are moments in this game that remain breathtaking nearly 4 years after first playing it. The moment when the camera rotates sideways, facing the sun, as you race through the old ruins stands out in a highlight. My emotional attachment to the cloth creatures remains. And most of all, I love that the options for interactivity in Journey are to slide, float, or sing. That's how you change and move through the world, and it's lovely and brilliant.

Game 10 - Everybody's Gone to the Rapture - 8 hours

Reaches for depth and achieves it in a way superior for the medium. The genre gives it a few pacing issues- I definitely lost the plot a bit following Frank around. Then, while it's fun in its less linear layout, it's easy to get lost at the lakeside camp. Rhys and Rachel's story also seemed like a distraction, although it tied up the area in way that Lizzie does not. All the same, there's some beautiful sentiment in Kate's remarks and the plot of is solid. Plus, with so much of the Chinese Room's focus on production, the voice acting and visuals are of astoundingly high quality. And the trick of having you look around, then look back into a transformed scene, never gets old.

Game 11 - Infamous: Second Son - 20 hours

As a sequel, I think this one has just about everything that I could ask for. Some of the pacing of the powers clashes a bit with the open world- by the time I had Video, I had already cleared most of the side missions. And that you only get to use concrete for that last boss battle is kind of a letdown and cleaning up whatever you had left (in my case, nothing), especially since it gives some fun options for mobility. My other complaint concerns the mid-game difficulty spike- I found the bridge battle against Augustine's minion more difficult than any other boss battle in the game, especially as the arena limits your effectiveness with neon. That said, the power switching was handled better than I expected. Being the PS4's de facto lead exclusive for a while also seems to have benefited the game, as I made more use of the PS4's gimmicks than in any other game. I enjoyed how the controller speaker was implemented I also enjoyed the graffiti, and hell, the photo mode really does make me wanna hit the "share" button. Finally, as a comment on the narrative, I think that going with the sibling dynamic served well. I was much more interested in the brothers Rowe than in Cole and Zeke from the first two games.

Game 12 - Gone Home - 4 hours

I can understand, now that I've played it, how this game was so decorated. It tells an excellent story with several interconnected narratives- although you're tracking Sam's story, and only her story has voice over, you also track the stories of your parents (and even, to a certain extent, that of a grandfather, mother, and uncle). I found the game to be incredibly immersive in terms of atmosphere, as there were a few minutes where I was creeped out (and even one or two jump scares) despite the fact that the game is set in our ordinary reality. I mean, I don't enjoy going down dark basement stairs in real life, and Fullbright was able to tap into that same reticence. It also had what I regard as essential in narrative games, in that I regularly attempted to guess the next step in the story and was led in different directions, or to keep different possibilities open. The story ended well, and I would recommend that just about everyone give this one a play.

That said, man is that a gimmicky trophy list. I played for the story, and won't be going back for many of those. Somehow, I missed a voice log or two- those might cause me to dive back in and search.

Game 13 - Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows - 12 hours

What a fantastic game! Navigating levels (complete with the new, Plague-specific puzzle areas) is completely changed, as is boss strategy. And what a finale! Although it was difficult to get used to how Plague controls/interacts with the world, by the time I got through Polar Knight I was well into it. Hee hee hee!

Game 14 - Gravity Rush Remastered - 20 hours

I didn't realize how close I had gotten to finishing this when I played the original on the Vita, and what a finale I had been missing. The final battle and the way your friends are called into action is very satisfying. This remaster, with the DLC included, is a masterwork. Bluepoint deserves all the credit it's been getting for it.

As before, I had an issue with pacing and with some of the difficulty elements. The secret nevi in the dimensions are far and away more difficult than anything else in the game, barring some of the gold medals on the optional events. The middle of the game where you fall down the world tree drags, and although I enjoyed some of the plotting and metaphysics of climbing back up, it's a long and largely uninteresting slog. I wish you could have simply rode the ark back up. Likewise, I'm quite surprised at how much the ending and end credits require a sequel for resolution. It's a good thing that we're getting one!

Game 15 - Costume Quest 2 - 6 hours

'Tis the season! The gameplay is a good continuation of the original, as is the graphical style. Areas seem more open and interconnected, as well. That said, I am surprisingly disappointed in the game's writing and repetitive design. The small amount of dialog from houses where you trick or treat is recycled, which is even more noticeable given the amount of mileage the game gets out of knocking on doors. That's mitigated by the costume variety and some of the quests that switch things up, but even at 6 hours played (and about 90% completion) there was too little variety for the amount of battles in the game. An easy fix (which worked for the first one) would simply have been a wider variety of snappy dialog. Altogether, a sequel worth playing, especially for Halloween. But having played Broken Age and Grim Fandango this year, this is hardly Double Fine's strongest effort.

Game 16 - OutRun - 20 hours

I played the Genesis version of OutRun, and oh how I wish I could play this masterpiece in its arcade form once again. The perfect details, the branching paths, the fantastic music. It may have 16 bit graphics, but you can practically feel the wind in your hair. My best time is 5'19"10, finishing on the C path. It's likely I'll never not play OutRun, but I'm calling it played for this year.

Game 17 - Shadow of the Colossus - 13 hours

I've been waiting to finish Shadow of the Colossus for a few years. I would just get stuck on a Colossus and it would go back on the shelf for extended periods of time. But in the last few weeks, I've managed to get through the last 5 Colossi. Over a decade after this game came out, and it still accomplishes things that no other game, in my opinion, has equaled. Many boss fights are also puzzle platformers. Solving each puzzle/boss is largely done diegetically. My only issue, really, is that I suck at the game. By that, I mean that I often would understand the solution to a boss but be unable to execute it. This resulted in many bittersweet fights. My fight with Celosia exemplified my relationship to the game. On the one hand, seeing the arena and understanding that the only place to go to get out of its charge was the torch plinths resulted in a chunk of wood, which could then be lit, which could then be used to threaten Celosia over the edge of the arena. The interaction between Wander, the Colossus, and the Environment was so organic, and the animations completely sold it. The scene actually seemed inhabited as a result.

Too often the world in video games consists of window dressing- this is the case even, for the most part, in my favorite series, Dark Souls. From manages to nail avatar/boss interaction, but environment as well? Mostly not. Often, for example, if environment plays a role, it's often poorly done- like the 1HKO lava pool in the Old Iron King fight in DkSII. In contrast, the fights in SoTC that succeed do so by figuring the Colossus into the environment, or by making part of the body of the Colossus the environment. The fights that shine the most do both, like riding Agro around Phalanx and then soaring above the desert sands.

But man, nothing makes that break down like my ineptitude. I must have taken 80 minutes on Malus just from falling off and having to climb back up. Not to mention not initially getting the tunnels under the field and trying to dash and get fragged. I also missed stabbing his hand to steady it, and shooting his shoulder instead of trying to boldly make a jump to his face, over and over again. When that happens, the music no longer seems dynamic, but repetitive. The structure holding Malus in place goes from seeming like an incredible cross between a robe and a castle, and instead just becomes a slippery, swaying hindrance. That was one of the worst of these moments, but they happened again and again. I would be thrilled, wondering at the design, and then 20 minutes into a fight, after falling again and again, the thrill would be gone. I couldn't believe that these fantastic creatures would outstay their welcome with me, but there it was. On the one hand, that's my fault. On the other, team ICO could have spent less time stunning and shaking the player. I would feel like I should just quit out and reload once I was stunlocked by Celosia or Cenobia. Or from missing the leap to Phalanx again and again because my jumping angle off of Agro wasn't tight enough, in the middle of the sandstorm caused by its fins digging into the earth. The game just needed to be slightly more forgiving, because in this state, I would sometimes get the feeling that it was wasting my time. If you knock me down, that's punishment enough. Don't make me wait over and over to get up. All I want to do is keep moving forward to see what's next in your incredible suite of textures, terrain, and animations. It's okay that I work for it (I do enjoy the feeling of success that results), but I need to be able to get back on my feet and go another round.

Game 18 - The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - 20 hours

After playing the original on Steam a few years back, I mostly broke out sessions of Rebirth on the Vita. And it's good. I'll just never be a devotee like some of my friends. The furthest I ever made it was to the second ending. At this point, that's enough for me. I know there's more depth in there, but I've hit my limit on diminishing returns.

Game 19 - Spelunky - 40 hours

Much like BoI, I've played a bunch of Spelunky but don't feel like I have it in me to break through my ceiling. I've made it onto the Alien mothership and to the temple, but never to Olmec. I don't even want to attempt getting to Hell.

Game 20 - Rogue Legacy - 25 hours

While I'm at it with roguelikes, I'm going to cross Rogue Legacy off my list. A fun take on platforming, and the boss fights elevate it. I get a better sense of progression out of RL than Spelunky or BoI- past a certain point, navigating the different areas felt like second nature. Still, I think I'm set on this one without seeing the end credits roll. I have a new rogulike platformer in my life, Downwell, and it seems like it nails a few things that none of the above do for me. I'm still uncovering repeating patterns and spawns, and have yet to clear Aquifer on it, but sessions of Downwell leave me more satisfied than all of the above roguelikes.

Game 21 - Dustforce - 15 hours

10 of those hours come from steam, and 5 from the Vita. It's a shame that the Vita version is gimped, because the device is a far better home for this kind of platformer than my laptop. The soundtrack by Lifeformed is still on constant rotation, especially since Spotify will stream it over many games on my PS4. I adore the feeling of flow that the game gives. But there's only so many restarts that I can take on the gold key levels. I'm calling the game done, but it'll be many more years before I put down the OST.

Game 22 - Ultratron - 2 hours

I think I made it 4 bosses into this, and while the upgrade system adds a little spice, I'm not sure why this game exists. Seems like something that was made for a twin stick game jam. One of many.

Game 23 - Sunless Sea - 17 hours

Deliciously written, but I fell out of the gameplay loop. It's fun to conserve resources and see how much further I could make it in the Unterzee, but I want a little more interactivity. If only this was FTL, Lovecraft/Nightside edition, I'd be hooked for another 80 hours. Also, needs a better OST to keep me hooked in. The one they have is decent, but... well, since my comparison with FTL is already out there, c'mon. There's no comparison.

Game 24 - Tricky Towers - 33 hours

Upfront, I'm going to say that this game has the best couch multiplayer I've played all year. It also has some of the weakest single player. That's including PvZGW2's attempt. No effort at explaining mechanics or gameplay modes, and too few of each to make this game rewarding as a puzzler.

As a multiplayer game, though, holy shit! Fantastic stuff. Popped it on because we were looking for a new couch game and ended up passing controllers back and forth amongst a group of 5 people. Thoroughly excellent when you can talk shit and drop in and out. Surprising depth when you're motivated by competition, too.

Game 25 - Until Dawn - 10 hours

An excellent game, and one that deserves its place among the PS4's best exclusives. A few things stood out in particular: its unforgiving permadeath, it's narrative impetus, and its revival of fixed camera gameplay. The performances of the ensemble cast are also quite good, especially by the still-low standards of video game scripting and acting. The capture is somewhat incredible, especially in comparison to earlier efforts like LA Noire. As a horror game, this one was pitched at just the right speed. There are some decent scares, and the game is rightfully in love with its lighting as a way of preserving the feeling that you're moving through a moving environment. But the atmosphere never gets too oppressive, and deaths mostly feel consequential rather than cheap. In my game, It also stands as the best effort I've seen yet at interactive cinema in video game form. Give me Until Dawn over David Cage's efforts any day of the week.

Game 09: | Dark Fall: The Journal | - | February 6 | - | 3½ hours |

This is how you make a horror game scary! A haunting atmosphere, sounds that creep you the fuck out and

Spoiler

no silly jump scares

! Too bad the controls are fiddly, especially the movement. A couple of other annoyances also dragged the game down a bit, as did the not really interesting story. Can't say I'm a fan of ghosts and "supernatural powers". Still well worth playing and a pretty good scare

Click to expand...

Game 10: | Dark Fall II: Lights Out | - | February 7 | - | 3 hours |

This was such a letdown after the Journal. Even tho I didn't really care for a couple of things in that game, it was still a creepy game that played okay. Lights Out made the fiddlyness into a complete turnoff. The setting is a perfectly normal area but it felt like a maze due to the various parts you had to click to get somewhere. Movement is horrible. The puzzles are also less interesting and the story failed to grab me at all.

Click to expand...

-

Master post

Game 12 - The Silent Age - 2 hours, iPad

Had played the first part of this game a while ago and saw the second half was now up on the Apple Store. Fairly decent but nothing special - the second half in particular feels almost like the company ran out of money and just finished the thing, as it seemed like it would go a lot further than it did. Still, quite a pleasant game.

Game 8: Tomb Raider (2013) - 41m
Abandoned
Too much murder/torture porn for my liking. Laura painfully grunts and screams at every movement, and the PC version doesn't actually display button prompts for QTEs if you're using MK. Shame, the game looks very pretty and it sounds like a fun game.

Caught up on my progress and also added in some quick thoughts on each game.

Original Post

Total: 15
Game 1: 1/3/16 Life is Strange (PS4) - 20hrs

OMG this game is amazing. It made #3 in my GOTY list. I loved the characters, story, mystery, game mechanics, the world building and music. Yea characters were flawed but that made them more enduring as you saw them have an arc. I would take healthy breaks between episodes to let it soak in and savor it. Highly recommended for any adventure game fan.

Click to expand...

Game 2: 1/5/16 Crash Bandicoot 2 (Vita) - 8 hours

I played the first one last year and it was fun but that insane save system was infuriating. So now with the sequel the mechanics are there,the save system is fixed and the levels have a good mix of variety

Click to expand...

Game 3: 1/10/16 Luigi's Mansion : Dark Moon (3DS) - 19 hours

This one might have gone on longer than I would have liked. I was pleasantly surprised with the GC original and this one still had what made it great. But I did wonder why they never made a Wii game. Seemed liked a perfect fit

Click to expand...

Game 4: 1/10/16 Streets of Rage 2 (3DS) - 1 hour

The best brawler of all time and I beat it once a year. Amazing mechanics, music, everything

Click to expand...

Game 5: 1/11/16 Undertale (PC) - 13 hours

Very cool game. I went and got the "good" ending which was very challenging at times. Cool characters and some clever battle systems.

Click to expand...

Game 6: 1/14/16 Gunstar Heroes (3DS) - 2 hours

One of my favorite action shooters of all time. I play it once a year. And I'm glad I have a portable version of this masterpiece

Click to expand...

Game 7: 1/16/16 Ori and the Blind Forest (PC) - 11 hours

Beautiful game and way more challenging than I expected. I thought I'd be more eye candy experience game but the mechanics in certain areas really tested me and it was fun. I hate I couldn't go back and 100% everything. I know that's being fixed but it's still annoying.

Click to expand...

Game 8: 1/17/16 Amplitude (PS4) - 4 hours

Short but sweet. Glad I backed this game, and loved it's Frequency mode

Click to expand...

Game 9: 1/22/16 Spyro the Dragon (Vita) - 12 hours

Another game I played while playing TV and this was a lot of fun. It's the first time I played Spyro games but they were entertaining. Rough in areas, especially the final bosses but a great foundation

Click to expand...

Game 10: 1/24/16 Crimsonland (Vita) - 6 hours

This was mindless fun, but kept me entertained while I watched TV

Click to expand...

Game 11: 1/29/16 Sonic 1 (Vita) - 3 hours

Its not the best Sonic but it's one I've played the most and one I replay at least once a year.

Click to expand...

Game 12: 2/1/16 Ys1 (Vita) - 6 hours

Even though I keep buying Ys games this is the first one I really played and beaten. It's an early game but I still found it fun. I played the PSP chronicles version and the the music upgrades and characters looked great.

Click to expand...

Game 13: 2/2/16 Sonic 2 (Vita) - 2 hours

Its been a while since I played it and though it's the fan favorite it's never been mine. Although years later in this replay I enjoyed it more than in the past. Although I forgot hour some levels with super sonic were harder than normal Sonic.

Click to expand...

Game 14: 2/3/16 Shadow Dancer (Vita) - 2 hours

Again another game from the PSP collection and one I've played as a kid back on the Genesis. It was fun going through it again. The game went back to old school shinobi mechanics. But the addition of the dog was a fun new touch. The weak point though was the annoying boss fights.

Click to expand...

Game 15: 2/7/16 Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4) - 20 hours

I played this and beat it on the Vita when it came out and really enjoyed it. But with this Remaster and the amazing work Bluepoint I love it more now than before. The game really was meant for the big screen. And I was reminded how much I loved the characters, music, world, and good vibes. It feels like playing a Miyazaki game and I love it for that. I loved it so much I actually spent time to get the platinum trophy. Something I rarely do (although it being a reasonable trophy also helped). I also was reminded how much is unresolved in the first game so I'm glad the sequel is coming and on the PS4!

Click to expand...

Game 14: Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
Really neat campaign. Great mission design, wish we had more RTS campaigns like that. Though I wish they had taken a closer look at their audience. If you play through this campaign you're likely to have played Wings of Liberty. So why not make the missions more complex early on. I want to control 3 bases and fight 4 battles simultanesously. Even in the last missiion you don't control your allies. As great as the missions were they all felt easy and small.

OP

Game 10: Roundabout [PC] - 2 hours

Roundabout is a “driving” game in which you play Georgio Manos, the world's first Revolving Limousine™ driver, and consequently the game largely revolves around weaving past various obstacles in order to get from checkpoint to checkpoint. Missions are bookended and interspersed with full-motion video, involving either stock clips or a handful of actors portraying the various absurd passengers, living and dead, that you drive about. From a game-play perspective, there is not much worth mentioning, and I would have had no interest in playing the game if not for watching a speed-run at Awesome Games Done Quick, which involved commentary from the developers. Ultimately, I cannot recommend playing it, but would strongly recommend watching the speed-run of the game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqL7NjlJpoI


Game 11: Hexcells Infinite [PC] - 23 hours

This is the third game in the Hexcells series of puzzle-games, and the difficulty is ramped up even more compared to the previous two, with many large and complex puzzles that took quite a lot of thinking to crack. However, luckily Infinite adds saving of your puzzle-progress, a feature missing in the previous games, which makes it feasiable to beat these more complex puzzles. The game also adds a random level generator, but not surprisingly these levels lack the complexity of the hand-built levels in the “campaign”, and are much less satisfying to beat. Much like the previous two, I enjoyed it so much that I decided to 100% the game (perfecting all levels and beating 60 random levels), but I don’t think I’ll be playing more of the random levels now.


Game 12: Transistor [PC] - 4 hours

My second attempt at playing Transistor (I got distracted previously), and this time I basically just played through it in one sitting. After I got a better understanding of how to use the combat system to handle enemies, it was a much more pleasant experience. So much so that I think it could have supported a much longer game without getting tedious. The major attraction was, however, the story, which did not need to be longer and which I found much more enjoyable than Bastion. This was in part due to the closer connection between the protagonists and the city of Cloudbank, and the closer connection between the narrator and the protagonist, even if Bastion has the better voiced narrator ( ).

Master List

I've failed this the past two years which is disappointing but I'm hoping to change that with 2016. 2015 had too much happening and all the F2P's I was playing didn't help. My backlog from last year will update into this but for now I'm going to just start with a couple games.


Game #1: Digimon Cyber Sleuth - 109 hours 28 minutes[Complete]


Game #2: The Legend Of Zelda: Triforce Heroes - hours? [Complete]


Game #3: SOMA [Complete]


Game #4: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - 13 Hours and 26 Minutes[Complete]


Game #5: Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 21 Hours and 38 minutes [Complete]


Game #6: Final Fantasy XIV Patch 3.2 - [Complete]


Game #7: Fire Emblem Fates Revelations - 17 Hours and 39 Minutes[Complete]


Game #8: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together - 46 Hours and 56 Minutes[Complete]


Game #9: Tales From The Borderlands: Episode 1-5 [In Progress]


Game #10: Persona Q 64 Hours and 37 minutes [Complete]


Game #11: Shin Megami Tensei IV - [Complete]

Game #12: Final Fantasy Explorers[Complete]

Game #13: Persona 2: Innocent Sin [Complete]

Game #14: Persona 2: Eternal Punishment

Game #15: Ace Attorney 6[Complete]

Game #16: Persona 4 Arena

Game #17: World Of Final Fantasy[Complete]

Game #18: Pokemon Sun[Complete]

Game #19: Dragon Ball Z: Fusions[Complete]

Game #20: Final Fantasy XV[Complete]

Game #21: Zero Time Dilemma[Complete]

Game #22: Radiant Historia

Game #23: Crimson Gem[Complete]

Game # 7
Call of Duty Black Ops 3
Xbox One
Finished the campaign coop with my sister. Pretty fun and interesting shooter. I kinda want something else more down to earth for the next one though.

Wazzy said:

Game #1: Digimon Cyber Sleuth - 12 hours 41 minutes

Click to expand...

That short?

Original post

Game 5 - Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl - 56:40
Finished February 7

My first Etrian Odyssey game and, to the best I can remember, my first dungeon crawler of any stripe. I often believe I'm searching for a mythical balance in video games that I'll never find: a state of serenity that's relaxing but with plenty of room for mysteries. The mapping mechanic let me meander inside someone else's thoughtful level design and the simplicity of the story (to chart a cave on the outskirts of a small town) insisted on exploration for the sake of small discoveries. Still, 60 hour games don't exist in vacuums; by the fifth stratum my mind kept drifting to my backlog (and this thread) and I was happy to finish, fun as it was.

Spieler Eins said:

That short?

Click to expand...

Hmm? If you mean is the game that short then no, that's just my current playtime. I'm not even halfway through the game. xD

Wazzy said:

Hmm? If you mean is the game that short then no, that's just my current playtime. I'm not even halfway through the game. xD

Click to expand...

I think he means, most people list something once it is complete, or if it's in progress, have a separate section. Not much point listing a time when it is still halfway :3

BraXzy said:

I think he means, most people list something once it is complete, or if it's in progress, have a separate section. Not much point listing a time when it is still halfway :3

Click to expand...

Oh really? I usually do first post with the current progress and then second showing the completed ones. My bad!

Master Post.

I initially intended to only do seperate posts for games I had relatively big write ups for, à la Xenoblade X, but playing Steins;Gate reminded me how much I loved the story to begin with, even if I didn't experience the game first. I want to make this if only to tell people to go play the game. Or watch the show. Either works!

Game 6 - Steins;Gate - About 23 hours, maybe slightly longer. Plat included. (I don't consider a Visual Novel finished until I get the plat.)



Good game! I'm not sure what else to say, heh. I already watched the anime years ago so I knew the main plot, the twists and turns beforehand, even if I'd forgotten some of the fine details. That said, I know if I hadn't my mind would be spinning right now. I might not have any complaints about the pacing, or how freaking annoying that one character is for constantly interrupting your text skip. No, wait, I'd still have that complaint.

The story is it's strongest suit, along with its characters. It starts out excruciatingly slow and, no joke, the first 10-15 hours play out like a goofy slice of life science anime. I wouldn't blame anyone for dropping this game before getting to the really interesting parts because it takes way, way too long to get there. That said, the payoff is so, so worth it. I don't want to say too much but it is totally worth sitting down and making your way through the entire novel. I can guarantee if I hadn't already seen the anime I would be shouting this games praises alongside my favourites like Persona 3 and Zero Escape. It'd be on my mind for days.

Would I recommend this, or the anime? I'm not sure. I would say they're both great ways to experience the main plot of the show. Then again, I am biased. As someone who's seen the show, I enjoyed getting more insight into Okabe and the other characters through inner monologues and text messages. I also loved seeing the smaller changes in character interactions through the aforementioned texts and even a few lines of dialogue depending on your decisions throughout the game. They're by no means mandatory but they really help flesh out the characters. I already liked the cast beforehand but now I only like them that much more. Kurisu in particular I found myself becoming far more attached to.

The alternate endings were cool to see too, and all of them together with the main plot really made me realise how much Okabe goes through. Like, hot damn. I'd still recommend this game even if you've already watched the anime. No doubt you may find it tougher to get through, considering its much slower pace, but getting to see all the extras is really neat if you're already a fan of the show/series. If you've never watched the anime, and have time for a visual novel? Go for it! Just please make a point of experiencing it. You can't go wrong with Steins Gate. It's just really damn good.

EDIT: WAIT, how could I forget?! The text wrapping in this game is hot GARBAGE. If there's a word such as "it's", "there's", anything with an apostrophe at the end of a textbox, it will cut off and continue on the line below. The same thing happens with texts and on the tiny phone screen, it physically hurt my eyes to read to begin with. There, it doesn't matter what hits the side of the screen. Anything and everything will chop up and mangle on the way down the page. This is my biggest complain about the game and I have no idea how they let this in. Probably something to do with how the original Japanese characters displayed? Probably. It's still terrible though.

Game #5: Fallout 4`
84 hours.

Well, it was...ok. I can't help but feel a little let down by the game. For the first time, I wanted a Fallout game to actually finish. In the end, I only did the main quest, leaving many side-quests aside. It does not come close to the level of New Vegas.

Man I just can't be bothered playing difficult games these days.

I want to focus on finishing Dark Souls 2 but I've already started and finished Katamari Damacy and Life Is Strange since I began playing it lol.

Now I'm tempted to chill out with Steins;Gate or something but I must resist...

Click to expand...

Game 11. Lost Dimension (Vita); Playtime: ~26 hours; got the platinum & completed the Chapter 0 DLC; completed on 2/8/2016

On paper, Lost Dimension seemed like a pretty cool game. It's a tactical rpg with a traitor system where you would try to identify who was aiding the big bad (known as The End) in trying to stop you, and there was said to be some social link like events. I liked the art style, and the idea of trying to figure out who was a traitor sounded like a neat concept to me.

Sadly, it failed to deliver on almost anything. The characters all felt largely hollow and obnoxious, the traitor system turned out to be more asinine than cool or interesting, and the story is so bland that it&#8217;s hard to care (this is not helped by its lackluster cast). Actually, it&#8217;s more than bland, it&#8217;s repetitive. That&#8217;s not because the game demands you play through it at least twice to see the true ending, but because for the first 4 chapters the cast basically repeat the same conversations over and over again. The gameplay during battles is ok, but not enough to help keep the game afloat. Only reason I got the plat is because it&#8217;s actually really easy to get, especially if you bother to go through the effort to play through the game twice to see the true ending.

Original Post

Link to OP:

Happy Lunar New Year, for those of you who celebrate it!

That means a vacation day where I live, and I spent a good part of it blasting through this trio of Japanese-developed action games:


Game 17: Metal Slug (PC)
Finished 2/8/16 (2pt)
Time to complete: 67 minutes as per Steam
My nostalgic favorite among all the Metal Slug games, I have very fond memories of 1CCing this back in the arcade whenever there were no available challengers at Soul Calibur. Great level design, just the right amount of cheapness (as opposed to the sequels, which were much more blatant at their attempts to steal your quarters), and no stupid aliens.

Note: This Steam version is missing a "Mission Mode", which would have given it way more replayability.


Game 18: Armed Seven (PC)
Finished 2/8/16 (2pt)
Time to complete: 50 minutes as per Steam
I remember buying this in the Japanese indie sale that Steam did around Comiket last year. Having played through Gigantic Army (a sidescrolling platformer/shooter by the same developer) in last year's 52 games challenge, I was expecting this to be more of the same... it even has a similar title screen and font. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a Gradius-style space shooter!

And an enjoyable one at that. The graphics are quite simple, as can be seen from the screenshot above, but the core gameplay is well done - the fact that you have no continues makes wading through the usual sea of bullets even more tense. (Not as hard as it sounds, though... your mech can take multiple hits, and you can collect shield regen powerups).


Game 19: Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae (PC)
Finished 2/8/16 (1pt)
Time to complete: 112 minutes as per Steam

Now this game was a real disappointment. "Stylish character action" as a genre (i.e. Devil May Cry and its derivatives) is one of my favorite things, and a new entry usually guarantees a sale in my book. MKH however, is just incredibly bare bones - very little plot, limited enemy models, hideously simplistic environments, and gameplay that amounts to repetitive arena combat from start to finish.

The base of a good game is there - it has Just Defend counters, smooth combos that allow for canceling into other moves, air juggles... but it's just so BORING. And the enemy tuning could use a lot of work... they're not very intelligent, but have an absolute truckload of HP, making the majority of my playtime a contest to see which would give out first: my right thumb or my patience.

ChrisD said:

Game 4: Elite Beat Agents -- DS -- 4 Hours -- "Beat" on 2/7/2016
If you have a DS/DSLite/DSi/3DS/3DSXL/New3DS/New3DSXL, I can't recommend Elite Beat Agents enough. It's super cheap these days, and has held up well for almost ten years. Yeah, you have a beatmap or two that shouldn't even exist, but it's worth pushing through.

Just remember. You're the Inspiration.

Main Post

Click to expand...

Excellent, i litterally ordered Elite Beat Agents like 30 minutes ago and before reading your post. So many good games!

Since I had nothing better to do this weekend I blew through the entirety of Ys Seven up to the final boss between saturday/sunday! It was a blast to play!

Games Beaten: 10 / 52
Total Playtime: 222:12:53

01 - ??

Main Post

Game 13: Bioshock 2

As announced, I tackled Bioshock 2 more or less right after finishing the first one. Oddly enough, while I anticipated it to be a bit of a chore, the playthrough was actually really enjoyable.

The original is probably the more influential game, but in my opinion, the sequel improves on virtually every aspect of the first game. Most importantly, the focus on Eleanor made me care a lot more about mowing down splicer after splicer in order to get to the goal than the hunt for Ryan and Fontaine did. What's more, the combat is much less repetitive, probably because the weapons feel more exotic (even if they are little more than reskins of 1's weapons), and there is a bit more enemy variety. It's a shame that the more open structure of the first one was dropped in favour of a more linear structure, but it suits the storytelling quite nicely.

Overall, I ended up playing through it in 2-3 sittings (whereas the other one took me nearly a week to finish) and am quite satisfied with the experience. I was planning on going for Infinite next, but then I decided to make use of the current steam / uplay sales and ended up buying half a dozen AC games (double-dipped on Black Flag, so I'll probably return the Wii U version I bought a couple of years ago, plus got Rogue, Unity, Syndicate, and the first two parts of the Chronicles trilogy). I'm going to try not to play them all one after another (wouldn't want the gameplay to get too stale), but for now, I'm replaying Black Flag, so I expect that to be the next game I finish this year.

Main Post

8 Games down. I'm trying to keep the 1 game a week pace and by clearing out some shorter games on my backlog I hope to buy some time to delve into some of the meatier games on my list.

Game 8: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - ~6:00

Another 2D platformer. The gimmick here is like Mighty Switch Force you can toggle between two sistems making the background, music, and direct environment change. The other bit is you need to get a certain number of stars to unlock the boss levels. To earn stars you collect gems and don't die. The levels are long and quite challenging but checkpoints are plentiful. The biggest problem I have with the game is the boss fights. The bosses are well developed and look cool but the issue is how long it takes before you have a window to hit the boss. Like the Yoshi games and some other platformers there's only a small window in the boss's pattern before you can get a hit in. This means dying on phase 3 of a boss is a huge loss of time which gets super frustrating especially on the last boss. That said there's only 3 bosses so it doesn't overshadow any of the quality that comes before.

On the horizon or in progress:
Wolfenstein: The New Order (~4 hours in)
Tales of Zestiria (1 Hour in)
Disgaea 5 (not yet started)

Original post


16. Me & My Katamari (PSP, 2006) - 5:16
Completed all levels. Biggest katamari: 3931m 88cm 2mm.

More so than even modern-day franchises like Assassin's Creed, Katamari Damacy is the poster child for beating a dead horse. The original is universally praised for its kooky humour and its simple pleasure of rolling everything in the world into one giant, lovable ball of crap. We Love Katamari took the concept a bit further and added some new objectives that weren't just "roll things into the biggest ball possible." But later editions didn't add much to the table, no matter how much Namco Bandai tried to stretch the formula--sometimes literally, as in the case of Touch My Katamari.

Despite all this, I played nearly all of them, and actually enjoyed them to boot. Yes, even Touch My Katamari, though a bargain price compared to its original MSRP helped. The only ones I hadn't played to this point: Beautiful Katamari for the 360, which seemed redundant thanks to Katamari Forever for the PS3; and Me & My Katamari, the only PSP iteration of the series. At less than $4 in the latest PSN sale, it was hard to resist.

Katamari Forever worked well as a greatest hits package in HD (and a way to play some Beautiful Katamari levels that were only available as DLC), while Touch My Katamari at least tried to mix things up with touchscreen shenanigans and some interesting level ideas. But though its levels aren't just remakes like Forever, Me & My Katamari feels like it owes more to the original two games than the others. Its soundtrack steals most of the tracks from the first two games, with a very light sprinkling of new songs. The bulk of its levels return to Katamari Damacy's basic "roll up a giant katamari" challenge, with precious few unique quests (though the "roll up X of an object in 20 seconds" level is such a good idea that it's surprising we never see it again in other games).

It's also a reminder of the limitations of the Vita's controls. Mapping the katamari movement to both sticks works well in the sense that it feels more like the console versions than the PSP's d-pad and face button combo, but it also exposes how cramped the whole setup is for vigorous ball-handling (pun intended). My thumbs could use a break from the Vita. The short time I spent in PPSSPP trying to take screenshots of the game felt so much better because I was using an actual Dualshock controller.

All of this is to say that I am a supreme sucker for Katamari games and I'll play pretty much any Katamari game you put in front of me and enjoy it. But of all the Katamari games I've played, this is perhaps the least essential. It's still fun, but you should play pretty much any of the others first.

Zareka said:

It starts out excruciatingly slow and, no joke, the first 10-15 hours play out like a goofy slice of life science anime. I wouldn't blame anyone for dropping this game before getting to the really interesting parts because it takes way, way too long to get there. That said, the payoff is so, so worth it.

Click to expand...

I'm currently 3 hours in and already have to force myself to continue. I cringed way too many times for such a short play time and just hope the game gets significantly better after the 15 hour mark.

The List!
Full Impressions

10. Life Is Strange - 13.2 Hours


I knew from around the 3rd episode or so I would have a hard time putting into words exactly what it is about Life Is Strange that makes me enjoy it so much. Or even how to succinctly describe it (especially without spoiling anything). At its core it's a story about people and life, the friendships you make and the effects and influence people can have over each other. Different relationships in all their manifestations, both good and bad. It captures an essence of life that is equal parts familiar and fantastical. The innocence of youth and the realities of adulthood. The (amazing) soundtrack gives the game a unique tone and voice. Writing is excellent and although the voice acting is occasionally stilted, the actual dialogue is nowhere near as bad as some hand-picked screenshots floating around GAF would have you believe. Characters are lush and full of depth, even the ones you barely get to spend time with. Everyone has their own story, personality, quirks and flaws lending heavily to the games emotional heft, which contrasts wonderfully with the games more fictional elements. And unlike a lot of games in this genre (looking at you Telltale), the choices you make can have a great deal of impact on the story and the relationships with the people around you. The mechanics compliment the story in a way that justify the game being a game instead of a novel or movie. I don't think there is a way this experience could be transferred to another medium without losing something in the translation. This unsuspecting tale about a week in the life of a teenage girl is sad, beautiful, gripping and everything in between. Life is strange indeed.

Original Post


6. Max: The Curse of Brotherhood (Finished 2/9/16, playtime 8 hrs 37 mins) - I got this game for free back in Dec as it seemed to be a bonus GwG game for XBL Gold members and overall I thought this 2.5D puzzle platformer was alright as it had a few decent puzzle platforming sections and wasn't too hard to finish. Also the game's story wasn't too bad and the game (for the most part) transitioned seamlessly between story cutscenes & gameplay. &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;

Ok, this will be my spot.

Last year I didn't finish a lot of games and almost for sure I won't beat the threshold this years neither. But this is a good way to track my backlog and somehow it force me to discover new amazing games.

Game 1
Star Wars: Battlefront
Platform: PC (Origin)
Hours: About 8h
Status: Multiplayer
Opinion: Not so good, for starwars enthusiasts.

Game 2
Hearts of Stone (DLC)
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 12h
Status: Finished.
Opinion: Excellent. Best DLC ever.

Game 3
Rocket League
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 490h and counting.
Status: Multiplayer
Opinion: Really good. Very addictive game that the only requirement to enjoy it is to play it with a controller.

Game 4
The Witness
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 17h
Status: Finished with 9 zones plus the mountain.
Opinion: It's more a different and amazing experience more than a puzzle videogame. Really appreciate how well polished is this game.

Game 5
Fifa 15
Platform: PS4
Hours: 10h
Status: Multiplayer local parties
Opinion: Yes, I'm still playing this game. Too many years already playing PES and FIFA, it's the perfect excuse when a friend comes home.

Game 6
Endless Legend
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 10h
Status: Two unfinished games.
Opinion: Not a bad game, but I realised don't feel in the mood of playing a 4X right now. The game is quite good in fact, they take the good things of Civ5 and set them in a fantasy world. I maybe will play it more another time.

Game 7
Black Desert
Platform: PC
Hours: 30h
Status: Reached level 30
Opinion: Very mediocre game, not bad at all but not enough to spend the much time. The combat is good and the graphics excellent but fails being too grindy and the lack of deep with the missions that you pick.

Game 8
Dark Souls III
Platform: PS4
Hours: 40h
Status: Finished, played some online.
Opinion: I enjoyed quite a lot Dark Souls I and never played the II because the bad reviews. I bought the game with some doubts but I ended being really happy about it. The game is very good and have some of the best bosses in all Souls series. For the bad side, the ending was kind of disappointing as I expected they will tell something more about the next era, but overall the story is ok.

Game 9
Stellaris
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 34h
Status: Two NGs.
Opinion: I started this game with the Endless Legend being still fresh and I don't know if it was the right time or the space theme but this 4X really catch me. The game is very addictive and enough complex to have hard times if you do stupid things like trying to be the king of the universe against all others species.

Game 10
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 75h
Status: Finished main story.
Opinion: Impressed about the quality of this expansion, the story and the dungeons are really fun, and also the whole game feels really alive to play even a year after.

Game 11
Uncharted 4
Platform: PS4
Hours: 6h
Status: Not finished.
Opinion: Really good graphics and I feel that the people who enjoy this kind of games will find it a masterpiece, sadly it's not for me. I really liked the story but bored the gameplay, but I guess it's just me that I don't like stealth games.

Game 12
Blood and Wine (DLC)
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: ~27h
Status: Finished main story and a lot of side quests.
Opinion: Not as good as the first DLC for this GOTY but unquestionable very good. 100% recommended.

Game 13
No Man's Sky
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 11h
Status: Not Finished.
Opinion: Great idea but fails with the price and the expectations somebody has when pays 60&#8364; for it. A game that would recommend to buy it if it's 15&#8364;, for 60&#8364; is not worth it.

Game 14
Pokemon GO
Platform: iOS (iPhone SE)
Hours: ~8h
Status: Didn't catch'em all.
Opinion: Good idea that really was a revolution for a lot of people. I still enjoyed more Ingress than this game, but I can understand why today's children enjoy this a lot, the me from 20 years ago will like it a lot, now I got bored after few hours.

Game 15
Overwatch
Platform: PC (Battle.net)
Hours: 40h
Status: Multiplayer
Opinion: Good shooter with not so very deep strategy. But still enjoyable and with the gameplay quality that Blizzard give to their products.

Game 16
Golf With Your Friends
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 2h
Status: Multiplayer
Opinion: First point, this isn't golf, it's mini golf. Second point, this game is the hell on earth, specially playing with shape balls, welcome to a world of torture and pain. Also the chat and the background silly music will help you to remain the pain. The game will be something to have in mind always thinking that this isn't golf, it's minigolf very different.

Game 17
Mushihimesama
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 1,5h
Status: Normal mode, tried hard,ultra.
Opinion: The game let you die and restart at the same point, so it's not hard in that way, but it's so hard to do it well, meaning that in ultra mode the bullethell genre takes the meaning literally. The game it self is short and I must try the 1,5 version, but I feel it's kind of good for the lovers of the shoot'em up, otherwise stay away the other people.

Game 18
Journey
Platform: PS4
Hours: ~2h
Status: Finshed, one run.
Opinion: Beautiful experience. Great game that I feel a lot of people will fall in love if they try it. The bad is that maybe some people will find it expensive for a two hour game.

Game 19
Battlefield 1
Platform: PC (Origin)
Hours: ~1,5h
Status: Multiplayer Beta
Opinion: Not as bad as I expected, I had fun but I feel it's a copy from SW: Battlefront changing few models and textures. Not worth it for me.

Game 20
Destiny
Platform: PS4
Hours: 5h
Status: Multiplayer
Opinion: I gave Destiny another change, but it doesn't get me. I guess console shooters aren't for me. Or lately maybe shooters.

Game 21
Bloodborne
Platform: PS4
Hours: 30h
Status: Finished
Opinion: Really good game, for me it's at the second position of the souls game, being the Dark Souls 1 the king. I'm not a gan of the victorian setting but really loved all the lore involved in the world. The combat was fantastic and I didn't feel the shield was missing so really a big point for the game.

Game 22
Civilization VI
Platform: PC (Steam)
Hours: 53h
Status: Two games, two victories, cultural and cientist.
Opinion: It's a fun game but I found some critical issues with the AI, mainly with the war managing units. Otherwise the turns feels more fun to play, either the start, medium or final of the campaign. It would recomend it if they fix the AI.


Currently playing:
-Lumines puzzle and music
-The Last Guardian
-FFXV

Backlog:
-Cities: Skylines
-Ogre Tactics
-Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
-Lords of the Fallen
-Hyper Light Drifter
-Divinity: Original Sin EE
-Pillars of Eternity
-Undertale
-Final Fantasy Tactics
-Firewatch
-Persona 4 Golden
-Amnesia: Memories

Archive Post


Game 7 - Firewatch[PC] &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;
This was a masterfully crafted, utterly engaging experience. I didn't even think it was possible for a "walking simulator" to keep me so enthralled, but here we are. The sense of isolation is so powerful the paranoia sets in almost immediately, and powerful performances by the cast suck you in and don't let go. I don't think it's for everyone. Some may feel unsatisfied by how the story plays out, and what it doesn't deliver, but personally, I loved the direction they took with it. It was much more level-headed and mature. Special mention goes to the excellent soundtrack, which just seemed to kick in with flawless timing throughout. It's expensive for a 3 hour experience with little replay value, but it really nails it from start to finish.

OT

So this weekend I knocked 2 more games off the list.

First up I finished Earth Defense Force 2025 co-op with my Girlfriend. SHe really enjoyed all of the mindless shooting and destruction. It was a fun arcade style game with oh so many levels. I will pick up the others soon. Had way to much fun with it not to.

Up next was Life is Strange. Man I knew this was good and got a lot of praise from well everywhere and everyone but hot damn. So, so, so good. If you look past all the teen drama (which I believe adds to the charm) There is some awesome stuff to deal with and the perma situations are handled so well. I highly recommend this to anyone who plays games.

Original post


17. Kami (Android, 2013) - 3:06
All Classic levels completed with perfect scores.

Kami is a puzzle game built around the fill tool of an image editor: you're presented with intricate block patterns of multiple colours, and told to turn those patterns into a solid field of colour in as few moves as possible. The game adopts the aesthetic of folding paper, which looks and acts so much like the real thing that you can almost feel the grain of the paper as you tap the individual squares. Between the presentation and the sheer joy of watching islands of colour slowly get absorbed into a sea of a different colour, Kami is, above all else, relaxing to play even when the solutions are just out of reach.

The one downside is that you run out of puzzles rather quickly. Maybe the game's core mechanic can only support so many iterations before it grows stale, though I never tired of it personally. Or maybe additional puzzles were destined to be sold as in-app purchases, though thankfully it's not particularly egregious here: two additional sets of 9 levels are available for purchase, but the game comes with five full sets so you'll get a pretty good sense of what the game offers regardless of your disposition towards in-app purchases.

It's a bite-size treat, but Kami is a satisfying puzzle game for short commutes and idle moments.

OP

Game 00: Bravely Second: End Layer Demo (3DS) 05/02/16 - 08/02/16 7.5 Hours
This is just a demo but I felt I needed to put it on my list of games played because of the quality time I spent on the demo but it won't be counted towards my challenge. Much like the demo of the first Bravely Default, the demo is almost like a prologue to the main game but really it shows the many mechanics and some of the characters you get to meet and use. I managed to unlock all the bonuses that will transfer to the main game but I haven't gotten 20 villagers yet because that requires StreetPass and the demo isn't officially out yet, which makes it hard to find 20 StreetPass users with the demo.

Game 11: Firewatch (PC) 10/02/16 - 10/02/16 3.8 Hours
Such a beautiful game set in the Wyoming wilderness but I was a bit disappointed at the end of it, I was expecting something more or different towards the end. I just didn't like the way everything unfolded in the end. Besides that and it being a bit short, everything else was great. My favourite part of the game has been the interaction between the two main characters, the voice acting and dialogue between the two was great and funny.

Currently playing:
Darkest Dungeon (PC) 25/01/16
Card Crawl (Android) 25/01/16
Downwell (Android) 28/01/16

Game 8: Firewatch (PC) ~ 6 Hours



It is firewatch, good game, some flawed execution in ideas. Would recommend.

OP

Number 5

Firewatch. It was different but felt like the reward was empty.

Main post

Click to expand...

Game #16: Pushmo (3DS) - &#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9734;

Pushmo is a pretty standard game for 3DS owners, and I think most people who have access to the eShop have probably bought it or one of its sequels. This, combined with being kinda sick, means I'm not going to talk much about this. It's a very good game, so buy it and play it if you haven't. Videos online can tell you how to play, it's pretty simple.

The List!
Full Impressions

11. Firewatch - 4.6 Hours


Sadly, I think this kind of misses the mark. The story felt like it was building to something much grander or sinister, and in the end it was rather mundane. The game never stops to let the player breathe or exist in the world. From minute one the game presents a sense of urgency to accomplish tasks, never giving the player a chance to explore the world without feeling like you're betraying the narrative. Which might actually be a good thing because, in spite of it being "open world," the trails you take are entirely curated and inorganic. Far too often you are gated off by shrubbery, dams, boulders, steep inclines and the like, constantly being funneled down a predetermined path instead of having the freedom to find your own way. The devs said in testing people constantly complained about getting lost, leading to the player icon being added to the map, always tracking your exact position and I'm completely flabbergasted how that would be possible. Even with it turned off I almost never needed to refer to the map to know where I was, only to figure out which direction I needed to head to get to where I was going. As a whole, the world felt sadly artificial. Similarly to the narrative, the relationship between the player character and Delilah feels empty and lacking payoff. The dialogue choices you make seem to have no bearing on anything other than the flavor of the conversation. Maybe it was the choices I made, but the relationship felt superficial and unrewarding. The entire time I was questioning design choices. It seems the game exists to serve the narrative, rather than the other way around which is baffling considered the lackluster conclusion. I question why this is a game at all? It could just as easily exist as an animated movie or short story with no loss of experience. The game rushes you down a path to an unsatisfying end rather than letting you find your own way there. Let me explore and wander onto the next plot point myself, rather than ushering me along with a constant, "You need to go here and do this!" in my ear. Slow the pace of the game down, let me feel like a natural part of the world rather than an observer and the end result would have been entirely more satisfying. I'm reminded of criticisms of The Revenant. It's a fine game and competently made and gorgeous to look at but, I question what the point of it is or what I was supposed to get out of it. Overall, a hollow experience.

Master Post

Click to expand...

Game #9: Mario and Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS) | 30 hours | 02/03/2016 | 4/5

Great game. Better than Dream Team which failed to hold my attention. Story is rather derivative and crap, utilizing only the standard Mario characters rather than delving into the original characters the series had made in the past. The game more than makes up for it in its great combat additions (Paper Mario is great, if a little broken) and fun enemies to fight, including some great boss fights. Add enjoyable gameplay diversions in papercraft battles and toad rescue operations (though I think I liked these more than others), and you get a solid experience.



Game #10: [Replay] Life is Strange (PS4) | ~12 hours | 02/07/2016 | 4.5/5

Initially played this on PC last year, bought the physical edition for PS4 and earned the platnium. Was in my top 10 last year. Hella fun game. Enjoyed it this time around as much as I did the first.

Original post


18. Firewatch (PC, 2016) - 3:51
Completed the campaign.

It's hard to say much about Firewatch without spoiling its story, so I'll just say this: it's a gorgeous game with some great dialogue and an intriguing story that's less about the particulars of its plot and more about how the people in it relate to one another and to the people they love. I liked it, though it didn't rock my world or anything. I do find that I'm strangely less enthusiastic about the game than I expected to be, though.

Game #10 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence [PS2 Classics]
Time Played: ~6 hours



I was playing DMC3 and had a moment of clarity where I stopped and decided to go play a bad game. There's been something really fun and therapeutic about playing some solid 6/10's this year.

The biggest issue I can see in this game is that its way too Castlevania. Here's a series that just did not translate to 3D the way it ought to have. More baffling is the number of attempts they made at the transition just to learn nothing. This is as far back as I can see myself going. Castlevania 64 is rooooooough, but this is a simple and playable action game that's pretty short and easy. It didn't overstay its welcome, but I'll admit to bumrushing the end of this game. I think I missed out on a ton of items.

There's some baffling design decisions. Despite it being the big PS2 3D break for the series, I can count maybe three rooms in the entire game that are actually vertically designed or take any advantage of that fancy new dimension. The combat is acceptable, but they chose to slow drip basic combat skills in at the slowest pace in what I can only decipher as an invisible experience system. I got new skills at seemingly random spacing.

There are tons of sub weapon abilities, something I really loved, but by the end I just stuck with one or two. Mainly, I loved just chucking Holy Water in monster's faces. Of course, for some reason that didn't work on the final boss at all. In fact, it triggered a counterattack. I don't know if that's a immunity to Holy damage, or just an immunity to sub-weapons since they would have trivialized the fight.

A final boss who is
As one final gripe, Leon Belmont's design is atrocious. If I didn't have it sealed away in a box in my closet, I would think that I accidentally put in Bujingai: The Forsaken City. Try and tell me that Leon Belmont is not secretly Gackt.

Late entry.

Completed the challenge last year, but this year with trying to tackle some of the RPGs in my backlog, I don't know....but here goes:

1. Brothers - PS4
Completed Main Story: 1/29/16
Time: ~4 hours
Rating: 3/5

Quick short game that was good to play while taking breaks from the next game on the list. Even near endgame still had to adjust a bit with the control scheme, but it wasn't too distracting for me. This game also shows how you can "tell a good story" without comprehensible dialogue.

2. Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin - XBox One
Completed Main Story + DLC: 2/1/16
Time: 65 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

Fantastic game. Bloodborne was my first "Souls" game and I fell in love with it. So when this was available for this gen of consoles I had to pick it up. I really enjoyed this game and is definitely one of the best games I've played in the last few years. I do understand some of the criticisms of the game (e.g. Mobs and Mob Bosses to "enhance" the difficulty) I look forward to playing DSIII and will hope they make DS1 backwards compatible on XB1 and/or available on PSNow at the time of it's release so I can play it as well.

3. Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Xbox One
Completed Main Story: 2/1/16
Time: ~12 hours
Rating: 4/5

I first started the campaign when the game first came out last Nov. Played a couple of missions and was bored. Started playing it again last month and really got into it. Turns out this was probably my favorite CoD campaign since the original Modern Warfare. (though in fairness, I don't buy CoD every year and the only other ones I've played are Black Ops 1 and 2 and Advanced Warfare) Have dabbled in Zombies and put in about 10 hours in standard MP. Overall a good package IMO. Will continue to play MP and get more into Zombies as the year goes on.

4. Destiny + Dark Below DLC+ House of Wolves DLC - PS4
Completed Main Story + DLCs: 2/9/16
Time: ~20 hours
Rating: 4/5

Despite Destiny's flaws that have been discussed frequently, it's still a really good FPS with great gunplay. Will likely get into the Taken King later this year as it seems to have good word-of-mouth and sounds to have substantial content to it.

5. DmC: Devil May Cry - PS4
Completed Main Campaign: 2/12/16
Time: 7 hours
Rating: 4/5

I'm not the biggest fan of character action games (nor the best at them); but my favorite has always been the original Devil May Cry. I skipped 2 as it had bad reviews/word-of-mouth; picked up then dropped 3 after awhile and skipped 4. I got this on a PSN sale and had money to burn. I liked it a lot. At first I was a bit unsure, but I really enjoyed it and is probably the most fun I had playing a game in this genre since I played the original DMC on the PS2 or the Ninja Gaiden reboot on OGXbox. For people who were heavily invested in the original lore/characters/series, I understand their frustrations/criticisms with the games as I like the original timeline Dante, etc much better than this reboot. But gameplay-wise I enjoyed a lot, much more than what Platinum puts out now.

6. RC Pro-AM - Rare Replay - XB1
Completed all Milestones: 2/15/16
Time: 4 hours
Rating: 4/5

I Loved this game back on the NES. When I had a Wii I was hoping it would come to VC (I didn't realize the IP was owned by Rare at that time), so when I saw it was part of Rare Replay I was very happy. Still a fun game to play and the game "held up well" almost 3 decades later.

7. Unravel - XB1
Completed Main Story: 2/15/16
Time: 5 hours
Rating: 4/5

This is a fun short game. The graphics and world design are amazing. One of the best puzzle platformers I've played (not that I've played many).

8. Final Fantasy Type-0 HD - PS4
Completed Main Story: 2/25/16
TIme: 22 hours
Rating: 3.5/5

This is the first Final Fantasy I've played since FFX on the PS2. Despite my somewhat lower rating, I still really enjoyed the game. It just didn't have enough for me to want to try to play through a 2nd time to do all the things and see all the cutscenes you can't see on your first playthrough. The battle mechanics were interesting and I liked the Breakpoint/Killpoint mechanics. The only thing that is disappointing to me is the story. I think the story itself is really good (I had to read through a wiki page of it after I completed to tie everything together) but they way it's presented really shreds it. If they would have presented it more cohesively, it would have been one of my favorite RPGs.

9. Battlefront - PS4
Completed all Missions and significant MP playtime: 2/25/16
Time: 20 hours
Rating 4/5

It's a MP Star Wars game that has a great presentation. As a Star Wars fan it's really fun to play. I don't think it's that light on content either, and will keep coming back to this game with the free updates they do and once the DLC packs start dropping.

10. Street Fighter V - PS4
Completed Story Prologues; Easy Survival with all characters/Normal with Ryu; Now Super Bronze Level in Ranked; ~240Ranked matches: 2/25/16
Time: ?? Guessing ~15 hours but unsure so far
Rating: 4/5

I haven't enjoyed a fighting game this much since SFII on the SNES days. The core gameplay is great and I'm enjoying myself even though I'm definetely on the left-half of the bell curve in skill level. The criticisms of the game are warranted and it's what keeping the game from getting a 5/5 on my scale. I played Normal Survival mode yesterday and now understand others frustrations. It's tedious to go through ~28 very easy opponents to get to Necalli that ramps up the difficulty then to M. Bison that absolutely wrecks me.

11. Rise of the Tomb Raider - XB1
Completed Campaign: 3/1/16
Time: 18 hours
Rating: 4/5

This is a really good game. It's more of the same from the Tomb Raider 2013 reboot, but that's not a bad thing. With the other games I've played lately it was a great change of pace and I didn't mind that it was pretty linear (for me as I didn't get wrapped up with the hundreds of collectibles). The graphics were really good in my book.

12. RC Pro-Am II - Rare Replay - XB1
Completed all Milestones: 3/1/16
TIme: 2 hours?
Rating 4/5

Loved the first RC Pro-am and this is a good sequel to that.

13. Ultra Street Fighter IV - PS4
Completed Arcade Mode with numerous characters/completed online matches and training challenges: 3/14/16
Time: 4-5 hours
Rating: 4/5

Been loving SFV, but have recently had an itch for true arcade mode. Also recently got a fightstick for the first time so wanted to get used to it against CPU. Redownloaded USFIV and played for awhile. Good game, but SFV gameplay and graphics are much better. Hopefully they bring back Arcade mode for scrubs like me.

14. Garden Warfare 2 - PS4
Completed all story missions/Multiple Garden Ops/MP: 3/15/16
Time: 6-7 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

Really fun game. This and Halo 5 are the most fun I've had with a shooter this gen so far. Will keep this on my hard drive for those pick up and play moments.

15. The Division - XB1
Completed main story: 3/30/16
Time: 32 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

Had a great time with this game. Liked it a lot better than Destiny. One of the few games I have gotten sucked into the loot-play. I haven't spent that much time in the Dark Zone and have only done a few of the Daily missions, but it's a game I'll likely keep coming back to over and over.

16. Killer Instinct Season 1 - XB1
Completed story mode with each character: 4/1/16
Time: 7 hours
Rating: 4/5

Never had any interest in this game but got for free with GwG in January. Decided to try it out and really enjoyed it. My only issue with the game is that, to me, a noob, it seems to really over-emphasize the combo system. Still a really fun game.

17. Life is Strange - XB1
Completed all episodes: 4/1/16
Time: 11 hours
Rating: 4/5

Really enjoyed this interactive story....um, I mean game. The storyline was good and the soundtrack was very very good. I missed a lot of the optional interactions/photos, but I'm ok with that, this is a game I'm more into the main story and wanted to see what happened next.

18. Quantum Break - XB1
Completed main story: 4/11/16
Time: 10 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

Great game. I haven't played any of Remedy's previous games (though I will play Alan wake now) and was impressed with the storytelling in conjunction with the gameplay. The time powers really help enhance the game play. It's nice to see big games come out that aren't open world and are fairly linear. This game has me wanting to go back an replay and choose the opposite of what I did before in the Junctions to see the alternate story tidbits.

19. Mad Max - XB1
Completed Main Story: 4/21/16
Time: 22 hours
Rating: 3.5/5

Not a bad game, but pretty much a typical cookie-cutter open-world game styled after the Ubisoft formula. The car combat is what they used to try to set themselves apart from the rest. The combat system is fashioned after the Batman formula so works well. The first real area of the game I spent time clearing out all the side missions, etc. but realized how monotonous and boring it was getting so for the most part the rest of the game just spent pushing through the story missions while clearing out some camps and a few side stuff here and there.

20. Rainbow Six: Siege - XB1
Completed all situations and spent time both PvE and PvP multiplayer
Time: 15 hours and counting
Rating: 4/5

Was going to skip this game as I had gotten a lot of shooters last fall when this game out. But bought it on a (drunken) whim when it was on sale at the Xbox store. Really glad I did. Been having a lot of fun with this game and it's a very nice change of pace from the other shooters I mentioned previously. I'm not very good at the game, so stick more with team-based Terrorist Hunt that PvP, but still having fun and enjoying it.

21. Gears of War 2 - XB1/Xbox 360 BC
Completed Main Story: 5/10/16
Time: 8-9 hours
Rating: 4/5

Got this "free" with the other Gear games when I picked up Gears1 Remastered last summer. Had played this through when it first came out and now playing again to ramp up to Gears 4. Thought this game held up really well for a 7 year old game. Haven't ever played Gears 3 or Judgement before so looking forward to those.

22. New Super Mario Brothers - DS/WiiU VC
Completed: 5/11/16
Time: 5 hours
Rating 4/5

After a previous unrelated thread on GAF where people where discussing about time spent on games for the WiiU, it made me realize that even though I like the console, I don't really play it much. Decided to pick a short game out of my VC backlog to play. This is a nice update to the classic Super Mario games from the 2D era. A little easier than what I remember those being overall (esp the NES games), but the last 'normal' level and the last two castles in world 8 did give me some trouble.

23. MLB'16 The Show - PS4
Through 2 seasons of RttS as well as time spent in Diamond Dynasty
Time: 25+ hours and counting
Rating: 5/5

Love this game. Best baseball game - either from the Show franchise or otherwise - I've ever played. This is the first year I've played anything but Franchise and am hooked. I haven't even started my franchise yet. I have sunk a lot of hours into this game and will continue to play this throughout the year. Just marking it off my list for now as I felt I have spent considerable time with it.

24. Dragon's Age Inquisition - XB1
Completed main story: 5/16/16
Time: 38 hours
Rating: 4/5

I had started DA: O on the PS3 years ago and dropped it roughly halfway. Never played DA2. Playing through this game, I thought it was a solid game. As per my stated playtime, I obviously skipped many of the fetch quests, and even most of the inner circle quests, etc. The game was good, but I couldn't see myself spending a whole lot more time on it so pushed through the story so I could move on.

25. Uncharted 4 - PS4
Completed main story: 5/18/16
Time: 13 hours for main story and spent an hour or two in MP
Rating: 5/5

Amazing game. What a fantastic way to end this series. Took all the previous elements of UC games and improved them, while still adding a new mechanic that felt like a natural implementation to gameplay and not forced or overused like some games do (see reference: Batmobile/Arkham Knight). Played MP a tad. It's not bad, just with all my other MP games, it won't be vying for my time. SP is where this game is at and it's great. (again, MP is solid, just IMO lacks compares to other alternatives)

26. The Taken King - PS4
Completed Main Story: 5/20/16
Time: 9 hours
Rating: 3.5/5

The gameplay of Destiny is so good. And I'll give Bungie credit in trying to up the SP quality with cutscenes, voice acting etc compared to the vanilla game or 2 DLC packs. But despite all this, I have gotten tired of Destiny (without even playing it nearly as long as many) and have moved on.

27. Bastion - PS4
Completed Main story: 5/20/16
Time: 4 hours
Rating: 5/5

I really loved this game. Was such a fun game to just sit down and play through. Good gameplay mechanics without needlessly making things complicated. Bought it off a PSN flash sale based off WoM here, and so glad I did. Easily one of the best games I've enjoyed this year.

28. Dark Souls - XB1 BC
Completed Main Story + DLC: 6/9/16
Time: ~40 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

This was my first time playing Dark Souls 1. Praise the BC Sun.
As with the other two Soulsborne games I've played, it's a great experience. As others have said, the last sections aren't quite as good as the beginning, but still a great game. It made me want to jump right into Dark Souls III (which I have a bit)

29. Transistor - PS4
Completed Main Story: 6/10/16
Time: 4-5 hours
Rating: 4/5

Got this on PS+ last year but never started it. After playing through Bastion last month, I decided it was time to finally play this. It's a good game, I liked Bastion better, but it is still good in it's own right and I appreciate them trying to change their formula up a little bit.

30. Halo 5 (Replay) - XB1
Completed Main Campaign on Heroic: 6/13/16.
Time: ~6 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

I beat this on Normal when it first came out, decided to replay it again on Heroic. The campaign does have some negative moments (Warden fights), but it is still a great campaign and I think gets a bit of undue negative criticism.

31. Overwatch - PS4
MP play - ~5 hours
Rating: 3/5

I'm probably one of 10 people on Earth who played Overwatch and didn't really click with it. It seems to be a solid and fun game, but I have so many FPS MP games (Battlefront, Halo 5, R6, CoD) that I've played this year that this just seemed meh to me after the first couple of hours. Frankly, all it did was make me want to go back and play more Halo. One of the few games I sold off this gen.

32. Gears of War 3 - XB1 BC
Completed Main Story - 6/23/16
Time: 7-8 hours
Rating: 3.5/5

This is the first time I played Gears 3. While they added a couple elements to try to change up the gameplay, it's still very same-old/same-old from the first two. After playing the Gears 1 remaster, Gears 2 and now Gears 3 in the last 10 months, I've had my fill of Gears for awhile. Even cancelled my Gears 4 pre-order.

33. Limbo - XB1
Completed Main Story - 7/3/16
Time: 3 hours
Rating: 4/5

Had always heard about this game, but never played it. Since it was free during E3, decided to try it to see if Inside might be worth the hype. Really good game, the artwork and atmosphere setting was great. Some of the puzzles were a little frustrating due to the "try and die" nature until you find the trick. Perfect length too for a game of this nature

34. Dark Souls 3 - XB1
Completed Main Story - 7/7/16
Time: ~30 hours
Rating: 5/5

Another Souls game. Another great adventure. My favorite of the three in the Dark Souls trilogy - but I still like Bloodborne more. I find it amusing how much flak DS2 gets on here and for design designs and blame it on the "B" team, yet I noticed more than 1 element from that game make it over to the 3rd game and it appears to me that it doesn't get the same amount of flak. That aside, still a great game and will be happy when the DLC hits.

35. Portal - Mac
Completed Main Story - 7/7/16
Time: 2-3 hours
Rating: 4/5

Another older game I had never played before. Really good mechanics to the game esp for as old as it is. The Glados dialogue was well-done and made me laugh a few times. Another game that I enjoyed it, but also really appreciate that they kept it concise without fluffing it up with too much content that would bore me.

36. Inside - XB1
Completed Main Story - 7/10/16
Time: 3.5 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

Since I enjoyed my time in Limbo, I went ahead and bought this. Really glad I did. They took the gameplay/concept of Limbo and really improved on it. The artwork, atmosphere setting, etc is also fantastic. Great game

37. Knight Squad - XB1
Completed all challenges + Extra games played - 7/11/16
Time: 2.5 hours
Rating: 3.5/5

So got this with GwG but had never played it. Was looking through my XB1 library and even though I had a lot of storage space, was going to remove some games that I wasn't planning on playing in order to remove some tiles in the library. Hit the wrong button and this launched. Thought what the hell and started playing it. Was really surprised by it. Reminds me so much of Gauntlet (which I'm assuming was their inspiration) from back in the day. Had a blast playing it, and with co-op mode, am able to play it with my sons.

38. Journey - PS4 (Replay)
Completed Main Story: 8/3/16
Time: 2 hours
Rating: 4/5

Replayed this to get myself in the mood to play ABZU. Even on a replay still a great experience and beautiful game........

39. ABZU - PS4
Completed Main Story: 8/5/16
Time: 2-3 hours
Rating: 4/5

Expected a good game given the lineage, and it was received. Beautiful, beautiful game. The style is perfect for the setting. I thought a lot of things were done better in it than Journey (setting, gameplay of note), but the story of Journey was more impactful. Not that ABZU story was bad, just not the same impact.

40. Gravity Rush Remastered - PS4
Completed Main Story: 8/8/16
Time: ?? Maybe 8-10 hours? Not for sure
Rating: 4/5

Never would have even considered the game if it wasn't for the word of mouth here on GAF. Glad I listened. Really fun game. Can be a little disorienting at times, but I think that is intended as part of the "experience." From a gameplay perspective, the combat was borderline 'meh.' but the rest of the game was nails. Will play the sequel, but don't know if I would pay a full $60 for it.

41. Borderlands - XB1
Completed Main Story: 8/10/16
Time: ~20 hours
Rating: 4/5

Never played this before, so was great it was part of GwG this year and BC. Really fun game and despite it's structure, didn't get too repetitive for me. Got the Handsome Collection for the PS4, so will likely start playing that later this year.

42. Bound - PS4
Completed Main Story: 8/17/16
Time: ~ 2 hours
Rating: 3/5

Game has great artwork and actually enjoyed the story elements to it. Was neat to see how the obstacles you face tie into the overall narrative. Got this during the PLAY promotion, but otherwise, not quite enough to it IMO to justify a $20 pricetag.

43. Far Cry Primal - XB1
Completed Main Story: 8/19/16
Time: ~17 hours
Rating: 3.5/5

Loved Far Cry 4 and took a chance on this game realizing it would have distinct differences in gameplay. The melee combat didn't feel quite right, though taming and using the animals was quite fun.......but the rest of the game was pretty much more Far Cry.

44. Injustice - PS4 (Replay)
Completed Story: 8/19/16
Time: 4 hours
Rating: 4/5

Played this on the PS3, but picked it up again when on sale on PSN last month. Really enjoy this game. I don't care for the gameplay/fighting mechanics as much as SFV, but it puts SFV to shame in the story presentation and depth of SP content.

45. Super Mario Maker - WiiU
Time Spent: 10 hours
Rating: 4/5

I'm not the best at content creation, but a lot of fun with my kids to play with this. Also really enjoy playing others uploaded levels and seeing how crazy they are.

46. Gears of War Judgment - XB1
Completed Main Story: 8/23/16
Time Spent: 7 hours
Rating: 4.5/5

Finished playing though all the previous Gears games in anticipation for October. I actually had a lot of fun with this game and enjoyed it more than 3. Probably since it did a different take on the formula and after playing the original trilogy all within the last year, I got a smidge burnt out on it. The dialogue between the characters also was more enjoyable to me than the typical Gears games and I like Baird much more than Fenix.

47. Super Meat Boy - Vita
Completed Main Story (The End): 9/7/16
Time spent: ? 5 hours maybe?
Rating: 4.5/5

Super tough platformer, but is a lot of fun and great mechanics. This game is a great fit for the Vita/handhelds with the ability to play in bursts and the short levels. While I understand there is a "true ending" there is no way I'm good enough to beat the Dark World so I'm fine calling it quits after beating the initial ending.

48. Forza 6 - Porsche DLC - XBox 1
Completed career mode: 9/16/16
Time Spent: ~7 hours
Rating: 4/5

More Forza 6 which is both good and bad. The gameplay itself is great, but my main complaint about Forza 6 is still here - in that all progression is finishing in the top 3 of the next race. Since there is a lot of content to this DLC, I'm going to count it as a game as it's more of an old-school expansion than what is now called "DLC" these days

49. Madden 16 - XB1 (Replay)
Completed Season: 9/17/16

This is a replay. Played through another season in Career mode to get ready for the new (American) football season. Madden 16 is still a great game and probably my favorite Madden game of all time - only surpassed by the old NCAA football games.

50. Street Fighter Alpha - Vita
Completed Arcade Mode mutliple times: 9/19/16
Time Spent: 2 hours
Rating: 4/5

Bought this for the super-cheap on a PSN sale (as well as 2 and 3). Classic Street fighter. not much else to be said.

51. ReCore - XB1
Finished Main Story: 10/16
Time Spent: 10ish hours
Rating 3.5/5

Completely understand why some people don't like this game, but I think it's a fun game for what it is. The $40 pricetag also made it easier to enjoy probably. Doing the sidequests all along the way also helps prevent some of the frustration many had with the endgame. All of this said while I enjoyed myself, I likely won't ever play it again.

52. Alan Wake
Finished Main Story and Two Story-based DLC: 10/16
Time Spent: 10ish hours
Rating 4.5/5

Got this free with Quantum Break and finally got around to playing it as my "Halloween-themed" game. Great game. The story-writing, etc was superbly done and some of the best I've seen in a video game. Really hope now for a sequel like so many here.

Challenge....Accepted and Completed

Master post.

Game 7 - HuniePop - About 11-12 hours.



It's easy to look at HuniePop and write it off as a bad porn game. It's unbashed in advertising what the main aim here is, and something about it looks...cheap. With this in mind, I still grabbed it on the promises of Oscar worthy writing and went in expecting a so-bad-it's-good game that I'd chuckle at for a few hours.

To my surprise, that's not what kept me. In fact, moments like the video above were few and far between. The dialogue was still very self aware and generally amusing but what I'd really spent the last 4 hours in front of my PC for was the match 3 gameplay. This is a legitimately great and challenging puzzler with a surprising amount of content that just seemed to keep unlocking the closer I got to what I kept thinking was the end.

Now admittedly I don't play many match 3 games. I went in expecting a casual Bejeweled clone that I could click at mindlessly and eventually win. After a few dates (matches), it was obvious this wasn't the case. I had to pay attention to my skill upgrades, work a strategy to complete a date in the limited amount of moves I was given, and come up with a good gift (single use items with various effects) build to make the most of my gameplay strategy. By endgame I was practically cheering at my monitor after barely squeezing out a win on my last move, or recovering from a god awful RNG progress nuke from negative effect tokens.

When the difficulty cranks up, this game gets super satisfying. And this is all on normal mode. There's a hard difficulty that I didn't attempt, I can definitely see myself going back to 100% this even after beating it. I enjoy the core gameplay that much.

All that said, this is still a game about having tons of sex which I understand will put a few people off. But if that doesn't bother you, there's a really great puzzler game to be found here. I'm not gonna try and explain the gameplay - there are a couple differences from your usual match 3 but I'm not concise nor eloquent enough - but I'm sure there's a demo should you wish to try it out. I wholeheartedly recommend this game.

Game 9: Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den - 3h
Complete
An excellent piece of DLC that adds entirely new areas and weapons to Bioshock 2's layer. Short and sweet, it doesn't overstay its welcome and has fantastic VA performance for the new characters in the campaign.

OP