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[jshackles]

Game 20 - Soul Blazer - Super Nintendo - Completed May 24th, 2019
This game is such an absolute treat, I try and replay it at least once every couple of years. The Enix SNES games were always so great and this is definitely one of my favorites. I played the game this time using Retro Arch on my Switch, with a wireless headset and a bluetooth wireless SN30 Pro controller. The game combines old school action RPG with some light puzzles and an amazing progressions system that still holds up 27 years later. The music is sublime as well, and the sound effects are on point. The last stage is kinda crazy considering a single enemy gives you almost as much EXP as the entire first world, but I can overlook some of those elements since the progression never seems unfair and you honestly have to go out of your way to "level grind" in this game as it's not really needed. I earned 74/81 achievements on Retro Achievements and I'm pretty satisfied with that.

 

[jshackles]

Game 21 - Rock Band 4 - Playstation 4 - Completed May 25th, 2019
After having a bit of trouble with my guitar that I finally got around to fixing, I figured I should also get around to "finishing" Rock Band 4. This is a game I play probably 3-4 hours a week and have for the past couple of years. It helps me to clear my mind and also helps me to relax while rocking out - I usually jump around and sing like a mad person so I also get a bit of a workout out of it. Anyway, I've finished the Rockudrama a few times already so decided to tackle the rest of the campaign mode which I largely ignored. I'll have to say, that final set list was terrible and was kind of a slog to push through. Overall though, this game is awesome and I absolutely love it. Even though I "finished it" and am watching the credit roll right now, I know I'll just keep on playing it for a long time to come.

 

[ROMhack]

8. Forgotton Anne

Time played: 8 hours (Switch)

Forgotton Anne is a Danish developed game developed by ThroughLine Games. It was made with generous donations from the Danish Film Institute, who previously helped Playdead bring LIMBO and INSIDE to life. It’s described as a ‘seamless cinematic adventure game with light puzzle platforming’. It's about an orphaned girl who lives in a parallel world where all forgotten objects co-habitat. The story follows her as she brings down rebellious lamps and seeks to restore an 'ether' bridge back to her homeworld.

In short, it’s very much like a cross between a Disney and Ghibli movie. There’s an emphasis on storytelling and lots of cutscene animations which puts it firmly in the category of ‘game that maybe shouldn’t be a game’. The gameplay is a bit cumbersome and the voice-acting isn't great but overall it's a lovely, casual, well-written, story-driven adventure.

I recommend it if that combination of words doesn't instantly make you rage.

Edit: Cut my original post down a bit.

 

[Kadayi]

14. Day of the Tentacle Remastered (100% achievement)

Beat the original years ago, but picked up the remaster a while back and figured it would be worth playing through again, though I didn't reckon with a lot of the (hidden) achievements being easily missable, so I had to do a bit of backtracking and refer to a guide for some of the less obvious ones. The game still holds up pretty well and is suitably amusing. Think I will perhaps revisit a couple more of the Lucas Art remasters. Controller friendly as well which was a bonus as I favour a lean-back experience more these days.

After a long hiatus I'm back: -

15. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Very enjoyable AA linear 3rd person action adventure. Stunning looking game, and it runs pretty well. I took my time with the game and clocked up 17 hours or so (and still have some remaining achievements to get) but I dare say it can be done a lot quicker. My only gripe would be some of the boss fights are a bit hit and miss in terms of you'll basically need to die to figure out wtf you need to do, and at a couple of points, the checkpointing can be a little iffy as you need to advance geographically. With that said, once you've cleared an area of enemies, you probably want to explore before advancing to find any collectables as you'll get locked out otherwise. Issues aside, highly recommended. It's been a while since a game has gripped me, and this one kept me pretty busy over the weekend which is no mean feat.

 

[ROMhack]

After a long hiatus I'm back: -

15. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Very enjoyable AA linear 3rd person action adventure. Stunning looking game, and it runs pretty well. I took my time with the game and clocked up 17 hours or so (and still have some remaining achievements to get) but I dare say it can be done a lot quicker. My only gripe would be some of the boss fights are a bit hit and miss in terms of you'll basically need to die to figure out wtf you need to do, and at a couple of points, the checkpointing can be a little iffy as you need to advance geographically. With that said, once you've cleared an area of enemies, you probably want to explore before advancing to find any collectables as you'll get locked out otherwise. Issues aside, highly recommended. It's been a while since a game has gripped me, and this one kept me pretty busy over the weekend which is no mean feat.

Cool, I'm really interested in this one. What games would you compare it to?

 

[Kadayi]

Cool, I'm really interested in this one. What games would you compare it to?

There's a thread here about it: -

A Plague Tale Innocence - Review tread

PC reviews: Metacritic Windows Central: 4,5/5 While there are some minor flaws with A Plague Tale: Innocence, the game as a whole is still absolutely fantastic, offering players a gripping narrative, a compelling mix of stealth and puzzle gameplay, and gorgeous audio/visuals. This is, without...

www.neogaf.com

I'll address your question there. I'd rather not shit up this thread with banter if that's ok

 

[deriks]

1. Resident Evil 2 - 15 hours
# It was everything that we hoped for. Finished both campaigns. But I think that Mr X should die like Nemesis did in RE3.

2. Devil May Cry 5 - 7 hours
# The ending was kinda "meh", but this is gameplay for the big boys. Loved a lot.

3. Titanfall 2 - 7 hours
# This is Wall-E on steroids. Really great.

4. NieR Automata - 15 hours
# It has a really deep message. Also, it's a Platinum game, so it's fun.

5. Sekiro: Shadows die Twice - more than 20 hours, less than 30
# Not my style of gaming, but I tryed hard enough to beat. I did, and yeah, it's not for me.

6. Mario Kart 8 - less than 10 hours
# Me and my friend finished all the cups in all modes in the same day. Was nice.

7. Devil May Cry 4 - less than 10 hours
# I never finished the whole thing before, but I got on PC aaaaand it was nice. The Dante part that you have to just repeat the bosses are dull. But Nice gameplay. DmC 5 is way (waaaay) better.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

24. Final Fantasy: Theatrythym (3DS) - 8/10

Have been playing this on and off for quite a while. It's simple, fun and charming. I love the music so I don't mind returning. I picked up Curtain Call recently and I hear that has much more content. I will probably jump into that sometime soon.

25. Dark Souls: Remastered (PS4) - 10/10

I have put this game off for years and years. I beat Bloodborne years ago and it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. While BB is still my fav (probably due to playing it first) I absolutely loved this game. Some areas really are a pain in the ass but there is such a relief when you unlock the shortcuts and clear your way to the boss. The feeling of taking out a major boss, like in BB, is unmatched for me in other games. I am going to take a break before DS2/3 and others but I won't be waiting years like I did for this. I finally get it now...Praise the Sun!!!

26. Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss (PS4) - 10/10

I originally wasn't going to count this but I have added much shorter games and that asshole Kalameet sealed the deal for me to include it. He gave me more trouble than any other boss in the game. I loved the DLC and I loved the unique environments and taking down these rough bosses. Kalameet kicked my ass as often as the Orphon of Kos and I rank him as one of the toughest I have fast between these two games. I still think The Old Hunters is a better DLC package but I loved these bosses and these levels that it's just as great as the main game.

 

[jshackles]

24. Final Fantasy: Theatrythym (3DS) - 8/10

Have been playing this on and off for quite a while. It's simple, fun and charming. I love the music so I don't mind returning. I picked up Curtain Call recently and I hear that has much more content. I will probably jump into that sometime soon.

Theatrhythm Curtain Call is one of my top 3DS games and usually the reason I even bother keeping my 3DS charged these days. Such a great game - if you liked the original Theatrhythm, you'll love Curtain Call.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

27. Minecraft: Story Mode Season 1 (Xbox One) - 8/10

Picked this up from the library after knowing all the Telltale stuff was in jeopardy. Glad I did after the news that this might be wiped completely with no opportunity to play it. I know absolutely nothing about Minecraft other than you build stuff. I was never interested in this game but wanted to play through their list of games. I am glad I did because I really enjoyed this. It's standard Telltale with minor gameplay but I actually found myself invested in the silly story. Since S2 is unavailable at the library I decided to just purchase it on Amazon. It's a shame that the disc will most likely be useless after 6/25.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Days Gone

60h-ish. Completed most storylines but didn't 100% the game - like, at all. Spoilers come for you.

This game was one of the hardest for me to score this year. I did enjoy it very much - after I began playing, I couldn't believe the low scores it received from the journalols. After playing quite a bit more, I saw some merit in their complaints - not enough to make this game a high 6-low 7, but enough to score it a high 7-low 8. It's closer to 8 than to 7, hence the 4 stars. But mind, the review is not going to read like a review for a 4-star game. I know and I'm sorry; when I like a game quite a bit but I see flaws, I tend to drone about its flaws more than gush about the good.

So, the main problem with Days Gone is that it overstays its welcome. By, like, a lot. The game has two differentiated halves - one that has you helping the different camps in the area in the hopes of getting help/supplies/medical assistance for your friend Boozer, and a second part where you travel south and join an anti-Freaker militia to help your wife. If this sounds disjointed, it is; Days Gone feels like two separate seasons of The Walking Dead (like, season 2 and season 4) flimsily glued together. It's like what Dragon Quest XI does with the postgame, but done much worse.

During the first 20 hours or so, I was in awe of the world, of the Hordes, of the graphics, of everything. The performance in my regular PS4 wasn't too bad, either (there are slowdowns, but they're mostly bearable). But the game dragged on an on and my interest waned - I simply stopped caring. About Deek, about Sarah, about Boozer, about Colonel John Cleese and about everyone else. And that's the worst thing that can happen with a story-driven game. The gameplay can be repetitive, but no more than most open-world games - it simply went for too long.

This is not to say that all of the journos' complaints were right, mind - most of them were bullshit. Deek is a gruff, white male, but he's also a likable protagonist (if somewhat of an asshole) that does some questionable things, but has a generally firm set of morals. There are lots of likable, strong minority characters, like Abby, Rikki, Kouri or Dr. Jimenez - hell, aside from Deek, Boozer and Sarah, most friendly NPCs are minorities. So yeah, they didn't even get that right.

If this was a 30h game that ended with the attack to the Rippers and a climatic fight with Skizzo, this could have been a GOTY. As it stands now, it's a very very good game - somewhat riddled with bugs, that the developers did their best to fix with continuous patches. Still, an absolutely recommendable game if you like the genre; it will surely wow you several times if you give it a chance.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[jshackles]

Game 22 - Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition HD - Nintendo Switch - Completed June 12th, 2019
As a fan of Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy XV, I have to say I really enjoyed the Pocket Edition of the game. While obviously it shirks the fancy graphics of the original game, I felt like it had a lot more narrow focus of it's narrative experience. The combat felt fresh and fun, though maybe a little slow at times (possibly due to the Switch not being able to keep up?) but overall it was great fun. Some of the transitions in the game, like riding the car or riding chocobos, felt fun instead boring like it was in the original game. The banter between the boys was largely intact, and by the end of the last chapter I was literally in tears. It took me about 17 hours to complete, so I'd say it shaved off about 20-25 hours over the original, and I did all the side-quests so it could have even gone faster. Beautiful game.

 

[Jack Videogames]

A Plague Tale: Innocence

11h-ish. Non-completionist run. Bring a light, there's a swarm of spoilers down there.

In the artistic side of things, A Plague Tale is faultless. A truly interesting story, a setting that has been seldom explored in videogames (apart from Crusader Kings and other similar grand-strategy games). While the facial animations are sorta dull and the chromatic aberration does the game no favors, the graphics (particularly the stages) can be breathtaking sometimes. You can see the care and dedication in every nook and cranny and the devs have done a great job inmersing you in the wonderfully disgusting Europe of the dung ages. The story starts like a realistic psychological horror drama a la Silent Hill, and little by little becomes a supernatural action-stealth (with a heavy focus on stealth) game, ending in an absurdly epic, very satisfying climax.

Gameplay-wise, though, while not unpleasant, A Plague Tale is not without its share of troubles. Mostly because of the controls: the stealth part works well, but changing ammunition and actually firing feels really clunky. Considering Amicia is doomed once any enemy comes too close to her, you'll be always in tension, as Amicia feels really defenseless - and not in a good way. This problem gets exacerbated when Hugo gets his rat-controlling ability, which is really hard to control well due to the way the camera always seems to get in the way at the worst possible time.

But even with those issues, you will want to keep pressing forward. The game is really worth it. I just hope there's no sequel - the story is perfectly contained as it is.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[jshackles]

Game 23 - Cadence of Hyrule - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jun 14th, 2019
I loved the idea of Crypt of the Necrodancer and Legend of Zelda getting a mashup, so I bought this game when it released. It took me about 7 hours to complete which is a little on the short side, but the game was so much fun that I can't help but recommend it even at full price. I had only played Necrodancer for a few hours years ago, so it took me a bit to get a hang of the controls. Once I did, we were off to the races. The art style and music was a great homage to A Link to the Past (my favorite Zelda game) so I found this to be a great experience. I somehow missed the flippers and about 5 heart pieces, but I think I got just about everything else. I could definitely see myself replaying this game as one of the other characters, easily.

 

[Kadayi]

After a long hiatus I'm back: -

15. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Very enjoyable AA linear 3rd person action adventure. Stunning looking game, and it runs pretty well. I took my time with the game and clocked up 17 hours or so (and still have some remaining achievements to get) but I dare say it can be done a lot quicker. My only gripe would be some of the boss fights are a bit hit and miss in terms of you'll basically need to die to figure out wtf you need to do, and at a couple of points, the checkpointing can be a little iffy as you need to advance geographically. With that said, once you've cleared an area of enemies, you probably want to explore before advancing to find any collectables as you'll get locked out otherwise. Issues aside, highly recommended. It's been a while since a game has gripped me, and this one kept me pretty busy over the weekend which is no mean feat.

Still the same, but 100%ed it (which required a full playthrough again) Legit great game. I hope it gets some recognition come awards season in some fashion.

 

[BurstZyn]

Yakuza Kiwami (PS4):
Story: The year is 1995, Kazuma Kiryu, the main protagonist, is a high ranking Yakuza lieutenant of the Tojo Clan with a formidable reputation as the "Dragon of Dojima". He is respected and feared, and shares most of his time with his best friend Nishikiyama, his friend Reina, and the girl he secretly loves Yumi. If certain things don't get in his way, such as his as rival that constantly tests him, Majima Goro. Things seem great for Kiryu, until one night he is setup for murder that puts him for 10 years. 2005 he returns to Kamurocho to find his love missing, his best friend a ruthless clan leader, 10 billion dollars stolen from the clan, and a 9 year old girl that is looking for her mother. So much happens to Kiryu as he tries to solve the mystery and fight for his friends.
Gameplay: Much is added to this remake of the original, along with new mini games, new story added cutscenes and elements, and The Majima Everywhere system, which allows his rival to pop out of anywhere and as anything just to test out his rival's skills in combat. The game is a 3D Beat Em Up with 4 styles to switch in between: Rush, Brawler, Beast, and Dragon, and as an added addition to game's combat you can now do Kiwami moves against Bosses, which are Extreme Heat Moves that stops them from healing. The game represents the original PS2 game but redesign from the ground up in the Yakuza 0 engine, with better framerate, graphics, loading times, and textures.
Art Style/ Music: Same as Yakuza 0, looks great in a mid 2000 urban Japan setting! The music again is awesome and can really intensify the situation.
Gripes: Same gripe with 0, but I would say this game had boss fights that were really damn hard but doable, and others that just felt annoying as shit that I was surprised to beat in one go. In order to beat those boss fights though, I did have to go through a shit ton of health and heat items.
Additional Info: Coming back to this game after 14 years is a fun little trip down memory lane, and it was exciting to actually be able to beat this game this time. I would say this one is harder than 0, but both are excellent starting entries into the series if you wish to join.
Score: 4/5

21. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (Xbone):
Story: You play as David Young, a retired Boston PD officer now detective who is trying to solve the murder of his lost love Little Peggy. He has no memory of the night, just waking up in a hospital bed with a bullet lodged in his head. He collects clues related to Little Peggy's last words "Look For D..." When he comes across any evidence or "Momentos", he can use his new found "gift" to travel back in time relevant to the Momento. Try to solve the crime as you come across wacky and strange characters, such as your cat who looks like a chick running around in a leotard and fashion designer who trots around with his "partner" a stylish mannequin named Suki, and more.
Gameplay: It is more of a narrative driven game with gameplay consistent of quicktime events and dialogue choices that will change the shape of the game. You can also interact with many objects getting mini games, currency, and just funny ridiculous interactions.
Art Style/ Music: The cel-shaded art style (A personal favorite of mine) really makes the game look like a living comic book, and the music is just as nice and hilariously weird along with the rest of the game
Gripes: Now the main gripe of this game along with other problems, such as not very good graphics, is that its an incomplete game. It was a episodic series (that has a brilliant intro btw) that ended in episode 2 out of possibly 4 or 5? This game came out in 2015, so yea, there's no possible further development for this game. So I could not recommend buying this game unfortunately. I tried it on GamePass, so I didn't really feel robbed in anyway. Oh another annoying ass gripe about this game is that this game really really wants you to play with Kinect, now... you can play with a controller... but it controls like ass a good amount of the time because you should apparently be using a Kinect instead...
Additional Info: Now that being said, the game is enjoyable in storytelling and just pure ridiculousness, I repeat that I do not recommend buying an incomplete game, but if it ever pops up on GamePass again give it a shot. It's not that long and has some replay value in a small amount of time.
Score: 3/5

22. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Xbone):
Story: Journey to Hel as Senua, a warrior who suffers from a metaphorical Psychosis known as the "Furies". Voices that constantly judge your every move, either supporting you or making you feel like everything is your fault. Are they right? Should you just give up? Or continue to Helheim to free your lover's soul from the Goddess of Death, Hela. As you journey you see and hear several things, what is real? What is only in your mind?
Gameplay: An action adventure game that consist of really damn good action sequences, fun tricky puzzles, and a lot of walking as you gather lore of Senua's past and the world around you. The action feels so good, as you land heavy hits, executing well timed deflections against enemies attacks, and slow the world around against the overwhelming forces of heavy set brutal warriors. Solve puzzles by using the world around you to open doors and expand your journey.
Art Style/ Music: The game looks beautiful, with very impressive graphics. There were times where I couldn't tell if certain characters were video game models or live action actors. Senua's design, along with the enemies and the world is so well done that I was totally taken away by it, I found myself wanting to find as much lore as I could that were stories inspired by Norse Mythologies and Celtic culture.
Gripes: Only gripe I would have against game, if i were to name one, is that there are not much replay value. Just collect lore and complete the game. Another gripe I'm not completely sure about is that every time you die, The Rot "consumes" you see it cover your arm and grow for every time you fail. If you are completely consume, you lose all progress and must start from the very beginning. Now i only died a couple times, so I wasn't too threatened by The Rot. But when I did die, it didn't seem like The Rot was really affecting me... I think i heard that it actually doesn't do anything, and that it's just there to scare you, but i'm not to sure about that myself.
Additional Info: This game is incredible in several ways, probably Ninja Theory's best, but as I said not a lot of replay value. I personally would recommend purchasing this if you can find it for like $18 or less. But if replay value is a big thing for you, I would at least recommend renting it or trying it on some streaming service.
Score: 5/5

 

[Jack Videogames]

Owlboy

9h-ish. Non-completionist run, around 1800 coins found.

I thought Owlboy would be one of those overly-hyped up indie metroidvanias from the mid 2015s that everybody seem to own thanks to some Humble Bundle, but it's actually a peculiar little piece that throws things at you at a breakneck pace: sometimes absurdly epic, other times unexpectedly sad or surprisingly philosophical. It's awesome how the devs managed to cram so much in such a little, under-9-hours package. Particularly of note is the amazing, jaw-dropping OST, that puts most AAA soundtracks to shame.

If I had to say something I didn't like, I feel the ending wasn't an appropriate payoff for the story. All of Otus' worldly issues (his relationship with Asio, Vellie's wellbeing, etc.) are abandoned in favor of a sorta generic end-of-the-world plot. Still, you can feel the love the developers had for their creation even when it's not at its best - and that's the best thing that can be said of any game, ever.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[IKSTUGA]

18. Bioshock, 9.5/10
This was my third or fourth playthrough already, not many complaints here, the game is as good as ever. Remastered version's improvements were a nice added bonus (framerate etc.).

19. Assassin's Creed Odyssey, 9/10
Might be my new favorite in the series. I does get a bit grindy at times, but holy hell does ancient Greece look and feel impressive. Alexandria was my favorite part about Origins and this game has even more Greek goodness + SPARTA. Sorry Bayek, but Egypt is a boring desert shithole compared to Greece and its glorious islands. Regarding cool new features, dialogue choices were a welcome addition.
Please give me Imperial Rome next...

Whew... Took a few month break from playing real games and just slammed MTGA. Now back on track.

20. Magic the Gathering: Arena, 9,5/10
Playing a game for 2 months straight surely counts as beating it? Anyway, I had a great time grinding all the different modes. Magic is by far the best card game and this is great digital version of Magic. This game also has finally managed to destroy my urges to play Hearthstone, so props for that. There are some bugs, sure, but overall this is the best digital card game on the market.

21. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, 8,5/10
Kinda disappointed in this game, to be honest. The gunplay and graphics are truly a 5/5, but story was kinda shitty and a little bit too woke for my taste. Level design was also not as varied as in the first game. Also, where is my final boss?????

22. Shadow Complex: Remastered, 8,5/10
I'm really conflicted on this game. It's really fun to play, but at the same time, everything just feels so generic. Story is shit, graphics are shit, enemies and bosses look boring etc. oh well

 

[wyvern_bloodfist]

Game 33.: Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate -
3 hrs. 15 mins. 20 out of 25 Points.

Game 34.: IMMORTAL UNCHAINED -
48 hrs. 44 mins. 20 out of 25 Points.

Game 35.: Kakuto Chojin -
3hrs. 30 mins. 18 out of 25 Points.

Game 36.: Unravel -
7hrs. 11 mins. 18 out of 25 Points.

Game 37.: Bricks Breaker Quest -
6hrs. 35 mins. 17 out of 25 Points.

Game 38.: Mahjong Solitaire -
5hrs. 10 mins. 1 7 out of 25 Points.

Game 39.: WarHammer :Chaos Bane -
15hrs. 15 mins. 18 out of 25 Points.

Game 40.: FADE TO SiLENCE -
40hrs. 23 mins. 18 out of 25 Points.

Game 41.: The Suffering -
5hrs. 45 mins. 21 out of 25 Points.

Game 42.: The Suffering: Ties That Bind -
4hrs. 45 mins. 18 out of 25 Points.

 

[Kadayi]

15. A Plague Tale: Innocence (100%)

Very enjoyable AA linear 3rd person action adventure. Stunning looking game, and it runs pretty well. I took my time with the game and clocked up 17 hours or so (and still have some remaining achievements to get) but I dare say it can be done a lot quicker. My only gripe would be some of the boss fights are a bit hit and miss in terms of you'll basically need to die to figure out wtf you need to do, and at a couple of points, the checkpointing can be a little iffy as you need to advance geographically. With that said, once you've cleared an area of enemies, you probably want to explore before advancing to find any collectables as you'll get locked out otherwise. Issues aside, highly recommended. It's been a while since a game has gripped me, and this one kept me pretty busy over the weekend which is no mean feat.

16. Thomas Was Alone (100%)

Given this game has near universal praise I'd like to say I enjoyed it, but the truth is that the initial charm of it wore off when the game hit some fairly unforgiving difficulty spikes in the midway section that just seemed quite out of order given the nature of the platforming up until that point. Whereas before it was a platformer seemingly driven by some fairly gentle and creative puzzle solving, suddenly you find yourself having to frantically race against a moving wall of instadeath and level restart whilst jumping from ledge to ledge with pinpoint precision that most certainly was on the wrong side of the fun/frustration equation. Similarly, there are a couple of levels of vertical traversal where one small error of judgement will send you right back to the beginning of the level. I managed to power through and 100% the game in the process, but I have to admit it's not a title I'd necessarily return to truth be told. If you like platformers though YMMV.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Neon Chrome

5:46h for the first run.

A semi-roguelike twin stick shooter, NC is a great game to play in short bursts. Won't win any prizes, but some of the gameplay aspects (destructible walls, being able to improve your character after runs) are nice and keep you engaged. Absolutely worth a play. Careful though - the difficulty ramps up in the 5th floor!

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[Kadayi]

16. Thomas Was Alone (100%)

Given this game has near universal praise I'd like to say I enjoyed it, but the truth is that the initial charm of it wore off when the game hit some fairly unforgiving difficulty spikes in the midway section that just seemed quite out of order given the nature of the platforming up until that point. Whereas before it was a platformer seemingly driven by some fairly gentle and creative puzzle solving, suddenly you find yourself having to frantically race against a moving wall of instadeath and level restart whilst jumping from ledge to ledge with pinpoint precision that most certainly was on the wrong side of the fun/frustration equation. Similarly, there are a couple of levels of vertical traversal where one small error of judgement will send you right back to the beginning of the level. I managed to power through and 100% the game in the process, but I have to admit it's not a title I'd necessarily return to truth be told. If you like platformers though YMMV.

17. LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame

I quite like the lego games tbh. I've had this one sat in my backlog for a while and figured I'd give it a blast this weekend (good times). I've beaten the main storyline for both heroes and Villians, but I'm carrying on for a bit to 100% it (although sadly no Steam achievements due to its age...). It's neat in that it was made back when the characters weren't voiced, so it's a lot more about the animations in terms of the personalities. Good Stuff. I think I'll tackle the sequel next as well.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

No, i can't do it.

Multiplayer games are a big thing in my life right now: GTA Online, FIFA 19, Tekken 7, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, and Fight Night Champions on the PS3.

I remember it took me 3 years to complete Braid, and an entire year to complete Onimusha. I'm in the process of completing Splinter Cell on the PS2 ever since I started back in the summer of 2017. Everytjme I play that game, I have a memorable playthrough, but I can't seem to be consistent with completing single player games. It took me 2-3 years to complete Velocity 2X on the Vita and it made me realize that there's something really wrong with me.

I'm a complete dabbler when it comes to games.

The funny thing is I play every weekend with my brother and we completed about 25-30 games over the past 4 years, half of which are games that I've already played but wanted my brother to experience them too.

 

[IKSTUGA]

Whew... Took a few month break from playing real games and just slammed MTGA. Now back on track.

20. Magic the Gathering: Arena, 9,5/10
Playing a game for 2 months straight surely counts as beating it? Anyway, I had a great time grinding all the different modes. Magic is by far the best card game and this is great digital version of Magic. This game also has finally managed to destroy my urges to play Hearthstone, so props for that. There are some bugs, sure, but overall this is the best digital card game on the market.

21. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, 8,5/10
Kinda disappointed in this game, to be honest. The gunplay and graphics are truly a 5/5, but story was kinda shitty and a little bit too woke for my taste. Level design was also not as varied as in the first game. Also, where is my final boss?????

22. Shadow Complex: Remastered, 8,5/10
I'm really conflicted on this game. It's really fun to play, but at the same time, everything just feels so generic. Story is shit, graphics are shit, enemies and bosses look boring etc. oh well

23. Rivals of Aether, 8/10
Beat all the story modes. This is by far the best smash clone I've ever played. If Smash Ultimate wasn't a thing, I could totally see myself playing this game all the time. Definitely needs more characters though.

24. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, 8,5/10
Never played these games before, really enjoyed this one. Quirky artstyle and story mixed with castlevaniaeqsue gameplay, yes please. Thanks game pass!

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

28. Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 (Xbox One) - 7/10

Wanted to sneak this one in before it got pulled from sale/download. Probably playing 2 TT games back to back hurt it a bit but I still enjoyed it. Not as fresh as the first game but I did appreciate the main villain more. Some improvements to the game-play which sorta allowed you to fight some creatures. If you enjoy TT games, it's worth a play-through. I still know nothing about Minecraft and I enjoyed it.

29. Super Mario World (SNES) - 10/10

Such a CLASSIC! I completed all levels for the first time, including the insanely difficult secret levels. It's really a tossup as to if this is my favorite Mario or if SMB 3 is. They are both perfect examples of side scrollers that I don't know if I could ever pick. The music in this game is still the absolute best! The fortress and ghost house themes are some of my absolute favorites.

30. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS) - 7/10

Pretty damn difficult in the last few levels to play solo but I still enjoyed it. It would definitely be more fun in co-op but I was never able to compile a full team to actually play. The bosses were creative and most of the game wasn't super frustrating or annoying to play solo. It wasn't until the final levels that I was kinda over it. Definitely worth a play, especially if you find others to play with.

31. Devil May Cry 2 (PS4) - 5/10

Never played it...now I get all the crap this game gets. After loving DMC 1...this was really bad. I think the worst part is how boring everything is. There was no challenge to this game at all. I am not that great of a player and I don't think I died once. The story was non-existent and everything was just dull. I played through both Dante and Lucia and they were equally bad. It's not the worst game ever made...it's just one of the most boring and easy out there.

 

[BurstZyn]

21. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (Xbone):
Story: You play as David Young, a retired Boston PD officer now detective who is trying to solve the murder of his lost love Little Peggy. He has no memory of the night, just waking up in a hospital bed with a bullet lodged in his head. He collects clues related to Little Peggy's last words "Look For D..." When he comes across any evidence or "Momentos", he can use his new found "gift" to travel back in time relevant to the Momento. Try to solve the crime as you come across wacky and strange characters, such as your cat who looks like a chick running around in a leotard and fashion designer who trots around with his "partner" a stylish mannequin named Suki, and more.
Gameplay: It is more of a narrative driven game with gameplay consistent of quicktime events and dialogue choices that will change the shape of the game. You can also interact with many objects getting mini games, currency, and just funny ridiculous interactions.
Art Style/ Music: The cel-shaded art style (A personal favorite of mine) really makes the game look like a living comic book, and the music is just as nice and hilariously weird along with the rest of the game
Gripes: Now the main gripe of this game along with other problems, such as not very good graphics, is that its an incomplete game. It was a episodic series (that has a brilliant intro btw) that ended in episode 2 out of possibly 4 or 5? This game came out in 2015, so yea, there's no possible further development for this game. So I could not recommend buying this game unfortunately. I tried it on GamePass, so I didn't really feel robbed in anyway. Oh another annoying ass gripe about this game is that this game really really wants you to play with Kinect, now... you can play with a controller... but it controls like ass a good amount of the time because you should apparently be using a Kinect instead...
Additional Info: Now that being said, the game is enjoyable in storytelling and just pure ridiculousness, I repeat that I do not recommend buying an incomplete game, but if it ever pops up on GamePass again give it a shot. It's not that long and has some replay value in a small amount of time.
Score: 3/5

22. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Xbone):
Story: Journey to Hel as Senua, a warrior who suffers from a metaphorical Psychosis known as the "Furies". Voices that constantly judge your every move, either supporting you or making you feel like everything is your fault. Are they right? Should you just give up? Or continue to Helheim to free your lover's soul from the Goddess of Death, Hela. As you journey you see and hear several things, what is real? What is only in your mind?
Gameplay: An action adventure game that consist of really damn good action sequences, fun tricky puzzles, and a lot of walking as you gather lore of Senua's past and the world around you. The action feels so good, as you land heavy hits, executing well timed deflections against enemies attacks, and slow the world around against the overwhelming forces of heavy set brutal warriors. Solve puzzles by using the world around you to open doors and expand your journey.
Art Style/ Music: The game looks beautiful, with very impressive graphics. There were times where I couldn't tell if certain characters were video game models or live action actors. Senua's design, along with the enemies and the world is so well done that I was totally taken away by it, I found myself wanting to find as much lore as I could that were stories inspired by Norse Mythologies and Celtic culture.
Gripes: Only gripe I would have against game, if i were to name one, is that there are not much replay value. Just collect lore and complete the game. Another gripe I'm not completely sure about is that every time you die, The Rot "consumes" you see it cover your arm and grow for every time you fail. If you are completely consume, you lose all progress and must start from the very beginning. Now i only died a couple times, so I wasn't too threatened by The Rot. But when I did die, it didn't seem like The Rot was really affecting me... I think i heard that it actually doesn't do anything, and that it's just there to scare you, but i'm not to sure about that myself.
Additional Info: This game is incredible in several ways, probably Ninja Theory's best, but as I said not a lot of replay value. I personally would recommend purchasing this if you can find it for like $18 or less. But if replay value is a big thing for you, I would at least recommend renting it or trying it on some streaming service.
Score: 5/5

23. Monster Hunter: World (PS4):
Story: Hunter, you are chosen along with the Fifth Fleet, to provide support in researching the New World. Hunting monsters of old and new, along with the all powerful Elder Dragons. Who migrate every 10 years to the New World, as part of the event known as the Elder Crossing. Find out the reason for this event, where are they going? Oh and your Handler can come along as well I guess.
Gameplay: Take an already amazing long running series of hunting down monsters with a variety of weapons to make new armor and weapons from the skin of the giant creatures you hunt, and add even more to make it a heavy contender for one of the best in the series. From little things, such as being able to move while using a potion! To larger scale additions as taking away the zoned maps from the older game, to open beautiful ecosystems full of life and incredibly intelligent creatures.
Art Style/ Music: What's not to say about this game that hasn't been said already? It's freaking gorgeous look at, with creatures that are personally shown throughout their colorful designs. From the beautiful, enchanted presence of the Kirin to the deadly, sinister design of the Deviljho (who's song is always a treat to listen to when he stomps into battle!) Along with the rest of the music, you get this kind of Jurassic Park feel with the main hunting theme which goes great with the atmosphere. And the creatures that get their own themes, which they rightfully deserve, play rightfully as you try to survive and dominate.
Gripes: The only gripe I have with this game is that the co-op story experience can be a pain at times, where you have to wait for each other to have seen the cutscenes of missions in order to join them at times.
Additional Info: Having being away from the series for awhile, starting at the first one on PS2, and my next and last being Freedom Unite which was on the PSP. This was a terrific welcome back to the series, thank you for coming back to consoles! I would definitely recommend buying this game for no matter how much! It's that good, but the only reason I would say not to buy... is if you have no friends to play. But it's not a very solid reason, as you can join randoms of different variety that you can play with and conversate with if you wish
Score: 5/5

 

[Jack Videogames]

AMID EVIL

13h-ish. Quite a bit of exploration and secret-finding.

AMID EVIL is the game I needed and I didn't even know I did. A classic FPS through and through that derives a lot of inspiration from Hexen and Heretic, AE is not a frantic Doom-like, but a slow, exploration-based, Quake-like, with slow, powerful gunplay (is "gunplay" even the right word here?) a lot of interesting, dreamlike locales that invite you to get lost time after time. They all have different settings and enemies, which means it sometimes feels like 7 mini-games in one, but the core gameplay and the weapons never change.

Extremely recommendable if you're in the market for a retro FPS.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[IKSTUGA]

23. Rivals of Aether, 8/10
Beat all the story modes. This is by far the best smash clone I've ever played. If Smash Ultimate wasn't a thing, I could totally see myself playing this game all the time. Definitely needs more characters though.

24. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, 8,5/10
Never played these games before, really enjoyed this one. Quirky artstyle and story mixed with castlevaniaeqsue gameplay, yes please. Thanks game pass!

25. Yoshi's Crafted World, 9/10
Finally got around to playing this one afters slamming down cards for a few months and wow, what a charming ride this was. Maybe a bit on the easy side, but still worth every second of my time. The game is fairly long and the levels are really varied. There are just so many cool ideas in here. Space world gave me some serious Super Mario Galaxy vibes. I'd say this is the best Yoshi game I've ever played.

 

[jshackles]

Game 24 - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - PC Steam - Completed Jun 27th, 2019
Boy oh boy, this game was great. Like, really great. At first I was a bit leery because Kickstarter-backed games don't have a really solid track record for me personally. After I started playing it though, those fears melted away into pure not-Castlevania bliss. The game has so many systems in place that all work together so well that I couldn't help but just love this game to bits. The weapon system is extremely varied (and includes special moves you can master by activating them a certain number of times) and there is a great variety of armor, helmets, scarves, rings, and accessories to make whatever build you want. Combine this with a great crafting, cooking, and item system that leverages the items enemies drop - along with a "shard" system that lets you steal monster's abilities and get cool passive bonuses, and you've got a system that's complex enough to be insanely interesting and powerful but easy enough to be casually understood. The game's graphics were nothing super special but all was easily forgiven considering the above as well as the 60fps this game ran on my PC. I was pleasantly surprised by this game and for me it easily skyrocketed past Symphony of the Night to take top spot as my new favorite game in the genre.

 

[BurstZyn]

23. Monster Hunter: World (PS4):
Story: Hunter, you are chosen along with the Fifth Fleet, to provide support in researching the New World. Hunting monsters of old and new, along with the all powerful Elder Dragons. Who migrate every 10 years to the New World, as part of the event known as the Elder Crossing. Find out the reason for this event, where are they going? Oh and your Handler can come along as well I guess.
Gameplay: Take an already amazing long running series of hunting down monsters with a variety of weapons to make new armor and weapons from the skin of the giant creatures you hunt, and add even more to make it a heavy contender for one of the best in the series. From little things, such as being able to move while using a potion! To larger scale additions as taking away the zoned maps from the older game, to open beautiful ecosystems full of life and incredibly intelligent creatures.
Art Style/ Music: What's not to say about this game that hasn't been said already? It's freaking gorgeous look at, with creatures that are personally shown throughout their colorful designs. From the beautiful, enchanted presence of the Kirin to the deadly, sinister design of the Deviljho (who's song is always a treat to listen to when he stomps into battle!) Along with the rest of the music, you get this kind of Jurassic Park feel with the main hunting theme which goes great with the atmosphere. And the creatures that get their own themes, which they rightfully deserve, play rightfully as you try to survive and dominate.
Gripes: The only gripe I have with this game is that the co-op story experience can be a pain at times, where you have to wait for each other to have seen the cutscenes of missions in order to join them at times.
Additional Info: Having being away from the series for awhile, starting at the first one on PS2, and my next and last being Freedom Unite which was on the PSP. This was a terrific welcome back to the series, thank you for coming back to consoles! I would definitely recommend buying this game for no matter how much! It's that good, but the only reason I would say not to buy... is if you have no friends to play. But it's not a very solid reason, as you can join randoms of different variety that you can play with and conversate with if you wish
Score: 5/5

24. Sinner: Sacrifice For Redemption (XBone):
Story: You are a warrior off to atone for your sins, to do so you must fight them... literally. Face against each sin in this Dark Souls heavily inspired Boss Rush action-RPG. Each boss being unique and as tough as you make them.
Gameplay: As I said, the game plays a lot like Dark Souls, with of course it's own formula for it's genre. You get a fixed set of weapons, armor, and equipment, no changing anything. There are 8 super unique bosses that all play very differently and can be pretty tough at first. The one mechanic I adore about this game is that you start off as Overpowered as you can get, and as you choose bosses, depending on the boss it weakens, and stays that way during the entire game. For example, one boss has it to where you do less damage. So that effect takes place during that fight and from there as well, if you want that lost power back you can take it, but it will take away the progress of you defeating the boss, so you will to give up your power and do so again. Pretty much a reverse Mega Man.
Art Style/ Music: And like the Dark Souls, the boss themes and the bosses themselves are incredible. I love several of their designs, and honestly I would have to say this game probably has one of my favorite bosses of all time in it.
Gripes: So I defeated one boss as it was going into it's second phase, and the game kinda broke thinking I defeated the boss but also thinking I didn't. So unfortunately, I wasn't able to access the final boss for a while.
Additional Info: This game is extremely cheap ($20!) and it's honestly incredible, so I would recommend it if you love a good boss rush. Now it doesn't have much replayability, but it has a shit ton of achievements, so if you care about that, bam! Replayability!
Score: 4/5

25. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP):
Story: You and your friends decide to play a little game to see if spirits well come to haunt you or something, and what it does is gives you and your friends Personas (Godly inspired Shadows that fight with you). A lot of strange things happen to the town, and it's up to ya'll to figure it out.
Gameplay: A turn-based combat system where you can use several melee weapons, guns, and abilities given to you depending on your Persona. You can earn experience for you and your Persona by defeating demons, or possibly negotiate with them in order to possibly make new Personas. Change your team formations, and depending on how you play determines at least one of your party members.
Art Style/Music: The designs are ok, honestly the only interesting ones are probably the bosses. The music is where this game shines! The music is awesome, and I would listen to it repeatedly.
Gripes: Ohhhhhhh this game just hasn't aged well, it was my first attempt at the series and it was pretty rough. Not unplayable by any means, but I would its ok to skip this one. The story is just dumb, The gameplay is too much at times and clunky, and there isn't really interesting points to this game. The only cool idea is the idea itself, Persona based off several mythological deities that help you kick demon ass.
Additional Info: Just skip this game, I couldn't recommend starting with this one. I wanted to get into the series, because I played Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (which was supposedly inspired by this series) and I loved the shit of that game. Ima press on, because I heard it really starts at 3 (others say 2 is fine as well), so lets see if those change my opinion
Score: 2/5

26. Lords of the Fallen (PS4):
Story: Harkyn is on a quest to defeat Adyr and his Judges of the Fallen, so get your some useful weapons and your Mega Buster and bust them up... I guess
Gameplay: Well this game is heavily Souls Inspired in combat and mechanics. With the exceptions of having a set character that has the choice of three classes: Warrior, Rogue, and Cleric.
Art Style/ Music: The design of this game is very, very big and edgy, so that's kinda cool
Gripes: Look i just don't wanna talk about this game to much. It looked fine and The Surge was fantastic, so I was willing to give this a shot. It just wasn't worth it, all the characters suck, most of the weapons do as well. The game is so damn slow and clunky and this is coming from a guy who loves Dark Souls 1 the most! The bosses are fine, the enemies get fucking annoying at times.
Additional Info: I heard there was a second one in development, and these are the same guys that made The Surge! It's just not worth owning in any way, it was free both for Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus, so if you own it on those either two try it for yourself and see if you enjoyed more than I did. It not unplayable, just not good.
Score: 2/5

 

[jshackles]

Game 25 - TMNT Rescue-Palooza - PC - Completed Jun 28th, 2019
This was a fan game that essentially set out to re-create the NES TMNT games in the SNES game style. It turned out to be so much more awesome than that though. Tons of stages, over 60 characters to unlock, original music, and a hell of a lot of charm. The extra characters all look like they come packaged in a Ninja Turtles toy from Playmates like I used to collect and love in the 90s. There aren't very many good brawlers made today, and I really enjoyed playing this because it was a huge blast from the past. Turtle power!

Game Jolt - Share your creations

gamejolt.com

 

[BurstZyn]

24. Sinner: Sacrifice For Redemption (XBone):
Story: You are a warrior off to atone for your sins, to do so you must fight them... literally. Face against each sin in this Dark Souls heavily inspired Boss Rush action-RPG. Each boss being unique and as tough as you make them.
Gameplay: As I said, the game plays a lot like Dark Souls, with of course it's own formula for it's genre. You get a fixed set of weapons, armor, and equipment, no changing anything. There are 8 super unique bosses that all play very differently and can be pretty tough at first. The one mechanic I adore about this game is that you start off as Overpowered as you can get, and as you choose bosses, depending on the boss it weakens, and stays that way during the entire game. For example, one boss has it to where you do less damage. So that effect takes place during that fight and from there as well, if you want that lost power back you can take it, but it will take away the progress of you defeating the boss, so you will to give up your power and do so again. Pretty much a reverse Mega Man.
Art Style/ Music: And like the Dark Souls, the boss themes and the bosses themselves are incredible. I love several of their designs, and honestly I would have to say this game probably has one of my favorite bosses of all time in it.
Gripes: So I defeated one boss as it was going into it's second phase, and the game kinda broke thinking I defeated the boss but also thinking I didn't. So unfortunately, I wasn't able to access the final boss for a while.
Additional Info: This game is extremely cheap ($20!) and it's honestly incredible, so I would recommend it if you love a good boss rush. Now it doesn't have much replayability, but it has a shit ton of achievements, so if you care about that, bam! Replayability!
Score: 4/5

25. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP):
Story: You and your friends decide to play a little game to see if spirits well come to haunt you or something, and what it does is gives you and your friends Personas (Godly inspired Shadows that fight with you). A lot of strange things happen to the town, and it's up to ya'll to figure it out.
Gameplay: A turn-based combat system where you can use several melee weapons, guns, and abilities given to you depending on your Persona. You can earn experience for you and your Persona by defeating demons, or possibly negotiate with them in order to possibly make new Personas. Change your team formations, and depending on how you play determines at least one of your party members.
Art Style/Music: The designs are ok, honestly the only interesting ones are probably the bosses. The music is where this game shines! The music is awesome, and I would listen to it repeatedly.
Gripes: Ohhhhhhh this game just hasn't aged well, it was my first attempt at the series and it was pretty rough. Not unplayable by any means, but I would its ok to skip this one. The story is just dumb, The gameplay is too much at times and clunky, and there isn't really interesting points to this game. The only cool idea is the idea itself, Persona based off several mythological deities that help you kick demon ass.
Additional Info: Just skip this game, I couldn't recommend starting with this one. I wanted to get into the series, because I played Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (which was supposedly inspired by this series) and I loved the shit of that game. Ima press on, because I heard it really starts at 3 (others say 2 is fine as well), so lets see if those change my opinion
Score: 2/5

26. Lords of the Fallen (PS4):
Story: Harkyn is on a quest to defeat Adyr and his Judges of the Fallen, so get your some useful weapons and your Mega Buster and bust them up... I guess
Gameplay: Well this game is heavily Souls Inspired in combat and mechanics. With the exceptions of having a set character that has the choice of three classes: Warrior, Rogue, and Cleric.
Art Style/ Music: The design of this game is very, very big and edgy, so that's kinda cool
Gripes: Look i just don't wanna talk about this game to much. It looked fine and The Surge was fantastic, so I was willing to give this a shot. It just wasn't worth it, all the characters suck, most of the weapons do as well. The game is so damn slow and clunky and this is coming from a guy who loves Dark Souls 1 the most! The bosses are fine, the enemies get fucking annoying at times.
Additional Info: I heard there was a second one in development, and these are the same guys that made The Surge! It's just not worth owning in any way, it was free both for Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus, so if you own it on those either two try it for yourself and see if you enjoyed more than I did. It not unplayable, just not good.
Score: 2/5

27. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox 360):
Story: In the futuristic year of 2013, Captain Scott Mitchell is back leading the Ghost Recon squad as they try to stop Nicaraguan rebels from selling stolen U.S. military surveillance to Mexican paramilitary forces.
Gameplay: A tactical 3rd person shooter, leading your squad through the streets of Mexico.
Art Style/ Music: The music is pretty cool, along with some fun buttrock liscened music.
Gripes: This game feels and looks pretty dated, so it can be a little rough to control at times. It has several bugs, along with a game breaking one that stop progress in a further mission
Additional Info: There are games better than this one that are not to different, but if you wanna go through the history of GR, this one is fine to go through, as probably more a rent than buy. There's also co-op missions that, if you have a friend willing, ya'll can tactically work together on that.
Score: 3/5

 

[Kadayi]

17. LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame

I quite like the lego games tbh. I've had this one sat in my backlog for a while and figured I'd give it a blast this weekend (good times). I've beaten the main storyline for both heroes and Villians, but I'm carrying on for a bit to 100% it (although sadly no Steam achievements due to its age...). It's neat in that it was made back when the characters weren't voiced, so it's a lot more about the animations in terms of the personalities. Good Stuff. I think I'll tackle the sequel next as well.

Still been plugging away at Batman for the 100%. However, given the insane temperatures in EuroGAF atm playing anything too demanding on the PC just turns the room into an absolute furnace so I figured I'd bash out a couple of quick cheap Jigsaw puzzle games for achievements to assist Team Corgi in the Summer Sales Event

18. Pleasure: Puzzle Portrait (100%)

19. Dark Fantasy: Jigsaw Puzzle (100%)

My Steam Game feed is likely going to suffer for this, but fuck it Go Corgi!!!

 

[IKSTUGA]

25. Yoshi's Crafted World, 9/10
Finally got around to playing this one afters slamming down cards for a few months and wow, what a charming ride this was. Maybe a bit on the easy side, but still worth every second of my time. The game is fairly long and the levels are really varied. There are just so many cool ideas in here. Space world gave me some serious Super Mario Galaxy vibes. I'd say this is the best Yoshi game I've ever played.

26. New Super Mario Bros. U: Deluxe, 8,5/10
Decided to go through my Switch backlog to make some space in the Switch menu for Pokey man and other 2019 releases. This was a pretty sweet game. I remember beating and hating this game back when the Wii U came out, after playing it now, I don't know why. The level design is really solid and it's actually more challenging than the previous New Marios. I think I like NSMBU more than the new donkey kong country games.

27. Super Mario Maker 2, 10/10
Man, what a fantastic game. Story mode had some of the best 2D Mario levels I've ever played. I really don't know why they haven't tried doing these puzzle-game-like levels in the previous games, works great!
Stage builder is also so much fun. I never expected to spend any time there, but building stuff is just too damn addictive. I love the fact that with sound/visual effects you can give levels almost like a Wario Ware type of feel, cos' I absolutely loved the first few Wario Ware games.

Community made levels are of course the biggest selling point of this game and seriously endless mode is like crack. Last time I had this "one more" type of feeling was, when I first discovered Civilization years ago. Only negative thing I can think of is that the multiplayer is kinda laggy, but who cares, when you got so many quality single player levels on demand. After playing this one, I never wanna see another New super Mario Bros. game. They should just make SMM the new face of 2D Mario and pump out sequels every few years.

 

[Kadayi]

Still been plugging away at Batman for the 100%. However, given the insane temperatures in EuroGAF atm playing anything too demanding on the PC just turns the room into an absolute furnace so I figured I'd bash out a couple of quick cheap Jigsaw puzzle games for achievements to assist Team Corgi in the Summer Sales Event

18. Pleasure: Puzzle Portrait (100%)

19. Dark Fantasy: Jigsaw Puzzle (100%)

My Steam Game feed is likely going to suffer for this, but fuck it Go Corgi!!!

Finally 100%ed Lego Batman (win)

Also finished

20. Dark Fantasy 2: Jigsaw Puzzle (100%)

Which was another easy one for achievements for the summer sale event.

Tempting as it is to jump into Lego Batman 2: DC Super heroes I'm actually going to play Lego City Undercover which I picked up cheap during the sale, as it's supposed to be fairly short and has actual Steam achievements (Batman doesn't until Game 3...) Plus it looks quite fun.

 

[BurstZyn]

27. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox 360):
Story: In the futuristic year of 2013, Captain Scott Mitchell is back leading the Ghost Recon squad as they try to stop Nicaraguan rebels from selling stolen U.S. military surveillance to Mexican paramilitary forces.
Gameplay: A tactical 3rd person shooter, leading your squad through the streets of Mexico.
Art Style/ Music: The music is pretty cool, along with some fun buttrock liscened music.
Gripes: This game feels and looks pretty dated, so it can be a little rough to control at times. It has several bugs, along with a game breaking one that stop progress in a further mission
Additional Info: There are games better than this one that are not to different, but if you wanna go through the history of GR, this one is fine to go through, as probably more a rent than buy. There's also co-op missions that, if you have a friend willing, ya'll can tactically work together on that.
Score: 3/5

28. Watch Dogs (Xbone):
Story: Aiden Pearce, hacker thief, gets his life turned upside down, Fresh prince style, when a heist goes wrong and gets his niece killed in a hit made for him. Months later (I think) his sister and nephew try to live a normal life grieving for their loss. Aiden finds another way to deal with the loss by hunting the person that called the hit, as he climbs the ladder of the criminal underground as "The Vigilante".
Gameplay: Shoot your way through enemy hordes, or stealthily sneak around using your phone to hack vehicles, enemy phones, and etc. Several guns and several neat gadgets help you progress, allowing you to even cause a blackout in the whole area blinding enemies and disrupting their technology.
Art style/ Music: The music gets pretty good at times, nothing super memorable though.
Gripes: Aiden is such a boring character to play as, and it really shows when he surrounded by even more interesting characters such as Jordi and T-Bone. He also plenty of weird and stupid decisions. It's honestly more of just an average game, that it had a hard time holding my interest in several parts of the game.
Additional Info: To be more positive about the game... it's not that bad! I went in with very low expectations from what I remember hearing about the disappointing rants surrounding it. Now the complains still hold true (the ones I remember hearing at least), but honestly when this game isn't boring me it has some cool stuff to it. It plays fine (besides the driving) and it can be really cool when you have your profiler out and see people's occupation, hobbies, incomes, and age. For ex. I saw a Museum curator whose hobby was to make frequent purchases of Hentai, which i just found hilarious. It's really hard to find 2 of the same with the profiler, unless you keep it out frequently unfortunately. It's also pretty fun how you can get through most of the game, without having to kill people and just using the environment around you to do the work for you. In the end, i would say the game is worth a rental if it peaks your interest. It's not a bad game, just average at best.
Score: 3/5

29. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (Xbox 360)
Story: Taking place shortly after the previous game, you resume the role of Captain Scott Mitchell, once leading your Ghosts against terrorists residing in Mexico as they try to use stolen nuclear missiles against the U.S.
Gameplay: The game takes the controls from the first game and build upon them mostly for the better. You can now view through the camera of your controlled comrades, which is nice to get them to specific points and enemies.
Art Style/ Music: The music is awesome, especially during combat as it amps up
Gripes: Now as this game is an improvement over the previous entry, it has its fair share of problems. Several, several bugs and even the game crashing on me (not to bad of gripe tho.) Your units sometimes don't listen to you, or they'll stop for no reason, and they'll keep complaining for no damn reason. For example there was one mission where i was entering broken debris and my team was following constantly saying "Can't move forward" "Can't Proceed, Captain!" and bunch of other shit, while they were still following me.
Additional Info: Besides all that the game was enjoyable and worth a shot,. Not really a gripe, but the writing is so action-hero it's hilarious. I would say get this game if you can find it for like $5
Score: 3/5

 

[IKSTUGA]

26. New Super Mario Bros. U: Deluxe, 8,5/10
Decided to go through my Switch backlog to make some space in the Switch menu for Pokey man and other 2019 releases. This was a pretty sweet game. I remember beating and hating this game back when the Wii U came out, after playing it now, I don't know why. The level design is really solid and it's actually more challenging than the previous New Marios. I think I like NSMBU more than the new donkey kong country games.

27. Super Mario Maker 2, 10/10
Man, what a fantastic game. Story mode had some of the best 2D Mario levels I've ever played. I really don't know why they haven't tried doing these puzzle-game-like levels in the previous games, works great!
Stage builder is also so much fun. I never expected to spend any time there, but building stuff is just too damn addictive. I love the fact that with sound/visual effects you can give levels almost like a Wario Ware type of feel, cos' I absolutely loved the first few Wario Ware games.

Community made levels are of course the biggest selling point of this game and seriously endless mode is like crack. Last time I had this "one more" type of feeling was, when I first discovered Civilization years ago. Only negative thing I can think of is that the multiplayer is kinda laggy, but who cares, when you got so many quality single player levels on demand. After playing this one, I never wanna see another New super Mario Bros. game. They should just make SMM the new face of 2D Mario and pump out sequels every few years.

28. Mortal Kombat X, 8,5/10
Story mode was fun and combat mechanics were great. Can't wait to play MK11 with game pass someday

 

[marcincz]

Game 24 - Muramasa Rebirth (PSV) - 08h 03m
Beat 29/05/2019 - my score: ★★★★★

Game 25 - GTA V (PS4) - 35h 59m
Beat 02/06/2019 - my score: ★★★★★

Game 26 -Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover (PS4) - 01h 11m
Beat 04/06/2019 - my score: ★★☆☆☆

Game 27 - Nex Machina (PS4) - 02h 12m
Beat 07/06/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 28 - 36 Fragments of Midnight (PS4) - 01h 05m
Beat 12/06/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 29 - 36 Fragments of Midnight (PSV) - 00h 40m
Beat 14/06/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 30 - Metro Last Light Redux (PS4) - 10h 48m
Beat 15/06/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 31 - Superhot (XBO) - 02h 20m
Beat 16/06/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 32 - Gears of War (360) - 07h 21m
Beat 18/06/2019 - my score: ★★★★★

Game 33 - Super Mario 64 (NDS) - 20h 05m
Beat 29/06/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 34 - Gears of War 2 (360) - 09h 54m
Beat 12/07/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

 

[IKSTUGA]

28. Mortal Kombat X, 8,5/10
Story mode was fun and combat mechanics were great. Can't wait to play MK11 with game pass someday

29. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 10/10
Played again on XONE. This game is still perfect and by far the best game of the PS1/N64 era.

30. Blazing Chrome, 7.5/10
It was fine, but not as good as Contra 3. I would recommend this to any retro lover who has game pass.

31. Ryse: Son of Rome, 8/10
I was positively surprised by this game, based on the reviews I thought it would have been garbage. Combat and general gameplay do get repetitive at times, but thanks to the historical theme I ended up enjoying this one quite a bit.

32. Gears of War 3, 9/10
Game's great even after 9 years. Good gunplay with lots of variation in the campaign missions. Ending was as sweet as I remembered. I love BC for allowing me to come back to these classics years later, last time I booted Gears 3 up was in 2010 or 2011.

 

[Scopa]

What’s the consensus if I made it to Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, but I can’t beat him? Can I consider the game beat for the purposes of this thread?

My thumb is red raw suffering from a severe case of Nintendonitis and I feel like I’ve put in enough hard work on this game, lol.

What say you guys?

 

[wyvern_bloodfist]

Game 43.: BLOODSTAINED: RITUAL OF THE NIGHT -
35hrs. 10 mins. 18 out of 25 Points.

Game 44.: Godzilla Save The Earth -
3hrs. 50 mins. 20 out of 25 Points.

Game 45.: Guilty Gear X2 #Reload -
15hrs. 26 mins. 16 out of 25 Points.

Game 46.: Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball -
22hrs. 22 mins. 22 out of 25 Points.

Game 47.: The First Tree -
1hrs. 35 mins. 24 out of 25 Points.

Game 48.: D&D Heroes -
19hrs. 27 mins. 22 out of 25 Points.

Game 49.: FURI -
3hrs. 12 mins. 22 out of 25 Points.

Game 50.: OTOGI -
3hrs. 32 mins. 25 out of 25 Points.

Game 51.: Advent Rising -
15hrs. 12 mins. 22 out of 25 Points.

 

[IKSTUGA]

29. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, 10/10
Played again on XONE. This game is still perfect and by far the best game of the PS1/N64 era.

30. Blazing Chrome, 7.5/10
It was fine, but not as good as Contra 3. I would recommend this to any retro lover who has game pass.

31. Ryse: Son of Rome, 8/10
I was positively surprised by this game, based on the reviews I thought it would have been garbage. Combat and general gameplay do get repetitive at times, but thanks to the historical theme I ended up enjoying this one quite a bit.

32. Gears of War 3, 9/10
Game's great even after 9 years. Good gunplay with lots of variation in the campaign missions. Ending was as sweet as I remembered. I love BC for allowing me to come back to these classics years later, last time I booted Gears 3 up was in 2010 or 2011.

33. Quantum Break, 8/10
It was surprisingly good, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay anything for it lol. There was just way too much walking and cutscenes. Story was also not that interesting. Gameplay was the clear winner here, but there wasn't enough of it. Visuals were amazing.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

Holy crap, I haven't updated in a month. Having a 2nd kid can definitely cause you to forget some things. Still able to find some time to game though!

32. Hollow (Switch) - 3/10
Awful! Not sure why I bothered to continue but I would caution anyone that is interested in this to walk away. The Switch version at least is one of the worst games I have ever played. Awful controls, no idea where to go, awful framerates. Half the time I couldn't even see. Just skip it and don't make the mistake I did.

33. King's Quest III: To Heir is Human (PC) - 6/10
My least favorite of the KQ games thus far. It was entirely unfair and a pain to play through.

34. King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (PC) - 8/10
This was much better and so far my favorite of the first 4 KQ games. I previously played 5-7 so I am curious how they will hold up. This was a fun adventure that was tough but mostly fair. I only had to look up help on the graveyard/haunted house crap.

35. Blood Knights (PS3) - 7/10
Random PS+ game that I had and figured I would try out. It was simple but enjoyable. A tad easy and very short. The voice acting was abysmal but definitely gave me a few chuckles (unintentionally).

36. Arkedo Series (PS3) - 7/10
This was a fun little pack of games that I am glad I played. The idea was for Arkedo to create each game in a short amount of time. Jumpman was fun and challenging due to having to beat all levels in one go. I couldn't do anything with Swap because I am color blind and couldn't get past the first level. Pixel was fantastic and would have loved to see it into a longer game. These games are worth a play and they are quick.

37. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System) - 5/10
Awful. one of the worst Sonic games I have played yet. Not as bad or infuriating as Sonic 2006 or Sonic and the Secret Rings...but close.

38. Sonic Chaos (Master System) - 7/10
Harmless and fun but incredibly easy. I don't think I died once. I also think I beat it under an hour. Still not a bad game though.

39. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Xbox One) - 9/10
Haven't played this in years but it really does hold up quite well. Can't believe this came out in 2001. I am still a Half-Life guy but I have grown to appreciate and respect Halo more...especially after playing this. The Anniversary paint works for the most part here.

40. Luigi’s Mansion (3DS) - 8/10
Had a lot of fun replaying this on the 3DS. It is not a hard game but it is a lot of fun to go through. Can't wait for 3!

41. Cat Quest (Switch) - 6/10
Simple and stupid but probably a perfect game to play with a newborn laying on you. If you told me this was a mobile game I wouldn't be very surprised. I did have some fun with it but it wore off rather quickly.

42. Halo 2 Anniversary (Xbox One) - 8/10
I remember enjoying Halo 2 more when I originally played this back in the day. It's still a great game but it really did feel rushed and unfocused at times. The gun-play is still amazing and Chief has a great weight to him. I was not really a fan of the Anniversary paint and found myself playing in the original style more often than not. I LOVED the cinematics though. They were incredible. Will probably pop in 3 soon.

43. Lair (PS3) - 6/10
Not good...but not as bad as I was told. It's manageable with normal controls but some of the later levels are absolute HELL. Too many times I had no idea what my objective was and I would lose the level. I remember this happening a few times in Rogue Leader. Glad I finally beat it and took it off the backlog... It really is a shame how the game came out, there was so much potential.

 

[jshackles]

What’s the consensus if I made it to Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!, but I can’t beat him? Can I consider the game beat for the purposes of this thread?

My thumb is red raw suffering from a severe case of Nintendonitis and I feel like I’ve put in enough hard work on this game, lol.

What say you guys?

The OP specifically says

How do I know when I've completed a game?
That's up to you

Personally I try to go to the end credit sequence but there are games in the past where I've made it to the final level / boss and given up due to the difficulty but still considered it "beat".

 

[Scopa]

The OP specifically says



Personally I try to go to the end credit sequence but there are games in the past where I've made it to the final level / boss and given up due to the difficulty but still considered it "beat".

Yeah, I usually don’t include a game unless I really finished it to the end, but trying to beat Iron Mike on a HDTV with slight input lag is incredibly frustrating, lol. I don’t know. I’ll think about including it.

 

[ROMhack]

I respect your opinion man but Hollow Knight is amazing.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

I respect your opinion man but Hollow Knight is amazing.

Not sure if you were responding to me on this one. The game I played was Hollow and not Hollow Knight. Hollow is a super shitty FPS that you should avoid. I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of it and I wish I could've kept it that way!

Sorry!

 

[ROMhack]

Not sure if you were responding to me on this one. The game I played was Hollow and not Hollow Knight. Hollow is a super shitty FPS that you should avoid. I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't heard of it and I wish I could've kept it that way!

Sorry!

Oh! I was referring to your post and my reading comprehension sucks apparently.

I know Hollow - it's always on sale for 90% off (apparently for good reason).

 

[ROMhack]

Game #9 - Golf Story (Roughly 20 hours)

It starts off slow and the mechanics aren't explained well but golf games are great so I'm happy to say it eventually becomes a pleasant story about going from chump to champ.

The best thing is the humour, which is cheeky and irreverent in a way that's so clearly Australian - you can almost smell the BBQs.

Where it falters is the text. There's too much considering how bare bones the story is. Sure it's often funny but I ended up skipping a lot just to get on with things

Overall though pretty cool. Would happily recommend to anybody who likes galf golf.

 

[Kadayi]

21. Lego City: Undercover

Finished, but mopping up to 100% it (because why the F not). Next title to be determined by what the UK temperature stays like as we are in the midst of a major heatwave at present and anything too demanding turns the Rig into a furnace I'd rather not be close to (my planned complete Kingdomcome Deliverance playthrough may get pushed back a bit).