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[BurstZyn]

17: We Are Doomed (PS4): As addicting as this game is, its pretty simple in design compared to the perfection that is Geometry Wars. But still fun, especially on the go with the Vita
(3/5)

18: Ruiner (PS4): Fucking love this game. Atmosphere is awesome, the combat is cool, the weapons are awesome, and the designs are so dark and gritty, I love it. Music see me kinda outta place in some parts to be honest, but still a nice soundtrack.
(5/5)

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

22. Kirby's Blowout Blast - 3DS
Completed 4/12/18
Score - 7/10
Fun and quick little game. I ended up getting Gold in all levels and then playing the Secret Path. Secret Path was pretty challenging. Haven't played a Kirby game since back in the NES days, might end up playing through all of them at some point.

23. God of War III Remastered - PS4
Completed 4/14/18
Score - 9/10
Getting pumped up for the new God of War on Friday. I still love this game. I feel that it holds up pretty well if you enjoy this type of game. The camera can be a little annoying but it still helps with the epic presentation. Can't wait to see where Kratos goes in Norse Mythology now!

24. The Legend of Zelda - NES
Completed 4/16/18
Score - 8/10
Never beat this as a kid and this is another series that I want to tackle all of the games for. The last dungeon was super confusing and hard but it felt great to finally get through it and take down Gannon. I think it holds up pretty well and was a lot of fun...outside of a few annoying enemies and very confusing details on where to go next.



Main Post

 

[Jack Videogames]

48-ish. 116% progress. Completed 13/14 questlines (GUESS WHICH FUCKING ONE I'M SKIPPING) and all Arkham Episodes.

I seriously don't know why this game was so criticized. I honestly think it's the best Arkham game of them all. The main point of contention, the Batmobile, isn't THAT intrusive and except for the rare instances where it's required it can be safely ignored to move from point A to point B (in fact, with the appropriate upgrades, it's faster to simply glide about). I loved the way Batman had to deal with all his major foes before the grand finale (which wasn't neither that grand nor that "finite", but it was satisfying enough) with the help of all of the Batfamily.

The only point I absolutely hated was the ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT of the Riddler's questline. 250 riddles? Are they insane? And required to see the full ending to boot! Ain't nobody got time for that. So I abandoned that one after rescuing Catwoman, and Youtubed the Knightfall Protocol. This was my only gripe with an otherwise amazing game.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

18: Ruiner (PS4): Fucking love this game. Atmosphere is awesome, the combat is cool, the weapons are awesome, and the designs are so dark and gritty, I love it. Music see me kinda outta place in some parts to be honest, but still a nice soundtrack.
(5/5)

19: The Turing Test (Xbone): Pretty neat puzzle game, reminded me of Portal to be honest. And not just in the gameplay obviously, but also with the concept. What I will give this game is that I really makes you think outside the box on certain puzzles, like where you wouldn't think the game would want you to do a certain thing to solve puzzles in those ways.
(3/5)
20: SUPERHOT (Xbone): Been wanting to check this game out for awhile, and ah man it's worth it. It just feels perfect, the mechanics, the gameplay, the aesthetic, the concept. I love everything about it, and to be honest it was just so immersive, that i really felt like part of the system. So this is definitely goin on my VR wishlist
(5/5)

 

[The Scrivener]

19: Trials of the Blood Dragon - 2/5 - The running sections, those green-grabby-bits, that pinball level.

Original post: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/52-games-1-year-2018.1460268/#post-253148892

 

[tschep2]

12. Bayonetta 2 (Switch): 9/10, finished 03/05/18
Just a casual replay to check out the port on the Switch. Great game, great port, only marginally inferior to the first.

13. Pillars of Eternity: 9/10, finished 03/16/18
I've been playing this one on and off since late 2016 and I'm amazed at its ability to catch you up each time. This is only the 2nd game of this type that I've ever played, the other being Baldur's Gate, and I absolutely loved it for its writing, setting, and characters. The gameplay - not so much, but it was serviceable I suppose. I'm willing to admit that time away + unfamiliarity with a lot of the spells/abilities probably didn't help too much in that regard either. Nonetheless, it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment and I can't wait for the second game!

14. Monster Hunter World: 8/10, finished 03/17/18
What can I say that hasn't been said: it's the best Monster Hunter. It fixed a lot of the nuances of previous games, it felt great to play, the zones were excellent and beautiful, the monsters were a nice challenge. After crafting my desired set and beating every monster at least once I feel the only thing left for me is to come back for seasonal events and DLC, which I can't wait to do. An absolute joy to put 150+ hours in.

In Progress:
Night in the Woods
Chrono Trigger

15. Chrono Trigger: 10/10, finished 04/02/18
Not really much to say as it's Chrono Trigger, everything's been said by everyone. It's a masterpiece. I accidentally started a replay through while home sick one day and finished it in about 3 sessions.

16. Minit: 7/10, finished 04/08/18
This one was a bit of an impulse buy, but I'm really glad I played it. It was a great game conceptually and it delivered an awesome, stressful experience as I tried to maximize my efficiency with each cycle - failing most of the time. The visuals were charming, but I didn't honestly prefer them and the soundtrack left much to be desired, I felt. I absolutely cannot wait to go back in and try the second run some time in the near future.

17. Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle (iOS): 6/10, finished 04/19/18
A very cute (in a weird way) puzzle game that was an absolute blast to play while in transit. My biggest issues with the game are that I didn't feel like many of the puzzles - even late game - were particularly challenging, and I also felt that the kill animations got a bit stale by world 4, making me question the purpose of the different weapons. Still, it was pretty fun and I loved the way they handled Jason and the tutorial prompts. Bonus points for including a button in the menu that just the did "ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma" sound effect and nothing else.

18. God of War (2018): 9/10, finished 04/28/18
I wasn't even planning on getting this game. I somehow managed to ignore and dodge all media this game was putting out, but after watching one trailer detailing the combat, I immediately picked it up and it consumed me for 8 days straight. The writing, the combat, the setting, the tone, the music - everything about it was just absolutely fantastic and it had been a while since a game managed to absorb my attention and thoughts this hard before. I've played all the previous games, and I've liked them all fine, but to say my interest in this new one leading up to its release was a bit diminished would be an understatement. So my surprise when playing it that first night was a welcome one. While I do think the game's bosses were overall a little weak, there were definitely some standout winners. A lot of the unimportant bosses were just rehashed designs and they felt a little bit like time wasters blocking progress. I look forward to continuing and doing some clean up in the post game.

19. Night in the Woods: 7/10, finished 04/30/18
A very fun little adventure game with a great premise and some great characters. I really adored all the writing with the side content and the hangouts, which I thought were genuinely funny. I saw myself laughing and smiling just going around the town and talking to the townsfolk more than I enjoyed the main plot. Not that the main plot was bad, but I didn't think it stood out as much personally. I don't really know what else to say about this one if I'm being honest. It was a fun time throughout and I'd love to play it again to see the other characters' hangouts, but I don't know if I could bring myself to go through it again any time soon.

 

[NovumAngel]

.

 

[TreborTreebeard]

This is my list, based on current ranking (i.e. how much I enjoyed each one):

1: RATCHET AND CLANK: A CRACK IN TIME (3/15/18)
My favorite R&C game to date. Loved the puzzle mechanics, the new platforming segments, and the story. It was a great capstone to the "Future" series.

2: ALICE - MADNESS RETURNS (1/13/18)
I love 3D platformers, especially weird ones, so this game was right up my alley. Despite some annoying invisible walls and technical hiccups, and levels that lasted a long time, I never got bored of this game. Can't wait for a third entry in this series.

3: KINGDOM HEARTS 2 FINAL MIX (2/15/18)
I came to the KH series only last year, via the PSR HD final mix of 1.5 and 2.5, and have now played through that entire disk of six games (plus the DS games, which I bought separately). This is my favorite of the ones I've played.

4: METROID: OTHER M (4/24/18)
I heard a lot of criticisms of this game, but after beating Metroid Prime 3 last year, I borrowed this game from a friend and jumped in. I loved every minute of it. I acknowledge the cheesiness of the story, but I thought the cinematic quality was great, the puzzles were fun, and the classic metroid gameplay of discovering and conquering secrets as you progress was spot-on. I got 100% of the collectibles.

5: PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE FORGOTTEN SANDS (2/27/18)
3D Platformers are my jam, and this one did not disappoint. The combat was fun too, and the story was interesting.

6: KINGDOM HEARTS: BIRTH BY SLEEP (4/10/18)
Although Kingdom Hearts 2 was more impressive for its scope and creativity, this game was great for its story.

7: ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST (1/16/18)
As far as Metroidvanias go, this one is quality. Although I didn't find it be quite as emotional as I'd heard it would be, I did find it to be FUN--enough so that I got 100% of the collectibles.

8: DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB (2/5/18)
Great experimental game that left me surprised, shocked, and satisfied.

9: TY THE TASMANIAN TIGER (3/26/18)
Yet another 3D platformer, and one where I also found 100% of the collectibles. There were times when I got a little tired of the gameplay, but overall, I loved this game. Reminded me a lot of Banjo Kazooie.

10: PAPER MARIO: STICKER STAR (3/6/18)
This is a game that a lot of people seemed to hate, but when I started playing it, I read and took some advice about how to approach it--it's NOT an RPG like the old Paper Marios-it's more a pure puzzle game. You have to figure out how to approach each boss / challenge; there's no leveling up per se. With that approach in mind, I found this game to be pretty delightful.

11: MEDAL OF HONOR: WARFIGHTER (2/22/18)
Played this on the PS3 as part of the instant games collection. This is seen as a lesser game according to most reviews I've read, but I had a good time with it. I did feel the ending dragged a bit; it started stronger than it ended for sure. But overall, I give it a positive review.

12: RATCHET AND CLANK: FULL FRONTAL ASSAULT (3/30/18)
I'm not a tower defense guy, but this game made me enjoy tower defense--to an extent. It earns slightly higher marks for being short, because I would not have enjoyed it if it had gone on too much longer. Also, I played co-op with my son, which added to my enjoyment of it.

13: BOUND (2/12/18)
Inventive, but ultimately forgettable experience. It gets a slight bump up in the rankings because it was short.

14: WILD ARMS (2/10/18)
Old-school RPG with a fun story was exactly what I was looking for when I picked it up, but it took me a long time to beat it because I could only handle it in short doses. When I got to the end boss, I was almost completely out of magic, and getting more would have required 2 hours of backtracking that I was not interested in doing. Thankfully the end boss was pretty much a breeze with tips I found on walkthrough, and I completed the game.

15: KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS (1/9/18)
A game with an interesting story, but kind of a slog to get through.

16: KINGDOM HEARTS RE: CODED (4/6/18)
I only played this DS game because I'm crazy. It was even more of a slog to get through than 358/2 days. I was determined to play it before I watched the cinematics on the PS4 collection, though, because someone on some forum recommended it. I did enjoy parts of it, but mostly I was just anxious to get to the end.

17: LEISURE SUIT LARRY 3: PASSIONATE PATTI IN PURSUIT OF THE PULSATING PECTORALS (3/19/18)
I played it for the lulz. Having to type in the commands made it not fun most of the time.

 

[Iheon]

I tried the challenge last year, but only got to 32... Hope I can make It this year!

Playing:
Xenogears
Arc the Lad

Completed:

1.Conan (Xbox 360)
2.One Way Heroics (PC)

04/05/2018 Update

Completed

1.Conan (Xbox 360)
2.One Way Heroics (PC)
3. Clicker Heroes (PS4) (Got all the trophies)
4. Psycho-Pass (PS4)
5. Game of Thrones TellTalle (PS3)

Playing
Xenogears (PSX)
Batman TT (PS4)
Rime (PS4)

On Hold
Arc the Lad

 

[aueft]

Although I have a giant backlog that I am consciously trying to get through this year, there is no way that I will be able to finish 52 (even if I do tend to favor short games anyways). I will be perfectly happy if I manage more than half of that.

1: Digimon Rumble Arena 2 (Xbox) - completed the single player mode and unlocked everything - 2/5
Combat is clunky and sluggish, but evolving and devolving mechanic adds an interesting back and forth to the overall gameplay. Overly embellished levels.

2: Gorogoa (Mobile) - completed the story mode twice - 3/5
Abstract story is shallow and a missed opportunity. Surrealist mechanics are very creative.

3: Limbo (Xbox360) - completed the story mode - 4/5
The gameplay-light but antagonistic opening is much stronger than the stylish and competent puzzle platformer that the game eventually becomes.

4: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) - completed the campaign and all post game content - 3/5
Repeated content makes the overly structured level designs feel even more predictable and joyless.

5: Crush 3D (3DS) - completed the story mode - 2/5
Sprawling level design and collect-a-thon objectives would work in a pure platforming game but clash with the slow puzzle traversal mechanics.

6: Night in the Woods (PC) - finished second playthrough with alternate story route after update - 4/5
Great characterizations and a great use of setting but falls apart when it has to do plot. World feels a bit overly sparse and empty. Great style and music.

7: Pac N Roll (DS) - completed the story mode. Almost entirely ignored the side missions. - 2/5
Trackball control scheme works well, but levels are rarely interesting in the main game proper.

8: Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) - completed the story mode - 0/5
I want to give some credit for the unique feel of the nonstandard control scheme, but this is so poorly designed that I can't.

9: Final Fantasy Dissidia: Theatrythm (3DS) - completed the campaign mode - 2/5
Video game music does not work when re-purposed for standard music game levels due to a lack of structure. RPG elements aren't interesting.

10: Pilotwings Resort (3DS) - completed the campaign mode - 3/5
Missions are not particularly imaginative. A good use of 3d effect.

11: Hylics (PC) - completed the story mode - 3/5
Amazing art style with surprisingly well balanced gameplay. A bit unpolished and under-designed.

12: Insecticide (DS) - completed the story mode - 1/5
Cool style and ambitious for its vintage and platform, but clunky and bad in every way.

13: Zubo (DS) - completed the story mode - 2/5
Interesting combat system, but does not expand on concepts to fill out entire game. Unpolished. Game feels sluggish due to slow canned animations.

 

[kyubajin]

11: The Last Guardian
PS4 | less than 15 hours
I can’t believe it’s been almost 10 years since this game was first announced. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, Trico, the art direction, everything. The puzzles were nicely balanced in difficulty and motive, the animation and world building was outstanding and the ending surprised me as I thought it would go in another direction. Solid 3rd entry for Team Ico, perhaps the last one?

12: Alien: Isolation
PS4 | Hard difficulty | ±16 hours
As a huge Aliens fan I’d always wanted to play this game but lacked the means to and didn’t want to play on PS3. The visual style and survival horror elements hooked me from the very beginning, I was genuinely terrified of the alien specially when I couldn’t “fight” it at all. The campaign was a bit too long for my taste but all the details, the flashback mission, etc was the best fan service I’ve experienced in a while. Played on Hard and used items maybe a couple of almost obligatory times against the synthetics. Solid game and the best sequel to Alien we might ever get.

13: Rime
PS4 | 5 hours
After playing so many long games I really needed a short refreshing experience and boy did I enjoy the ride. A very personal ride with tons of metaphors and hidden paths to explore in a very unobtrusive way, if you care for it at all. Otherwise this game might appear like a bland combination of the elements of superior games like Ico, The Witness, etc.

14: Bloodborne
PS4 | 54.33 hours
I love the Soulsborne series so much that I actually bought the collector’s edition for this game almost a year before I managed to grab a PS4. I must confess that it was the first game I started playing as I brought my shiny PS4 home yet I started playing other games and only last week I managed to finally beat it. It took time to “resonate” with me like its elders Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls did many years ago, however as soon as it clicked again, it’s one of the finest experiences in gaming I’ve had since forever. Nothing you haven’t heard a million times.

 

[The Scrivener]

20: The Sexy Brutale - 4/5 - Luigi's Mansion x Majora's Mask, love Tequila Works' games, story was deep.

Original post: https://www.neogaf.com/threads/52-games-1-year-2018.1460268/#post-253148892

Up next: Far Cry 5.

I've decided to start playing only one game at a time to get through games quicker, because of the old habit of starting and stopping games - it's a big time waster. Having a big (read gigantic) backlog this might seem counter-intuitive, but I'm prepared to forgo all those good games to finish one at a time. The Sexy Brutale I started three times because of starting other games around the same time, and the first two attempts ran at a few hours each, so that's about four hours of my life I could have spent on my job, reading, getting fit, watching a good TV show, etc., enough already!

No spoilers.

The game is an intricate chronological tale of a party, where you chart the deviously comical plots of servants to assassinate the guests. You have twelve hours in which to help the guests survive their predestined demise (12 hours in game = 10 minutes real life) by learning their motivations, actions, and death, and cheating the assassin waiters to their game. When the clock strikes midnight, everything resets, but knowledge gained of the melodrama stays, enabling you to approach the puzzle from a new angle.

The puzzles are tightly related to the character you are saving, there are 9 in total, but they cannot be interacted with directly. Instead you spy on everyone through keyholes and cupboards and manipulate the mansion which expands naturally with the more abilities you gain. There are 52 hidden playing cards to find and the world is lovingly brought to life when finding them through exposition of characters and the mansion. Each character has a unique defining relationship with the mansion and the story unfolds rapidly towards the end, when all guests are saved. The developer Tequila Works appears to like exploring themes of love, loss and redemption in their games.

The soundtrack is great, the graphics detailed, the mechanics solid. There are a few negatives concerning opening doors which could sometimes be annoying where the button press wasn't registered, and stuttering would occur with loading when going from room to room (Xbox One). But these things didn't hinder my love for the game even come the end.

Play if you like: Luigi's Mansion, Stick it to The Man, RiME.

 

[NovumAngel]

.

 

[jshackles]

Main Post

Game 23 - The Elder Scrolls Online: Clockwork City - Playstation 4 - Completed May 10th, 2018
I know it's an expansion pack and not technically a game in and of itself, but I feel there was enough content here to warrant it's inclusion. I think it took me about 15 hours total to complete the story line and most (if not all) of the side-missions that take place inside the Clockwork City. I really loved the factotums design and how they were able to access information via dreaming and nostalgia - that was a cool touch. I also liked the unexpected political climate inside Sotha Sil's city and the caste system that was essentially set up by dividing those with augments against those without. I also love how every expansion pack this game has had to offer has not only a ton of new stuff to do but also offers a continuation of the story that you can play out with a single character (mine is level 34 now). I also really love how you don't pay any subscription fees to play the game, because otherwise I probably wouldn't. It's been almost a year since I completed Morrowind last June, and even though I've occasionally jumped in here and there I've not put a lot of time into the game since then. Overall, very happy with this game because it feels like something I could play forever as long as they keep making expansions. On a final note - that excellent foreshadowing of the Summerset expansion at the end...

 

[BurstZyn]

19: The Turing Test (Xbone): Pretty neat puzzle game, reminded me of Portal to be honest. And not just in the gameplay obviously, but also with the concept. What I will give this game is that I really makes you think outside the box on certain puzzles, like where you wouldn't think the game would want you to do a certain thing to solve puzzles in those ways.
(3/5)
20: SUPERHOT (Xbone): Been wanting to check this game out for awhile, and ah man it's worth it. It just feels perfect, the mechanics, the gameplay, the aesthetic, the concept. I love everything about it, and to be honest it was just so immersive, that i really felt like part of the system. So this is definitely goin on my VR wishlist
(5/5)

21: Super Meat Boy (Xbox 360): This game had me losing my sanity... but in a good way. Super fun, super hard, super addicting. Addicting in the sense in the sense of doing trials repeatedly because you keep telling 'This one I got it, no this one for sure.'
(4/5)

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

25. Super Mario Land - Gameboy
Completed 4/22/18
Score - 6/10
Doesn't really stand the test of time. Reminds me of a game I played on my graphing calculator years ago. Basic and not that fun.

26. Kirby's Dream Land - Gameboy
Completed 5/2/18
Score - 8/10
Still a fun game after all these years. Extremely basic and super easy until you try the hard mode. I had more fun with hard mode since it offered a decent challenge.

27. God of War - PS4
Completed 5/8/18
Score - 10/10
Freaking fantastic. I have a few minor quibbles but they really don't detract from the overall experience. I loved this game.

Main Post

 

[kyubajin]

14: Bloodborne
PS4 | 54.33 hours
I love the Soulsborne series so much that I actually bought the collector’s edition for this game almost a year before I managed to grab a PS4. I must confess that it was the first game I started playing as I brought my shiny PS4 home yet I started playing other games and only last week I managed to finally beat it. It took time to “resonate” with me like its elders Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls did many years ago, however as soon as it clicked again, it’s one of the finest experiences in gaming I’ve had since forever. Nothing you haven’t heard a million times.

15: Dark Souls III
PS4 | 46 hours
Finally got to finish then end of this amazing trilogy, did a blind STR run and had a blast trying out the new changes that Miyazaki implemented. It’s incredible how far this whole franchise has reached and I’m saddened at knowing that it’s going to be a long while until or if they even decide to continue it. Will do NG+ and all the DLC content now.

 

[BurstZyn]

21: Super Meat Boy (Xbox 360): This game had me losing my sanity... but in a good way. Super fun, super hard, super addicting. Addicting in the sense in the sense of doing trials repeatedly because you keep telling 'This one I got it, no this one for sure.'
(4/5)

22: Split/Second (Xbox 360): I have never gotten so hype and gasped over a racing game as I have with this one, so sick and dynamic with the power plays. It does seem to miss sinple UI things like other Racing games, such as a speedometer and a map of the track. The music is pretty good for being original, while I do like do other racing games for their use of license music
(4/5)

 

[ShadierRook7561]

I got a late start, but whatever.
1. Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch):
Completed 2/20/18
Great game, but far too easy. It only took me a few hours to complete.
2. ABZU (Xbox One):
Completed 3/12/18
Another easy game, but surely one of the prettiest I have seen. I really loved the diversity of animals and it's one of the reasons that I stuck with the game after it started to get boring for me.

 

[Jack Videogames]

18:56h. Completed all the sidequests I've found. Not feeling the DLC now.

I'm pretty bored at the time so I'll bullet-point-ize my feelings about the game in the order I thought them. Be prepared, I'm not going to spoilertag a game from 2008..

· Oh hey Claptrap! I just met you and I already wish you were killlable!
· This game has lots of interesting characters that aren't getting developed. I would like to know more about Shifty Doctor, Fat Arms Dealer, Blurry Wireless Blue Girl or Honest-sounding Mayor.
· Patricia Tannis is so zany y'all! I wish she stopped talking about her underwear, that got old fast.
· I don't know how the Claptraps keep getting destroyed when I empty a mag on each one I find and never do a single dent.
· Vehicular combat is terrible.
· Am I in the correct zone now? I don't know, they all look the same and the map is less than helpful.
· I wish I got a really good gun instead of these factory rejects I get all the time.
· ... so that's it? That's the story? We had to open the Vault so we could kill Cthulhu who was comfortably trapped inside?

I just played Borderlands because I was told that the sequel was one of the greatest games ever, and well, I hope it is. Borderlands 1 is not a bad game by any means, but I found it incredibly disappointing. This is a 2.5 star game, but since I can't do "half stars" in ascii and I found the game mechanically sound, I rounded up.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[Iheon]

Completed

1.Conan (Xbox 360)
2.One Way Heroics (PC)
3. Clicker Heroes (PS4) (Got all the trophies)
4. Psycho-Pass (PS4)
5. Game of Thrones TellTalle (PS3)
6. Rime (PS4)
7. Batman TellTalle (PS4)

Playing
Xenogears (PSX)
Arc the Lad (VITA)
How to Survive (PS4)

 

[tschep2]

15. Chrono Trigger: 10/10, finished 04/02/18
Not really much to say as it's Chrono Trigger, everything's been said by everyone. It's a masterpiece. I accidentally started a replay through while home sick one day and finished it in about 3 sessions.

16. Minit: 7/10, finished 04/08/18
This one was a bit of an impulse buy, but I'm really glad I played it. It was a great game conceptually and it delivered an awesome, stressful experience as I tried to maximize my efficiency with each cycle - failing most of the time. The visuals were charming, but I didn't honestly prefer them and the soundtrack left much to be desired, I felt. I absolutely cannot wait to go back in and try the second run some time in the near future.

17. Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle (iOS): 6/10, finished 04/19/18
A very cute (in a weird way) puzzle game that was an absolute blast to play while in transit. My biggest issues with the game are that I didn't feel like many of the puzzles - even late game - were particularly challenging, and I also felt that the kill animations got a bit stale by world 4, making me question the purpose of the different weapons. Still, it was pretty fun and I loved the way they handled Jason and the tutorial prompts. Bonus points for including a button in the menu that just the did "ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma" sound effect and nothing else.

18. God of War (2018): 9/10, finished 04/28/18
I wasn't even planning on getting this game. I somehow managed to ignore and dodge all media this game was putting out, but after watching one trailer detailing the combat, I immediately picked it up and it consumed me for 8 days straight. The writing, the combat, the setting, the tone, the music - everything about it was just absolutely fantastic and it had been a while since a game managed to absorb my attention and thoughts this hard before. I've played all the previous games, and I've liked them all fine, but to say my interest in this new one leading up to its release was a bit diminished would be an understatement. So my surprise when playing it that first night was a welcome one. While I do think the game's bosses were overall a little weak, there were definitely some standout winners. A lot of the unimportant bosses were just rehashed designs and they felt a little bit like time wasters blocking progress. I look forward to continuing and doing some clean up in the post game.

19. Night in the Woods: 7/10, finished 04/30/18
A very fun little adventure game with a great premise and some great characters. I really adored all the writing with the side content and the hangouts, which I thought were genuinely funny. I saw myself laughing and smiling just going around the town and talking to the townsfolk more than I enjoyed the main plot. Not that the main plot was bad, but I didn't think it stood out as much personally. I don't really know what else to say about this one if I'm being honest. It was a fun time throughout and I'd love to play it again to see the other characters' hangouts, but I don't know if I could bring myself to go through it again any time soon.

20. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: 8/10, finished 05/01/18
I've played the first KotOR game many times but for some reason I've never gotten around to playing the sequel. Being in that mood to play a Star Wars game, I decided to fire this up and finally give it its due and my goodness, what a great game. It improved on a lot of the gameplay of the first title and had some great QoL changes that made it all the more enjoyable. I would say the writing was only slightly sub the story of the first, but it was still very well done. I'm not sure exactly how or what was changed with the inclusion of the Restored Content mod, but I was instructed that it was absolutely necessary to play with it - so I'm hoping that didn't influence my experience tooo much.

21. Corpse Party: 5/10, finished 05/14/18
I found the game's structure and setting to be alright for the most part, but I didn't particularly care for a lot of the characters or the story and it definitely felt like a slog towards the end to get through. I wasn't expecting anything super scary going in either, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed by the lack of tension.

22. Bloodstained Curse of the Moon: 10/10, finished 05/25/18
I loved this game. I've backed and have been following Ritual of the Night's development since it started and I was initially ambivalent towards this stretch goal and didn't think it would be as extravagant as it ended up being. The beautiful result we got was an unexpected but welcome surprise. The music, the difficulty, the visuals - everything meshed together wonderfully and I couldn't be happier with the game.

23. Detroit: Become Human: 3/10, finished 05/30/18
My opinion on Quantic Dreams games and David Cage's writing isn't very unique, I don't like them. I've played Inidigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, and Beyond before this and I left each feeling similarly. I think the stories themselves started out very good and had a good draw, but once it was over and I had time to reflect I started to really notice the flaws and shortcomings of each of them. I don't think two days is necessarily enough time to fully reflect upon Detroit, but my initial impressions on completion were not very good. Once I learned the subject matter that Cage would try to tackle with Detroit and all the recent allegations about Quantic Dreams that began to release it became like a train wreck that I couldn't look away from as I waited for the game to release, and even despite this and my previous biases I tried my hardest to go into Detroit with a clean slate and hope for the best - but unfortunately that dream started to crumble about halfway through. Visually and technically, this game is magnificent. The visuals were stunning, it was smooth to play, it didn't really stutter anywhere, the controls were responsive, and I really liked the flowchart as a mechanic actually to sort of let you know what choices actually mattered. I can't get too detailed in my full opinion of the story or world without spoiling anything so I will leave it at that I feel all the characters' stories started off pretty well, but it got derailed hard as I continued to play.

 

[Jack Videogames]

3h-ish.

Thanks to the Megaman Legacy Collection, I've finally managed to complete this one. And well... how the fuck did I manage to reach the last stage back in the NES days without the rewind feature!? Was I a gaming wiz? Was I normal but I'm now old and useless? This is depressing.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[Jack Videogames]

Probably around 30h-ish. Defeated 3 Valkyries because Atreus made me feel guilty, but then I decided to let them rescue themselves. Did a decent amount of sidetasks, including a couple dragons, Brok & Sindri's full chain and some Niflheim.

"Boy, what do those runes say?" "They say... "unmarked spoilers from this point", father. What does this mean?".

So. I have to admit I felt betrayed by God of War 2018. I remembered Kratos as a hard-ass, bad-ass, anger and daddy-issues having warrior. But then I started GoW4 and I saw an older man with sad, tired eyes hacking down a tree. And some time after that, when the fighting started, I realized Kratos was no longer the nimble fighter it was on previous games, but a tough strongman that depended on parries and rolling out of harm's way. At first, GoW plays a fair bit like an easier Bloodborne: you spend more time licking your wounds and looking for weaknesses than actually killing things. This goes on more or less until you get the Blades of Chaos, which seem to liven up Kratos a fair bit. The set pieces are every bit as amazing as always, with Jormungandr and Freya's giant during the final fight being my favorite.

But at some point I realized what SSM did with this game. Kratos is too old to keep this up; the man who beat Hercules in a fistfight now struggles against demigods and is severely beaten up by a god which is stated by Mimir to be amongst the weakest fighters of the Aesir. My opinion is that we are saying goodbye to Kratos and grooming Atreus to take the mantle. And we're doing it by seeing Kratos regain his humanity. He now controls his anger, he is a loving and caring father, and even cracks a smile and a joke every now and then. He's made his peace and yearns for a rest.

I just hope Atreus remembers what Kratos always says. "Be better".

My Score: ✪✪✪✪✪

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

22: Split/Second (Xbox 360): I have never gotten so hype and gasped over a racing game as I have with this one, so sick and dynamic with the power plays. It does seem to miss sinple UI things like other Racing games, such as a speedometer and a map of the track. The music is pretty good for being original, while I do like do other racing games for their use of license music
(4/5)

23: Valkyria Chronicles Remastered (PS4): I have a good amount to say about this one. First, I must say that I love that this game is a mix of RPG, turn based strategy, and third person shooter. It is done so well, and the art style and story are so great as well. Now the negatives about this game, being the main two are; that scouts break the game. Just keep buffing these guys, and you can nearly beat the entire game in under 3 turns. Now i wouldn't have so much beef with this except for the fact that it has to do with a good amount with my biggest gripe against the game; Which is that there is only one 'correct' way to play the game, and the name of the game is speed. The way i am with strategy games, is that I like to take care of as many enemies as I can while I get to objective. But the game would rather you get to the objective as fast as possible, and ignore as many enemies as possible to get that A rank. And I usually wouldn't care for ranks, but ranks are what determine how much experience and currency you get from a match, and the only way get that A rank is usually under 3 turns. Nevertheless the game is great, and i plan on getting more into the series
(4/5)

 

[Chris Evans]

Currently playing:

• If my heart had wings (PC)
• World End Economica episode.01 (Mac)
• Wipeout 2048 (PSV)
• Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (PSV)
• Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator (PS4)

Finished:

1. Soldner-X 2 (PSV) - relatively boring sequel to shmup from ps3 era, 6/10 - around 1 hour - short review
2. Ultratron (PSV) - suprisingly decent twin stick shooter, 7/10 - around 2 hours - short review

Abandoned:

Last updated 18th February

 

[BurstZyn]

23: Valkyria Chronicles Remastered (PS4): I have a good amount to say about this one. First, I must say that I love that this game is a mix of RPG, turn based strategy, and third person shooter. It is done so well, and the art style and story are so great as well. Now the negatives about this game, being the main two are; that scouts break the game. Just keep buffing these guys, and you can nearly beat the entire game in under 3 turns. Now i wouldn't have so much beef with this except for the fact that it has to do with a good amount with my biggest gripe against the game; Which is that there is only one 'correct' way to play the game, and the name of the game is speed. The way i am with strategy games, is that I like to take care of as many enemies as I can while I get to objective. But the game would rather you get to the objective as fast as possible, and ignore as many enemies as possible to get that A rank. And I usually wouldn't care for ranks, but ranks are what determine how much experience and currency you get from a match, and the only way get that A rank is usually under 3 turns. Nevertheless the game is great, and i plan on getting more into the series
(4/5)

24: PSVR worlds: The London Heist (PSVR) (3/5)
25:Stories: Path of Destinies (PS4): Fun mechanics and fun concept, but it gets covered over by the dull repetition and the cringy writing. It's as fun as rereading those choose your own adventure books, to get the multiple and various endings
(3/5)

 

[Scopa]

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (NDS]
8/10

Chrono Trigger (SNES)
9/10

Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
7/10

Grand Theft Auto IV (PC)
6/10

GTA IV: Ballad of Gay Tony (PC)
7/10

GTA IV: The Lost and Damned (PC)
5/10

Legend of Zelda, The: A Link to the Past (SNES)
9/10

Legend of Zelda, The: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
10/10

Metroid Fusion (GBA)
8/10

Picross S (Switch)
8/10

Portal (PC)
9/10

Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box (NDS)
7/10

Red Dead Redemption (X360)
10/10

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
10/10

Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
10/10

Super Metroid (SNES)
10/10

Tactic Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
10/10

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)
9/10

 

[BurstZyn]

24: PSVR worlds: The London Heist (PSVR) (3/5)
25:Stories: Path of Destinies (PS4): Fun mechanics and fun concept, but it gets covered over by the dull repetition and the cringy writing. It's as fun as rereading those choose your own adventure books, to get the multiple and various endings
(3/5)

26: Catherine (Xbox 360): One of the few games where im enjoying myself while I'm suffering from Anxiety, Both from gameplay and the story telling. The puzzle platforming can be fun and challenging, and the story telling is so well constructed and off the wall (Typical Atlus). Controls and camera can be kinda shitty at times, idk if thats a 360 problem or not, but it was rather annoying, especially during the boss stages. Great music, awesome visuals, amazing game
(5/5)
27: Necropolis (PS4): Disappointment is one emption i feel about this game. I expecting was an interesting Souls-Like dungeon crawler. But honestly the only souls aspect of this game is attack configuration and the hidden 'lore'. But even as its own game, its bad. Its super slow, clunky, boring, etc. Ain't much goin on with the music, the sarcastic tone of the game world gets annoying, and the dungeon crawling get repetitive real quick. The only positive point i can say about this game, is that the art direction isn't too bad
(1/5)

 

[tschep2]

20. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: 8/10, finished 05/01/18
I've played the first KotOR game many times but for some reason I've never gotten around to playing the sequel. Being in that mood to play a Star Wars game, I decided to fire this up and finally give it its due and my goodness, what a great game. It improved on a lot of the gameplay of the first title and had some great QoL changes that made it all the more enjoyable. I would say the writing was only slightly sub the story of the first, but it was still very well done. I'm not sure exactly how or what was changed with the inclusion of the Restored Content mod, but I was instructed that it was absolutely necessary to play with it - so I'm hoping that didn't influence my experience tooo much.

21. Corpse Party: 5/10, finished 05/14/18
I found the game's structure and setting to be alright for the most part, but I didn't particularly care for a lot of the characters or the story and it definitely felt like a slog towards the end to get through. I wasn't expecting anything super scary going in either, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed by the lack of tension.

22. Bloodstained Curse of the Moon: 10/10, finished 05/25/18
I loved this game. I've backed and have been following Ritual of the Night's development since it started and I was initially ambivalent towards this stretch goal and didn't think it would be as extravagant as it ended up being. The beautiful result we got was an unexpected but welcome surprise. The music, the difficulty, the visuals - everything meshed together wonderfully and I couldn't be happier with the game.

23. Detroit: Become Human: 3/10, finished 05/30/18
My opinion on Quantic Dreams games and David Cage's writing isn't very unique, I don't like them. I've played Inidigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, and Beyond before this and I left each feeling similarly. I think the stories themselves started out very good and had a good draw, but once it was over and I had time to reflect I started to really notice the flaws and shortcomings of each of them. I don't think two days is necessarily enough time to fully reflect upon Detroit, but my initial impressions on completion were not very good. Once I learned the subject matter that Cage would try to tackle with Detroit and all the recent allegations about Quantic Dreams that began to release it became like a train wreck that I couldn't look away from as I waited for the game to release, and even despite this and my previous biases I tried my hardest to go into Detroit with a clean slate and hope for the best - but unfortunately that dream started to crumble about halfway through. Visually and technically, this game is magnificent. The visuals were stunning, it was smooth to play, it didn't really stutter anywhere, the controls were responsive, and I really liked the flowchart as a mechanic actually to sort of let you know what choices actually mattered. I can't get too detailed in my full opinion of the story or world without spoiling anything so I will leave it at that I feel all the characters' stories started off pretty well, but it got derailed hard as I continued to play.

24. Dark Souls Remastered (PC): 8/10, finished 06/02/18
I thought it was a fine remake. I liked all the QoL improvements and the new lighting I felt wasn't AS bad as it was made to seem leading up to its release. Good game. Still Dark Souls.

25. Resident Evil 2: 10/10, finished 06/16/18
My favorite survival horror game. The new footage of the remake at E3 sparked some interest to return to the RCPD for a bit in anticipation.

26. Pony Island: 5/10, finished 06/23/18
Another impulse buy that was sitting in my wishlist for a while, finally pulled the trigger with the summer sale. It was about what I expected in terms of its metanarrative, nothing too exceptional - but a pretty fun way to kill two hours.

27. Danganronpa v3 Killing Harmony: finished 06/27/18
I'm not quite sure how to feel about this one yet. I've been playing the chapters on and off for about two months and right up until the very final act I was ready to proclaim it as my favorite game in the franchise. The new cast was excellent, the trials were finding new ways to be interesting, the music was great, the setting was fantastic, the new mini games were awesome. I was really digging it all. Then the final chapter happened. Obviously won't get into it because of spoilers, but damn, it soured the game for me big time.

 

[BurstZyn]

26: Catherine (Xbox 360): One of the few games where im enjoying myself while I'm suffering from Anxiety, Both from gameplay and the story telling. The puzzle platforming can be fun and challenging, and the story telling is so well constructed and off the wall (Typical Atlus). Controls and camera can be kinda shitty at times, idk if thats a 360 problem or not, but it was rather annoying, especially during the boss stages. Great music, awesome visuals, amazing game
(5/5)
27: Necropolis (PS4): Disappointment is one emption i feel about this game. I expecting was an interesting Souls-Like dungeon crawler. But honestly the only souls aspect of this game is attack configuration and the hidden 'lore'. But even as its own game, its bad. Its super slow, clunky, boring, etc. Ain't much goin on with the music, the sarcastic tone of the game world gets annoying, and the dungeon crawling get repetitive real quick. The only positive point i can say about this game, is that the art direction isn't too bad
(1/5)

28: Rime (PS4): I remember this game being talked about as the most underrated game of last year. And it is some damn true, if i played this game last year, it would have definitely been part of my top 10 games of last year. It looks beautiful and tells an amazing story with barely any words spoken. The gameplay is basic, just a simple puzzle platformer, more of a walking Simulator in the same vein as Journey, but this probably tops Journey for me, and I freaking love Journey. The music is astounding as well. There were some clunky control problems, but nothing game breaking. (5/5)

 

[Jack Videogames]

9:21h.

The Book of Unwritten Tales is an enjoyable little point-and-click game that feels a bit like the first Simon the Sorcerer: it plays with both adventure and fantasy tropes in a charming, yet subdued way. It sometimes falls in the pitfall of using too much "adventure game logic", but it's still much better than this than Deponia or some old games like the first Discworld.

It's a very inoffensive game, but also pretty good at what it does. It's dated, though - keep that in mind.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[Jack Videogames]

32:15h. 52/52 substories, completed the Clan Creator storyline, found all cats. Warning: UNMARKED SPOILERS ABOUT THE ENDING.

Yakuza 6 is a very sad, almost depressing game. Maybe it's because it's Kiryu's swansong, but it feels subdued from beggining to end. Not only the main story: most of the substories are devoid of the trademark Yakuza humor, being instead about scam attempts (for Kamurocho) or personal tragedies (for Onomichi). Outliers like Ono Michio's feel refreshing, but they're much less frequent than in the past. Also, for Yakuza standards, it's a very short game, being easily half of the game Yakuza 0 was. This contributes to the general feeling of tiredness that permeates Y6.

This tiredness extends to the minigames, which are for the most part simple and lacking any impact. The Snack Gaudi line and the baseball team story are too short to be satisfying, and the Clan Creator feels devoid of any real weight.

My final and most important gripe with Yakuza 6 is that I feel Kiryu didn't get a proper sendoff. I wanted Kiryu to finally settle down and enjoy the latter half of his life, maybe in Okinawa, perhaps in Onomichi. I wanted him to find a love interest that didn't die on him or leave (I honestly thought Kiyomi was going to be this) and watch his grandson grow, far away from the Tojo clan. I know this was wistful thinking, so I would have accepted him getting a dignified death, so his family could grieve him in peace, finally freed from the yakuza life.

Instead, we got neither one nor the other. Everyone thinks Kiryu is dead but he faked it so now he has to roam the country, far away from his loved ones. The Tojo Clan is in shambles and Daigo and maybe Yuta and Haruka can still be an objective of both the yakuza and the triads. How's this a denouement? Kiryu's story would need a Yakuza 7 where all the unraveled threads get resolved, and I'm sad this is not going to happen.

And after this high amount of harsh critique, I'm presenting the game with four stars. Why? Because it's a Yakuza game and I fucking loved it. I loved it so much that I can mostly remember the bad things. But Yakuza is like part of my family now: even when it disappoints me, I can't stop loving it.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

28: Rime (PS4): I remember this game being talked about as the most underrated game of last year. And it is some damn true, if i played this game last year, it would have definitely been part of my top 10 games of last year. It looks beautiful and tells an amazing story with barely any words spoken. The gameplay is basic, just a simple puzzle platformer, more of a walking Simulator in the same vein as Journey, but this probably tops Journey for me, and I freaking love Journey. The music is astounding as well. There were some clunky control problems, but nothing game breaking. (5/5)

29: Army of Two: The 40th Day (Xbox 360): A better game than the first one I would say, with the lil more customization and alright scenarios where you make your choices that kinda affect the story (not really). Feels good and fun to play, but only really with a buddy. Alright music, cool mask designs, fun cast. But man do the checkpoints suck in this game, they are so bad that I really wanted to quit several times. I constantly had to recustomize my classes and repeatedly buy the same equipment over and over again, whenever my brother and I died. And the weird thing is that the game would auto save after customizing, but the checkpoint would still be right before. (3/5)

 

[BurstZyn]

29: Army of Two: The 40th Day (Xbox 360): A better game than the first one I would say, with the lil more customization and alright scenarios where you make your choices that kinda affect the story (not really). Feels good and fun to play, but only really with a buddy. Alright music, cool mask designs, fun cast. But man do the checkpoints suck in this game, they are so bad that I really wanted to quit several times. I constantly had to recustomize my classes and repeatedly buy the same equipment over and over again, whenever my brother and I died. And the weird thing is that the game would auto save after customizing, but the checkpoint would still be right before. (3/5)

30. Armored Core (PS): While this game is pretty dated, and the controls are pretty clunky; this game still feels great to me. I've only play the Fifth one and this one, and somehow this game sold me more on the series then it's last generation successor. The Customization is fun, the mechanics are awesome, and it doesn't look to bad for a PS1 game honestly. The music is great, voice acting is alright, but it wasn't really important for the game honestly. My only beef is with the controls really, which made sense for the time (Poor PlayStation for having no analog sticks). And man that last mission pissed me off to much, but Nine Ball is sick tho! Even though he such a big asshole.
(4/5)

 

[Jack Videogames]

12:23h. Selected Emily, Low Chaos ending, did the "alternate solutions" for all the targets.

Dishonored 2 is pretty much more of the same than 1, and this is a good thing. Huge, really well-built decadent city full of corrupted officials, a worldwide conspiration plot, a pulp yet serviceable new weird-slipstream story... if there's anything remarkable, is that the better technology allows the game for more interesting locales, like the Clockwork Mansion or Stilton's Manor and its time-travel gimmick. Also, playing with Emily and her own roster of powers is a welcome change if you want something different.

Hope Arkane releases something else soon, because I love their work and I feel I'm wanting more.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[Jack Videogames]

10-ish. Missed the bonus missions because I wasn't aware they existed.

Advance Wars is an ideal game to play in short bursts. The gameplay is infinitely addicting, but the story is just kind of... there and the enemy AI is terrible (except for Sturm, which is somewhat smarter than the rest) and the allied AI is even worse. Still, as far as portable strategy goes, it's a really satisfying game.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

30. Armored Core (PS): While this game is pretty dated, and the controls are pretty clunky; this game still feels great to me. I've only play the Fifth one and this one, and somehow this game sold me more on the series then it's last generation successor. The Customization is fun, the mechanics are awesome, and it doesn't look to bad for a PS1 game honestly. The music is great, voice acting is alright, but it wasn't really important for the game honestly. My only beef is with the controls really, which made sense for the time (Poor PlayStation for having no analog sticks). And man that last mission pissed me off to much, but Nine Ball is sick tho! Even though he such a big asshole.
(4/5)

31: Jak And Daxter (PS2): While this game has the minor conveniences of no subtitles and inverted camera controls, it stills holds up as a great platformers. Some quirky characters and fun simple boss fights really feel nostalgic compared to how most games are now a days. The music can be kinda boring, but the designing and art of this game is fun and colorful.
(4/5)

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

28. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (PS3) - 7/10 Less frustrating than Umbrella Chronicles but weird shaky cam keep it from being great
29. Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (PS3) - 4/10 Believe the hype, AWFUL
30. Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) - 8/10 A nice reminder that Sonic can be great
31. Resident Evil Revelations 2 + DLC (PS4) - 5/10 One of the worst RE games I played
32. Titanfall 2 (PS4) - 9/10 Absoutely loved this one
33. Super Mario. Bros (NES) -8/10 Still amazing after all these years
34. Resident Evil 7 (PS4) - 8/10 Amazing until the ending...
35. Resident Evil 7 DLC (PS4) - 6/10 Disappointing and short
36. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) - 8/10 Still incredibly fun and weird after all these years
37. Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) - 4/10 Awful controls totally ruin this game
38. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES) - 10/10 Still the best

Main Post

 

[tschep2]

24. Dark Souls Remastered (PC): 8/10, finished 06/02/18
I thought it was a fine remake. I liked all the QoL improvements and the new lighting I felt wasn't AS bad as it was made to seem leading up to its release. Good game. Still Dark Souls.

25. Resident Evil 2: 10/10, finished 06/16/18
My favorite survival horror game. The new footage of the remake at E3 sparked some interest to return to the RCPD for a bit in anticipation.

26. Pony Island: 5/10, finished 06/23/18
Another impulse buy that was sitting in my wishlist for a while, finally pulled the trigger with the summer sale. It was about what I expected in terms of its metanarrative, nothing too exceptional - but a pretty fun way to kill two hours.

27. Danganronpa v3 Killing Harmony: finished 06/27/18
I'm not quite sure how to feel about this one yet. I've been playing the chapters on and off for about two months and right up until the very final act I was ready to proclaim it as my favorite game in the franchise. The new cast was excellent, the trials were finding new ways to be interesting, the music was great, the setting was fantastic, the new mini games were awesome. I was really digging it all. Then the final chapter happened. Obviously won't get into it because of spoilers, but damn, it soured the game for me big time.

28. Hollow Knight (Switch): 10/10, finished 07/08/18
I've played Hollow Knight before on Steam, but that play through was a little less thorough compared to this one. Even on a second time through, this has easily been one of my most enjoyable gaming experiences ever. Hollow Knight nails (pun intended) its atmosphere, gameplay, music, art, and story in one astounding package that will go down as one of my favorite games of all time. I had an absolute blast 100%'ing (technically 107%'ing) the game, experimenting with some different charm builds, finding areas I haven't even been in my first time, and experiencing the DLC for the first time as well. It was like I was playing it for the first time all over again. I look forward to the last DLC incoming as well as whatever else Team Cherry decides to grace us with in the future!

29. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4): 6/10, finished 07/16/18
This and my next game sort of came out of nowhere. A lot of people in my life right now are going through Kingdom Hearts games in some shape or form and I felt like joining in on that action. I've played most of them multiple times before, except for this one which I've only played once when it came out on the 3DS. I decided to give it a shot on console and was not disappointed! It was definitely an improvement to play, but it still isn't the strongest entry in the series in my opinion.

30. Kingdom Hearts 0.2: 7/10, finished 07/17/18
Right after knocking Dream Drop out I decided to play this one finally too, since after all KH3 is coming soon and I figured it's probably important. It felt great to play and I don't have too much bad to say about it. A fun experience, a bit short but that was expected going in. Can't wait for KH3.

31. Mega Man X (PS4): 8/10, finished 07/25/18
Great game, very solid port on the legacy collection. Haven't run into any issues with performance anywhere. One of my favorite platformers.

32. Mega Man X2 (PS4): 7/10, finished 07/30/18
The least played of the X-series of Mega Man games for me, X2 is also a very good port. I like it only slightly less than X, but overall it is still a damn good and competent platformer. I think a couple of the upgrades aren't as fun, but they serve their functions well. Still, I had a blast going through it again. Now onto X3!

 

[BurstZyn]

31: Jak And Daxter (PS2): While this game has the minor conveniences of no subtitles and inverted camera controls, it stills holds up as a great platformers. Some quirky characters and fun simple boss fights really feel nostalgic compared to how most games are now a days. The music can be kinda boring, but the designing and art of this game is fun and colorful.
(4/5)

32: Uncanny Valley (PS4): Simply done pixel with a great story behind it. Tangled with multiple endings, that really make this game repeatable to a certain extent. The characters are interesting and this game can actually be scary, especially through headphones. That damn doorbell in the beginning got me good.
(3/5)
33: Sleeping Dogs: Year of The Snake (Xbox One): Neat lil segment added as DLC to the terrific game that is Sleeping Dogs. While the missions can get a lil repetitive, it is cool for a story to focus mainly on Wei Cop side; and man that beginning cut scene had me laughing.
(3/5)

 

[Jack Videogames]

A minimum of 260h, most certainly more than that. Explanation on why I consider this beaten below.

Since Blizzard is done with Legion, so am I. I set myself some targets for Legion and I consider most of them achieved. Since I'm no longer a hardcore player, I aimed for low goals. To be precise, I wanted to do the following:

1) See all raid tiers, no matter the difficulty
2) Get a full gear set
3) Get Legion Pathfinder
4) Complete the class questline including mount with at least one character
5) Level 110s in both Horde and Alliance

Since I managed to do that and some more, like completing all the class questlines, I'm happy with the results of my time investment in Legion. And I liked what I played, too. Except for the last patch, which I consider a waste of what could have been the setting for a whole new expansion, I loved the pace of the storytelling and how every class was, this time, a different entity with a different storyline and a class-driven subplot which in some cases was OK, in some cases sort of lame and in others pretty epic.

I'm sort of wary about BfA because I'm seeing some things I don't like much, but I guess we'll see tomorrow!

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[Helios]

Let's see if I can do it in half a year. Probably not, especially if I keep playing 50h RPGs
1: Planescape Torment - Took me way too much to get into this game. A master piece in almost every sense and an all-time favorite.

2: Mass Effect: Enjoyed it a lot. I felt like the loot system was really boring and the combat felt clunky but the story and characters made up for it.

3: Mass Effect 2: The story took a big detour, they striped all the RPG elements and instead chose to focus on the TPS aspect. Unfortunately there were so few weapons that it got boring by the end. I have no idea what they thought with the scanning "mini-game" Really interesting characters though. I'd rate it lower than ME1 but it's still up there.

4: Risk of Rain: Sort of. The game is a rogue-lite so it doesn't really have an ending. But I unlocked all the character, beat the final boss multiple times and completed every Steam Achievement (almost). The game is extremely fun, I just wish it had dedicated server. Connecting through a port is a pain in the ass. I can't wait for the sequel

 

[BurstZyn]

32: Uncanny Valley (PS4): Simply done pixel with a great story behind it. Tangled with multiple endings, that really make this game repeatable to a certain extent. The characters are interesting and this game can actually be scary, especially through headphones. That damn doorbell in the beginning got me good.
(3/5)
33: Sleeping Dogs: Year of The Snake (Xbox One): Neat lil segment added as DLC to the terrific game that is Sleeping Dogs. While the missions can get a lil repetitive, it is cool for a story to focus mainly on Wei Cop side; and man that beginning cut scene had me laughing.
(3/5)

34. Legend of Kay Anniversary (PS4): This game has a lot goin for it, with its fun mechanics, honestly awesome weapon and armor designs, and fun for kids attitude. But as a game it's just terribly below mediocre. The gameplay is incredibly janky, there are ridiculous difficulty spikes out of nowehere, and its horrid camera controls. The Voice acting, Every one sounds terrible and out of place, besides maybe one character, and that's not the main character, he's so annoying and not witty in his delivery. But my main question is why does this game have a remaster with so many damn ports? Who is asking for this game?! The original was on PS2, while this version was the DS, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PS4, and a Switch version is on its ways... Why?! Why is this game in such high demand?! But to end on a positive note I suppose... the music ain't to bad, and the final boss fight, while being annoying, was... unique...
(2/5)

 

[Underpants158]

1.Costume Quest: I probably enjoyed this game more than it is good, hopefully that makes sense. It's just a simple, short, quirky ride. 7/10
2. The Red Strings Club: Really enjoyed the tone of this game: cyberpunk/noir. I even kinda liked the sculpting segments. However, the ending, while finely executed seemed like it came out of nowhere 7/10
3. Iconoclast: First game of the year contender here. I highly enjoyed ever aspect of this game: story, world, graphics, music, characters. 8/10
4. HUE: solid puzzle game. 7/10
5. Chuchel: Not much to play but nice to look at. Kind of has a saturday morning cartoon that is secretly gross side. 6/10
6. Yakuza 6: It's more Yakuza, which is a series I have quickly grown to love. 8/10
7. Beholder: Do bad things for good reasons in a soviet state-the simulator. 7/10
8. Ruiner: It surprised me how much I enjoyed this game. Having a hub world to walk around in was really cool: atmosphere and pacing. 8/10
9. Moon Hunters: Very bland in all aspects. Game wants you to replay it over and over to flesh out the story: no thanks. 6/10
10. The Adventure Pals: What first started out as a fun whimsical romp turned into repetitious torture. 6/10
11. Rise of the Tomb Raider: Played most of it last year and for some reason stopped. To me the Tomb Raider games are more fun to play than a certain other series even though their stories and characters are very forgettable 8/10
12. Detroit: Become Human: The amount of repercussions your decisions have is truly amazing. Different play throughs can have dramatic differences. It's really cool. 7/10
13. The Banner Saga 3: A solid end to the trilogy. The actual ending, I wish, was more fleshed out. But hey. 7/10

 

[BurstZyn]

34. Legend of Kay Anniversary (PS4): This game has a lot goin for it, with its fun mechanics, honestly awesome weapon and armor designs, and fun for kids attitude. But as a game it's just terribly below mediocre. The gameplay is incredibly janky, there are ridiculous difficulty spikes out of nowehere, and its horrid camera controls. The Voice acting, Every one sounds terrible and out of place, besides maybe one character, and that's not the main character, he's so annoying and not witty in his delivery. But my main question is why does this game have a remaster with so many damn ports? Who is asking for this game?! The original was on PS2, while this version was the DS, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PS4, and a Switch version is on its ways... Why?! Why is this game in such high demand?! But to end on a positive note I suppose... the music ain't to bad, and the final boss fight, while being annoying, was... unique...
(2/5)

35. Element4l (PSVita): A platformer with an interesting concept of switching between ice, fire, air, and earth in order to progress through stages. This concept makes this game challenging but satisfying in the sense of solving puzzles with limited moves. Music was alright but felt out of place and weird, and the cutscenes felt so disturbing that i wasn't really sure what i was looking at.
(3/5)

 

[MazkoMac]

Little late to the party but have some time off so gonna give this a go. So far this year have completed:

Currently Playing: A Link to the Past, Dead Cells

1. Enter The Gungeon (10/10) - Funnily enough the first game on my list has become one of my favorite games of all times. Tough as nails, Binding of Isaac with guns and since the Supply Drop update has gotten even better. Have platinumed the game on PS4 and continue to play.

2. Star Wars Battlefront 2 (8/10) - A game that had terrible PR pre release but decided to switch from pay to play plans and honestly has become one of my favorite games of 2018. The campaign was beat in a single session I believe, but the multiplayer continues to be fun and as someone who enjoys grind heavy games, this one does it for me. Only one trophy away from platinuming this one as well.

3. Slain: Gat out of Hell (5/10) - I'm a sucker for retro platformers but was a little disappointed by this one. The gameplay got pretty repetitive after the first couple levels, and the janky hitboxes and tedious boss fights made for an underwhelming experience. I did enjoy the art style, however, and it did have it's moments. May return one day to go for the platinum but it seems like a lengthy grind.

4. The End is Nigh (8/10) - The unofficial sequel to Super Meat Boy that definitely delivered. Got it for the Switch and made every subsequent plane and bus ride a breeze as the increasingly difficult levels satisfied my gamer palette. Once you beat it, going through every Cart offers hours of end game content. Great stuff.

5. Downwell (8/10) - An amazing minimalistic experience. A different sort of platformer which involves quick reflexes as you're constantly falling down and adjusting to the enemies below. Although you only use 3 buttons, the game is very difficult and feels rewarding when you get that final boss kill. Only Trophy I have left is beating the final boss on hard which is proving to be quite difficult, but something I'm determined to accomplish.

6. Borderlands 2 (9.5/10) - A game I was HEAVILY into a few years ago and decided to revisit after purchasing the Handsome Collection on PS4. For me it's honestly close to a perfect game. Most people will know about Borderlands so don't feel like I have to say much about it but yah, to me simply amazing.

7. Super Mario World (9/10) - Got the SNES Classic and this was one of the first games I decided to revisit. Ended up putting a few Speedruns together which brings new life to this old game. Obviously it's timeless and still amazing .

8. Donkey Kong Country (9/10) - In the same vain as SMW decided to revisit this classic with the classic and was in for a fun, nostalgic experience. Didn't take too long to beat but enjoyed every minute of it. Will definitely throw the 2nd and 3rd on the classic and add them to this list as well.

9. Day of the Tentacle (9/10) - This has to be the greatest Point and Click adventure game of all time. The unique story, the difficult, sometimes frustratingly random puzzles, and the artwork make for an absolute LucasArts classic. If anyone can make it through this game without ever consulting an online FAQ at least once through your playthrough - I salute you.

10. BroForce (8/10) - Such a fun game. I'm a sucker for old school-ish platformers and the style and humor of this game only adds to it's enjoyment. Unlocking every bro and messing around with their unique abilities was the hook with this game, and I will probably revisit it yet again soon to go for the 100% completion on PS4.

 

[Jack Videogames]

All in all, probably around 20h. Main campaign beaten.

Not a fan. The game has a totally charming and the idea of "building" the dungeon as you go is fun, but the game becomes very luck based around mid-second tier. High-tier classes, like the Most Holy Knight and the Mathemagician make it easier, but you still have to be in good graces with the God of your choice if you want to defeat some enemies. Still, a decent way to entertain yourself in slow days at work.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

8h-ish. Stopped Norton, "Booming Metropolis" Dirtwater, helped as many people as I could find, abandoned the Cows questline because I couldn't get enough Grit to become Cowrrupted, but completed El Vibrato questline.

The second game of my "B&W extravaganza" today is luckily a much better one. WoL is a mix between an adventure game and a JRPG, The Stick of Truth-style, set in the Kingdom of Loathing universe. I only played KoL a wee bit, just enough to not be weirded out by things like using Meat as currency, and I still found it WoL enjoyable as hell.

Perhaps it was a bit too short for its own good, but on the other side, I can see this game becoming tiresome if it was twice the length, so it might have been a wise choice after all. Hoping for a sequel!

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[tschep2]

28. Hollow Knight (Switch): 10/10, finished 07/08/18
I've played Hollow Knight before on Steam, but that play through was a little less thorough compared to this one. Even on a second time through, this has easily been one of my most enjoyable gaming experiences ever. Hollow Knight nails (pun intended) its atmosphere, gameplay, music, art, and story in one astounding package that will go down as one of my favorite games of all time. I had an absolute blast 100%'ing (technically 107%'ing) the game, experimenting with some different charm builds, finding areas I haven't even been in my first time, and experiencing the DLC for the first time as well. It was like I was playing it for the first time all over again. I look forward to the last DLC incoming as well as whatever else Team Cherry decides to grace us with in the future!

29. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (PS4): 6/10, finished 07/16/18
This and my next game sort of came out of nowhere. A lot of people in my life right now are going through Kingdom Hearts games in some shape or form and I felt like joining in on that action. I've played most of them multiple times before, except for this one which I've only played once when it came out on the 3DS. I decided to give it a shot on console and was not disappointed! It was definitely an improvement to play, but it still isn't the strongest entry in the series in my opinion.

30. Kingdom Hearts 0.2: 7/10, finished 07/17/18
Right after knocking Dream Drop out I decided to play this one finally too, since after all KH3 is coming soon and I figured it's probably important. It felt great to play and I don't have too much bad to say about it. A fun experience, a bit short but that was expected going in. Can't wait for KH3.

31. Mega Man X (PS4): 8/10, finished 07/25/18
Great game, very solid port on the legacy collection. Haven't run into any issues with performance anywhere. One of my favorite platformers.

32. Mega Man X2 (PS4): 7/10, finished 07/30/18
The least played of the X-series of Mega Man games for me, X2 is also a very good port. I like it only slightly less than X, but overall it is still a damn good and competent platformer. I think a couple of the upgrades aren't as fun, but they serve their functions well. Still, I had a blast going through it again. Now onto X3!

33. Mega Man X3 (PS4): 7/10, finished 08/02/18
First time through X3 and X4 to polish off the first legacy collection. Pretty fun! Nothing really too bad to say about it other than it felt like more Mega Man X/X2, which isn't a bad thing at all. The new power-ups were rad, the new mechanics and spoilers because, ya never know...

Spoiler

playing as Zero was really really cool!

Overall it was a very solid entry!

34. Mega Man X4 (PS4): 7/10, finished 08/07/18
A lot of echoing thoughts that I had with X3. The FMVs were cool and the voice acting wasn't AS bad as I was led to believe. It was kind of charming and heralded back to the PS1 days. Not much else to add

35. Double Dragon IV: 8/10, finished 08/08/18
This was kind of a weird pick. I was bored one evening and browsing through my steam library I noticed this game which I had no recollection of purchasing. I'm also by no means a savant of the beat 'em up genre outside of Turtles in Time and Battletoads, so this game could have been absolute trash and I didn't even know it. The steam reviews seem to suggest that? Regardless, I had a lot of fun with the game! It was a great way to kill 2 hours, if that, and I want to check out other Double Dragon games now.

36. Life is Strange: Before the Storm: 4/10, finished 08/20/18
In anticipation to LiS2, I finally got around to finishing this one. Right off the bat, I liked a lot of what this game tried to do. The back talk mechanic was really fun, the voice acting was excellent, and the setting/world continues to be exceptional. My biggest issue was that the writing and dialogue weren't particularly gripping. I think expectations of the story were what really killed it for me, unfortunately. I feel that having played the first game we were led to believe a much more exciting narrative was going to occur, when in reality it ended up being... pretty boring. Twin Peaks is the obvious reference to make regarding these games, so my analogy was that I expected something a little more like "Fire Walk With Me" and instead got a pretty bland soap opera. It doesn't help knowing a lot of the "important" choices in BtS had no actual impact if you played the first game. I couldn't be more glad LiS2 will have a new cast of characters/setting.

37. The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit: 9/10, finished 08/22/18
Keeping the LiS train going, of course I had to play the latest, free entry in the series! What a breath of fresh air this felt like after the worries I had coming out of BtS. It wasn't a particularly long experience, but this game did a really great job setting up the new season as well as all the gameplay and engine improvements. Perhaps some of the praise is just ricocheting off the disappointment I felt with BtS, but I like to think it helped renew some hope for LiS2.

 

[jshackles]

Part 2, 2018 (Part 1 here)

Game 35 - The Legend of Zelda - NES - Complted Aug 31st, 2018
After looking at the achievement list for this game, I decided I'd take a stab at doing all of the "first quest" achievements that could be done in a single run. Like some of the other Zelda games on RA that have similar achievements, I defeated a few of the bosses without getting hit but not all of them. I also missed a compass / map somewhere, I guess. Otherwise it was a good quick run. I only died once, in level 9 which kinda pissed me off but that's okay cause I'll try again at some point down the road I'm sure. Otherwise I got 41/54 of the first quest achievements, not bad. Zelda 1 is still one of my favorite NES games of all time.

Game 36 - Picross S - Nintendo Switch - Completed Sept 2nd, 2018
I've been playing this Picross game for a couple of months, but finally finished all the puzzles in both the regular and "mega picross" modes. Some of these were downright brutal in their execution, and I got to a point in the final puzzle (20x15) where I basically had to make an educated guess as to how to complete it - which is something I'm not particularly fond of in a Picross game. The puzzles themselves were overall pretty good, but the end results were super duper random and quirky. Overall, I'm happy with the $8 spent since I probably put about 60 hours into this game and I'm looking forward to picking up Picross S2 and getting started on that one.

Game 37 - Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna DLC - Nintendo Switch - Completed Oct 9th, 2018
I'm stuck in RPG land, which means I might not make the challenge this year but I'm playing some very awesome games. This is one such awesome game. While I didn't get the proposed "40 hour" experience out of Torna, I did put in about 25 and feel it was well worth the purchase. I probably could have done the full grind and beat the last few superbosses, but it got to the point where I was level 67 and needed to raise another 20+ levels without the benefit of having quests to turn in (since I had done them all). Really pleased with how this turned out, and totally reinforced the Switch for me as an RPG powerhouse. The story was familiar from the original game but regardless was still great. The music was great, the characters were great, really top notch all the way around.

Game 38 - Starlink: Battle for Atlas - Nintendo Switch - Completed Oct 17th, 2018
I bought this game digitally on the Switch because a) Star Fox and b) not having to mess with the toys and just being able to swap out the weapons in-game. I don't usually go for the action games, but I had a lot of fun with this one - much more than I thought I would. I found I was able to tackle about 99% of everything in the game with just the "basic" fire and ice weapons that came with the digital version, but I could definitely see the appeal of buying different weapons and pilots in the eshop. I liked the "open star system" design of this game and the fact that you can basically go anywhere and do anything, and I liked the light-RPG elements the game provided. I've been playing a lot of Switch games lately - it's just so easy to pick up and play and take the console anywhere.

Game 39 - The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset - Playstation 4 - Completed Oct 20th, 2018
I've been playing this here and there for a couple of months now, between other games and when I have time. I love ESO, it's probably one of my favorite games of all time - there is so much to do and see and get. My character has basically been soloing the game for the past 4 years now, and I'm just now to level 43 (of 50) after beating the Summerset campaign. I love how this built up a ton of story stuff from the other DLC chapters (clockwork city, morrowind, etc) and I love Razum-Dar's character in this as well as the main game. While I didn't think this was quite a good story wise as Morrowind, I still loved exploring the Summerset isles and joining the Psijic Order. Very much worth the price of admission, and there are some other dungeons, skill trees, and crafting that comes along with it. I also got a huge mansion for free just for owning this expansion, so that was awesome too. The introduction of the daily rewards in this game is also ace and usually has me signing in every day I can just to get them.

Game 40 - Diablo III: Eternal Collection - Nintendo Switch - Completed Nov 3rd, 2018
I picked this up so I could play some Diablo on the go, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with how well this ran on the Switch hardware. I've played through this game a couple dozen times, but I made sure to actually listen to the voice acting and story this time so it took a little longer than usual to finish. Around the beginning of Act III I swapped the difficulty up to hard, and finished the game at level 58. The game is still great, and there is an incredible amount of value in this package with the story mode, adventure mode, rift gates, post-game content, etc. Even though I've finished the main story, I'm sure I'll be playing this for a long time yet.

Game 41 - The Elder Scrolls Online: Rivenspire - Playstation 4 - Completed Nov 10th, 2018
While this isn't exactly it's own expansion or anything, I feel like the 14 hours I spent doing all of the quests I could find in Rivenspire certainly counts as it's own thing. In fact, with the daily rewards system in place, I had enough experience scrolls saved up to always have an XP bonus while playing this region, and leveled myself up to 50 and started working on my champion levels. I wandered into this region after beating Summerset, and was sucked in by the Halloween atmosphere of vampires and gothic castles. The storyline for this area was actually really well put together - so much so that it feels like I should have paid for this area as an expansion even though it's just part of the regular game. When I finished it, the queen gave me a quest to go to the Alikir Desert, so the quest continues onward...

Game 42 - Jackbox Party Pack 5 - Xbox One - Completed Nov 16th, 2018
These games are always great for parties, and we've got my daughter and her boyfriend back from college this week so there are 5 of us that all love these games in the house now which makes things interesting. The standout game (for me and my wife, at least - the kids just roll their eyes) is the robot rap battles game. Split the room is also great fun especially with the full crowd (where super splits are possible) and we've played the YDKJ version in this about a dozen times. Although a bit on the expensive side for what is on offer, it's hard to find anything else that can provide hours of entertainment for 5 people for $30.

Game 43 - Super Mario Party - Nintendo Switch - Completed Nov 17th, 2018
Like I said, my daughter and her boyfriend are home from college for the next few weeks so we've been playing a lot of local multiplayer games. Super Mario Party is a great entry in the series, but the vs games are still utter and complete bullshit. It's always fun to see what kind of random nonsense the game throws at us though. Personally, I prefer the rafting mode since rather than pitting us all against each other it promotes cooperation and everyone in our house responds really well to that aspect. We still haven't played all of the hidden boards or unlocked all of the little things, but we've still got a few weeks left before everyone has to go back to their busy lives so I'm sure we'll get in on that stuff eventually. My only real complaint is there wasn't an overwhelming amount of content for the price, but all of the mini-games are fun and like Jackbox it's hard to find that kind of value proposition for 4 people having fun for 20+ hours so far.

Game 44 - The Bouncer - Playstation 2 - Completed Nov 23rd, 2018
Somehow magically, I had never played this game before. I've always heard it was short and I had a few hours to kill today so I decided to boot it up. The game mechanics are clunky but they actually kind of work in a cheesy way. There were a few battles in the game that were pretty tough (especially the last boss fight) but overall I enjoyed it. I thought the plot was very "anime-esque" but I didn't count any points against it for that. Overall, pretty impressive visually given that it's several generations (and 16 years) old. Game looked a bit blown up on my screen but honestly, not too bad. I might have to dig into a few of my other Playstation 2 games on my backlog to try and round out this year's gaming.

Game 45 - The Elder Scrolls Online: Alik'r Desert - Playstation 4 - Completed Nov 25th, 2018
Originally my plan was to log in at least 24 days in November so I could get the Murkmire DLC for free, and once I got signed in I ended up spending about an hour in-game every day (because that's kinda how this works). So after finishing my quest in Rivenspire I got a hot tip that the people of Alik'r needed my help, so I came to the rescue. The quest itself was pretty good, fighting off necromancers and undead in the desert, and there were a lot of fun side-quests here as well. This game definitely has a huge amount of content, and again I played it all without doing anything multiplayer which was great. I also learned in sentinel that I can start training my horse for 250g per day, so that'll take a while to max out but it'll be worth it. Overall, pretty pleased with this experience, now on to Murkmire!

Game 46 - Diablo III: Eternal Collection - Xbox One - Completed Nov 28th, 2018
Ever since I started playing Diablo on the Switch earlier this month, my wife has been wanting to play through the co-op campaign with me again on the big screen. She's not much of a gamer, but I'm always happy to spend time gaming with her when she's able. It took us almost a month, but tonight we finally beat Malthiel and watched the credits roll. She played as a sorceress, and I went with the Necromancer (just like my Switch character, so this is my second time playing as a necro) and we had a blast. We were doing so much damage that we just kept bumping the difficulty higher and higher, and we were level 64 by the time we beat the game. Game plays great on the One, and I'm sure we'll keep going with our characters to do some rift runs, get the cube, etc.

Game 47 - ABZU - Nintendo Switch - Completed Dec 17th, 2018
So at this point I'm definitely behind on finishing games for the year, not sure if I'll be able to complete the challenge. I picked up ABZU on the Switch even though I've played it on the PC but I felt it was a pretty enjoyable experience. The Switch played the game pretty beautifully. Last night the power went out at my house for about 4 hours, so I decided to boot up ABZU and run through it before bed and waiting for the power to come back on. The game is still great, but without any fail conditions it definitely falls on the "easier" side of difficulty. Not complaining, because it makes for the perfect game to chill out to. The music is also super relaxing (most of the time) and my wife had fun watching and identifying all the different types of ocean creatures. Overall a solid experience to be had on a portable gaming system.

Game 48 - Katamari Damacy Reroll - Nintendo Switch - Completed Dec 21nd, 2018
I picked this up because I loved the original Katamari, and I loved the music and the nostalgia factor was worth the price of admission. Honestly though, the control scheme for the game totally ruined the experience for me. The game is pretty short so I resigned myself to finish it - especially because the final level is my favorite. I feel like I'm going to have these songs stuck in my head for a very long time...

Game 49 - World of Final Fantasy Maxima - Nintendo Switch - Completed Dec 22nd, 2018
After about 55 hours of World of Final Fantasy, I'm finally finished. I started this game (twice) when it first came out - once on the PS4 and again on the Vita but didn't finish it either time. Turns out, the game is pretty long, and the first few attempts I only made it about 1/5 of the way through the game. The Switch version, with it's portability and it's updates, made the game enjoyable enough to finish even if the main characters drove me up the walls sometimes. The "toggle fast forward" for battles was the game's saving grace, as I'm not sure what the developers were thinking making the battles in this game so fucking slow. Being able to toggle fast forward on and off, rather than having to hold the button down, made it tolerable but still pretty awkward most of the time. I enjoyed the "Pokemon"-like monster-catching mechanics but they fell a bit flat since I barely changed my party out the entire game. I'd call it a "slightly better than mediocre experience" honestly, but still an enjoyable and interesting game considering how much I love everything Final Fantasy.

Game 50 - GRIS - Nintendo Switch - Completed Dec 24th, 2018
I hadn't heard about this game until I saw the OT posted here on GAF, but it looked pretty awesome so I thought I'd pick it up. I loved the game, it's use of color, the music, everything. The game could at times be extremely peaceful and at other times very tense. When the turtle shows up to save you from the eel - that was my favorite moment of the game but it was filled with small moments like this that were really well done. It's also a relatively short game (took me about 2.5 hours) which is a bit steep honestly for the game's $17 asking price but overall a memorable and enjoyable experience nonetheless.

Game 51 - Kingdom Rush: Vengeance - Android - Completed Dec 24th, 2018
I may not agree with the series DLC practices, but I love these games and usually pick them up when they first release. I had my eyes on this one while it was in development and happily picked it up on release day. I've been playing through it on and off for the past few weeks, and it's a great game to pick up and play when I've got a few spare minutes. I loved the "twist" of being the bad guy from the original Kingdom Rush and fighting the king - having to work your way backwards across the map from the dark swamp to the kingdom villages. A really solid tower defense game, with a lot of good strategy and combinations of towers and heroes. Would definitely recommend.

Game 52 - Hidden Agenda - Playstation 4 - Completed Dec 25th, 2018
Everyone in my family was home for Christmas so we decided to fire up Hidden Agenda. We played through the game once a few years ago so we were kinda sorta hoping for a different outcome this time. Sadly, our character died in the same place in act 3 so obviously the narrative doesn't branch as far as we would have liked. We did see a few different and interesting angles of the story though, so that's pretty cool. We also earned a few more achievements that we didn't unlock last time we played through the game. Overall, still worth the price as a budget title, but maybe not as great with replays as I would have hoped.