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[mekes]

I think I am going to keep playing Everybody’s Golf and SF5 on the side, especially SF. But I’ve wanted to start a new game and I’ve been mulling over a few. Dragons Dogma DA PS4 version gets the nod. I have a bit of a weird history with this game. It’s perhaps the only big game I have quit playing due to being unhappy with the games technical performance. This was on PS3 where I found the pop-in really jarring. It actually made me angry at the time from a consumer point of view. I bought the ps4 version at launch, started it up and was bored after a few hours.

But there is something about this game I want to give another chance to. When I originally tried it on the PS3, I really wanted to like it. But with my renewed interest in having some good old fashioned fun with games, if I’m not enjoying my time on the game, it has got to go.

Third time lucky?

 

[Soodanim]

I think I am going to keep playing Everybody’s Golf and SF5 on the side, especially SF. But I’ve wanted to start a new game and I’ve been mulling over a few. Dragons Dogma DA PS4 version gets the nod. I have a bit of a weird history with this game. It’s perhaps the only big game I have quit playing due to being unhappy with the games technical performance. This was on PS3 where I found the pop-in really jarring. It actually made me angry at the time from a consumer point of view. I bought the ps4 version at launch, started it up and was bored after a few hours.

But there is something about this game I want to give another chance to. When I originally tried it on the PS3, I really wanted to like it. But with my renewed interest in having some good old fashioned fun with games, if I’m not enjoying my time on the game, it has got to go.

Third time lucky?

I hope so! I remember disliking the demo of the original PS3 game, but something told me to take a chance and I got the PS3 DA version, and it became one of my most played games.

Maybe a class switch is all you need to have some real fun. My thoughts on classes, which are subjective but reasoned

Spoiler: Class opinions

I spent 90% of my time in archer (yellow) classes, and I still feel they’re a great choice because that agility keeps the game moving. Being the most agile class, they can really get stuck in and climb and attack the monsters with ease. Yellow classes also get access to a dodge roll, which I love.

The caster (blue) classes are impressively animated, but I find that I am knocked back by an enemy before I get a chance to get the full cast off (especially in the high end game where it’s 3 bars of charge). Personally I tend to leave this to a pawn, so I can aggro enemies away from the caster.

Red classes can be good fun too, but I find they become reliant on teammates for things like flying enemies, so it requires good pawn setup. I feel like these would shine more with actual multiplayer. Obviously they can get by because the game is balanced for it, and the shield is a nice defensive boost. It’s just not my preferred way to play.

Hybrid classes are where it gets interesting. They all have some good stuff to offer, and 2 of them are OP in different end game scenarios. Great fun though, and perfect for re-running the DLC dungeon.

It might be worth it to look into which stats give which moves, because some things are cross-class, and some are passive moves, but all are beneficial to have. Whichever class you go for, don’t worry about their stat spreads on level up. Gear outweighs character stats by such a ridiculous margin by the end. We’re talking a potential hundred as part of a thousand+. Just have fun, stats take care of themselves.

I’ve probably forgotten a few things as it’s been a year+, but one thing that saves time is
if your lantern gets wet and goes out, just unequip and re-equip it. Sometimes you don’t want to wait.

One last thing I’ve remembered is that character size does have some effects at times, surprisingly. Taller characters get more sprint for their money over long distances, but if you want to go with a little hobbit it will have its own advantages at certain points too. There might be a bit more too it, but you’d have to look that up.

 

[mekes]

I hope so! I remember disliking the demo of the original PS3 game, but something told me to take a chance and I got the PS3 DA version, and it became one of my most played games.

Maybe a class switch is all you need to have some real fun. My thoughts on classes, which are subjective but reasoned

Spoiler: Class opinions

I spent 90% of my time in archer (yellow) classes, and I still feel they’re a great choice because that agility keeps the game moving. Being the most agile class, they can really get stuck in and climb and attack the monsters with ease. Yellow classes also get access to a dodge roll, which I love.

The caster (blue) classes are impressively animated, but I find that I am knocked back by an enemy before I get a chance to get the full cast off (especially in the high end game where it’s 3 bars of charge). Personally I tend to leave this to a pawn, so I can aggro enemies away from the caster.

Red classes can be good fun too, but I find they become reliant on teammates for things like flying enemies, so it requires good pawn setup. I feel like these would shine more with actual multiplayer. Obviously they can get by because the game is balanced for it, and the shield is a nice defensive boost. It’s just not my preferred way to play.

Hybrid classes are where it gets interesting. They all have some good stuff to offer, and 2 of them are OP in different end game scenarios. Great fun though, and perfect for re-running the DLC dungeon.

It might be worth it to look into which stats give which moves, because some things are cross-class, and some are passive moves, but all are beneficial to have. Whichever class you go for, don’t worry about their stat spreads on level up. Gear outweighs character stats by such a ridiculous margin by the end. We’re talking a potential hundred as part of a thousand+. Just have fun, stats take care of themselves.

I’ve probably forgotten a few things as it’s been a year+, but one thing that saves time is
if your lantern gets wet and goes out, just unequip and re-equip it. Sometimes you don’t want to wait.

One last thing I’ve remembered is that character size does have some effects at times, surprisingly. Taller characters get more sprint for their money over long distances, but if you want to go with a little hobbit it will have its own advantages at certain points too. There might be a bit more too it, but you’d have to look that up.

Hey thank you for this! I actually just played the intro last night and put the console in rest mode ready to start properly today. I’d planned on watching a video or 2 prior but you’ve addressed a few queries I had regarding classes. I would never choose the archer type in most games, but I will based on the info you’ve shared. Perfect really given that I hope for a different experience compared to my last try with the game.

I will be posting about this game for the next little bit at the very least. Thanks so much for taking the time for that post. I definitely found it interesting. I really want to like this game, fantasy setting and general mood of the game really seems to interest me. Time to play!

 

[InfiniteCombo]

If I've been MIA for a couple of days, it's because of work and personal commitments, and some other things I've been doing. (I do have hobbies other than video games )

But even then, I tried to get a quick round of Street Fighter on my Saturn. (Long story short: an old ex of mine wanted to catch up over the phone, so I said sure; but she's the yapping type, so I put myself on mute while I played Street Fighter. LMAO.) But during the course of this, I found out that my 25-year old Sega Saturn may be struggling. I think it might be the lens reader? In Street Fighter Zero 2, I made it all the way to Ryu (who is Sagat's final boss; remember in the Zero/Alpha games, final bosses are character-dependent). Woman is yapping on the phone but I'm not listening because I'm getting pretty hype for this:

(Not my image; the image above is pretty garbage but I will do it justice with my own image later today or sometime tomorrow)

And then... my Saturn dies. What the hell!? After I was done with the phone conversation I did some tests and compared loading times, music loading, etc of my Saturn with a Saturn emulator. And yeah -- I need to look into it. In Saturn games where music tracks are loaded separately, my Saturn struggles so much that sometimes it doesn't even load the music tracks.

It's better to realize when your relationship with a videogame needs to end and to move forward. some people are forever chasing that new game dragon. I can't imagine watching and re-watching and re-watching a movie (or album, or book) for hours upon hours, despising my time with it but hoping it will get good after the first 10 hours. I spent my money on these toys to have fun. Better to waste money than to waste time also.

That said, I love new games. This thread is not intended to forever cut yourself off from new gaming: during this challenge I always have at least four or five games from the previous year that I want to play. I usually lose interest in half of the "oooh shiny!" games that caught my attention during the year, so my standards are keener and I almost never end up buying genuine duds. And with my "plate cleared", I have a fair chance of playing through them during the next year and enjoying them without feeling rushed.

Also, replaying games is an indulgence that more people should take. It helps you realize which games are truly good and which ones are merely okay, to be played and discarded. Every new game purchase is an educated guess that it'll do something newer or better than a game you already have on the shelf. Often, the new game fails to do so yet we keep cramming them onto the shelf. so why not play through that old favorite for the 10th time? No one is looking over your shoulder.

So many incredibly good points in one post.

"This thread is not intended to forever cut yourself off from new gaming": Couldn't have said it better myself. I will reward myself with a couple of "new" games once I go through my backlog -- For example, I've been wanting to check out Red Dead 2 for ages. But on top of my existing library of games, there are other issues preventing me from getting into new games, not the least of which is the scarcity of graphics cards or new gaming consoles. (To be honest, I'm not even all that interested in new consoles; I think I might be done on that front.)

"Also, replaying games is an indulgence that more people should take." I do this all. the. time!!! There's a "Mount Olympus"/"Mount Rushmore" of games that for me, I replay every single year. If all of my library of games got taken away, and all I was left was with this small batch of games that I replay often -- I'd still be happy.

I'll also add: people treat their backlogs as a chore. They're not meant to be. You can have fun exploring your library of games. (I call it "library" because I think "backlog" has bad associations.) I mean, at some point you bought that game, for a reason. If it was an impulse buy? That's fine, too. If you play it now and realize you don't like it? Sure, move on. No one is judging you or tracking you. The only thing that matters here is your enjoyment and happiness. If a game sucks and you drop it, and want to share your thoughts in this thread? By all means do. I love reading about reasons why people don't like games. Failure/drops are not bad; sometimes they can be even more memorable or noteworthy than the alternative.

Another weekend, another update.

Fancied a bit of Sonic Mania today, but it crashed every time I tried to change a video setting and I couldn’t be arsed to fix it so that ended before it started. (It meant switching back to monitor and sitting at my desk to do whatever was needed.)

Jumped back into Shovel Knight, in which I hadn’t finished any characters except the base one but I do have started saves for all. Tried some Plague Knight, but I don’t particularly enjoy him as a character. Fiddly and finicky between all the weapon options and his movement, and just wasn’t having much fun. Stopped that and moved onto Spectre Knight. A lot more fun, especially with his abilities you quickly start to unlock. His gameplay style just clicks with me more, I think. It feels easier, but I’m not sure if it’s because it’s more natural for me to play as him. I’ve also played one flashback so far. It’s crazy to think how much was added to Shovel Knight from its original release to now. I know I’ve played a bit of the King character, but I remember absolutely nothing about his gameplay now.

After stopping for a break I went back into Onimusha, which I had stopped sometime in the tail end of last year. I had more time re-learning the combat and testing a couple of routes to find where I had to go than I did fighting the last two bosses, which went down fairly easily. The last boss was quite easy, even with me missing the most powerful sword even though I had the means to unlock the door to it that I ran straight past. I had wanted to play Onimusha for years, as I knew it was tank controls samurai and that appealed to me greatly as a Resident Evil fan ( InfiniteCombo , have you played this?). I have the PS2 copies of 2 and 3 but haven’t played them, so I’ll emulate them in due course.

What will I play tomorrow? Who knows. Might charge my Gamepad just to give me options, I like going back to consoles sometimes.

Yo, wazzup!

A couple of things:

• Are you running Sonic Mania on PC? Maybe I haven't run it long enough for it to crash on me, but.... I haven't had that issue?
• Speaking of Sonic: I enjoy the classic Sonic games (own 1, 2, 3+K carts on Genesis, and Mania on PC), do well with them, and everything. But I must admit: to this day, I don't know how to properly play Sonic. It hasn't fully clicked with me yet. I know it's about "gotto go fast," but it's a lot more than that. For one, the levels have a lot of verticality and branching paths. That's a lot of cool stuff I want to eventually explore. So if anybody in this thread has tips on how to "properly" play Sonic, I'm all ears.
• I currently don't own any Onimusha games, but I want to get to them eventually. I mean, you're talking to one of the biggest Capcom fanatics on this forum (LOL), so you know I will eventually get to them. And now that you mention that the earlier games are tank controlled (!?), my hype has increased. I honestly don't know much about these games, but I'll check out some YouTube footage.

After I'm done with work today I'll get back to some western action with Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. I've been cooling down on the whole RetroAchievements thing; I will keep doing it long term but making it a low priority. Emulation is amazing and I love it, but man, there's a hidden "it" factor when playing on actual hardware.

Hope everybody is doing well. Happy gaming!

 

[InfiniteCombo]

I promised better pictures than the generic one I found and put in my post above. And I'm a man of my word.

Not trying to annoy people here with pictures so I'll put them behind a spoiler tag. These pictures are from two arcade mode playthroughs I just did of Street Fighter Zero 2 (from the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection on PC).

Spoiler: Much pictures. So wow.

So when I first played this game, I got used to playing against Ryu in his usual "Suzaku Castle" stage in Japan. But when I first played with Sagat, I'm greeted by this screen:

"Uhhhh... Australia? There's no Suzaku Castle in Australia. And, oh shit... is that the stage from the game's intro!?" Hype levels intensify.

Indeed, the versus screen did confirm I was about to engage in battle in this glorious stage:

They have an epic exchange of words, the battle starts. Sagat's scar actually glows/burns from his rage towards Ryu. Freakin' epic, dude. Also, it took me many years after this to realize that this battle is symbolic of the ancient Chinese/Japanese legend of the Dragon and the Tiger, in this case the Dragon clearly being Ryu, and the Tiger being Sagat:

Still pictures don't do this full justice. The grass is getting blown by the wind and the track that plays is not Ryu's track, but rather a remix of Sagat's track.


Sagat and Ryu are not the only ones that get this epic treatment. Dictator's stage is usually some military base with some helicopters and some Shadaloo soldiers. But when you play as Nash (uhh, I forget his US name... Charlie?), you are treated to some of the same epicness as above:

The waterfall is one of my top 3 favorite stages across Street Fighter games, to this day.

Even when I was a kid, I loved the waterfall, but thought... "oh oh, that's not a good place to be fighting Dictator." I mean, by that point all of us Street Fighter fans had seen Guile's ending in the original Street Fighter 2, so we knew that things weren't gonna end well for Nash.

Alas, fighting Dictator at the waterfall was not a great idea:

This sadness extends to the credits. Only for Nash, the credits screen background is all black (usually it's a colorful palette with the "Street Fighter Zero 2" logo in the background).

One last point: The picture-filled post behind the spoiler is one of the reasons I kind of fell out with the fighting game genre after a while. Back in the days, fighting games had:

• Character stories that were intriguing and got you vested in the characters, but without a lot of handholding
• Character relationships that resulted in special stages, special soundtracks, and other special treatment that raised the "hype" levels
• Lots of console extras that made up for the lack of "arcade perfect" ports: unlockable secret characters, art galleries, extra modes, extra stages, etc.

At some point, fighting games evolved into over reliance on technique and mechanics, DLC characters/stages, etc. Of course I'm sure someone can prove me wrong from an opinion standpoint, but to me, it feels like a lot of fighting game series lost their soul in recent times.

 

[SaturnSaturn]

You know what, i am going to join in, the only thing i do these days is download games from gamepass and just stare at them in the xbox menu lol. I have not played a game from this year, or a game i bought this year.
I have a massive backlog on steam that i am not going to tackle at first, i will tackle my physical games. Currently playing cyberpunk that i got last year (started yesterday). List of games that is in my backlog for this year.

PC:
Cyberpunk
Hellgate London

Xbox 360:
Nintey-Nine-Nights
Ninja Gaiden 2
Lost Odyssey

PS3:
Genji: Days of the Blade

Xbox One/Series X:
Devil May Cry HD 2 and 3
Vanquish
Elex
Ace Combat 7

Vita:
Shinobido 2 Revenge of Zen

Switch:
Deadly Premoniton
Catherine Full Body
Dragon Quest Builders
Our World Is Ended

 

[Guilty_AI]

Aside from Deus Ex HR, i'm also playing Carmageddon Max damage and Horizon Chase Turbo Occasionally, since they're great to let off steam.

Horizon Chase Turbo is a fantastic Arcade racer, and i'd reccommend it for anyone who misses thoses types of games, especially the ones from the 8-16 bit era like Top Gear (its actually inspired by this one) and Outrun.

Spoiler: Some pics from the game

As for carmageddon, people criticized the game somewhat when it came out, but i think it does what it sets out to do just fine. A mindless destruction gory game with lots of weirdnesses and quirks.
I think the key to enjoying this one is to just not take it too seriously, which i think its where the problems lies. Any mode besides classic feels a bit too competitive for whats supposed to be a racing equivalent of Postal 2.

 

[SaturnSaturn]

Horizon Chase Turbo is a fantastic Arcade racer, and i'd reccommend it for anyone who misses thoses types of games, especially the ones from the 8-16 bit era like Top Gear (its actually inspired by this one) and Outrun.

Its really good, got a Platinum trophy on it back when i had a ps4. Chill game

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Aside from Deus Ex HR, i'm also playing Carmageddon Max damage and Horizon Chase Turbo Occasionally, since they're great to let off steam.

Horizon Chase Turbo is a fantastic Arcade racer, and i'd reccommend it for anyone who misses thoses types of games, especially the ones from the 8-16 bit era like Top Gear (its actually inspired by this one) and Outrun.

Spoiler: Some pics from the game

As for carmageddon, people criticized the game somewhat when it came out, but i think it does what it sets out to do just fine. A mindless destruction gory game with lots of weirdnesses and quirks.
I think the key to enjoying this one is to just not take it too seriously, which i think its where the problems lies. Any mode besides classic feels a bit too competitive for whats supposed to be a racing equivalent of Postal 2.

Oh my god, those pics look fantastic. Love the art style.

Will add Horizon Chase Turbo to my Steam wishlist. It will be a nice treat for when I finish my backlog.

EDIT: Added it. With over 2000+ reviews, Steam players have given this game over 95% positive feedback. Damn. (Actually, the last 50+ people have all given it 100% positive feedback.)

 

[Banjo64]

Changed my vote to no guys, I’ve bought Astral Chain and Link’s Awakening on eBay. I feel weak. I will probably sell for a similar price when I’m done, but it goes against the nature of the challenge. Fair play to everyone that can keep this up over a year!

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Starting to miss my PS4 a little, but that happening was obvious. It's very weird to instantly drop a hobby you devoted so much time in to over your life.

With that being said, I know that it's going to make me enjoy my backlog even more when I get around to it again, whenever that may be.

I was actually thinking of dusting the PS2 off one day and playing some old games. Might be a nice nostalgia trip, and nice money saver. Apparently you can get some sort of HDMI converter for the PS2 but not sure how well it works.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Changed my vote to no guys, I’ve bought Astral Chain and Link’s Awakening on eBay. I feel weak. I will probably sell for a similar price when I’m done, but it goes against the nature of the challenge. Fair play to everyone that can keep this up over a year!

Nah it's cool. We still want to know what you're playing, and look forward to hearing your thoughts. And besides, Astral Chain and Link's Awakening are now part of your backlog

Starting to miss my PS4 a little, but that happening was obvious. It's very weird to instantly drop a hobby you devoted so much time in to over your life.

With that being said, I know that it's going to make me enjoy my backlog even more when I get around to it again, whenever that may be.

I was actually thinking of dusting the PS2 off one day and playing some old games. Might be a nice nostalgia trip, and nice money saver. Apparently you can get some sort of HDMI converter for the PS2 but not sure how well it works.

Look who's back! It's Neve Campbell!

Nah man, based on your previous messages here, selling off your PS4 was the right move. Since you made that move, stick to it. I know it may seem hard to go "cold turkey" on something, but you'll come to thank yourself for that decision. And once you can moderate in the future, you can play a thing or two here and there.

You don't even have to play anything, or even be here often -- just join us in this thread from time to time, it's clear the whole crew here digs you. Cheers, mate!

 

[Sidney Prescott]

Look who's back! It's Neve Campbell!

Nah man, based on your previous messages here, selling off your PS4 was the right move. Since you made that move, stick to it. I know it may seem hard to go "cold turkey" on something, but you'll come to thank yourself for that decision. And once you can moderate in the future, you can play a thing or two here and there.

You don't even have to play anything, or even be here often -- just join us in this thread from time to time, it's clear the whole crew here digs you. Cheers, mate!

I'll be sticking to it, don't worry. Already been working out more and eating a bit healthier. It would be better for me to continue saving for a PS5 anyways. Eventually that stock is going to free up a bit more, and I would like to think by then I have a better handle on my habits.

I appreciate that. I'll try to chime in every now and then. Especially if someone plays a game I've already played, which is likely to happen as I played a ton of stuff.

 

[stn]

I'm still on Ghost of Tsushima, on the last act. Hoping to beat it by this weekend, and then I might try for the platinum. Kinda worn out though, the gameplay doesn't have too much variety (though the production quality is fantastic).

 

[TaroYamada]

I'm joining up I think. So far this year I've beaten:

Nier Automata: Great game, perhaps my favorite Platinum title since Vanquish.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: I was recently looking at my aging PC library attempting to talk myself out of buying an XSX. It occurred to me I never finished this game and I decided to finally take a stab at it. Wow! This game was great! Loved it. The plot is very timely in a lot of ways too.

Immediately following HR I started Mankind Divided, I have no recollection of acquiring it. But it was in my Steam library. I'm enjoying it quite a bit but so far not quite as much as HR. It's definitely more polished but the plot isn't as good and the supporting cast is less interesting. Also the AI is smarter which is a double edged sword, I kind of liked the dumb AI in HR. It was easier to play around with. After this I'll either finish Wonderful 101 or start Deus Ex: GOTY edition.

 

[Guilty_AI]

...or start Deus Ex: GOTY edition.

do it

 

[InfiniteCombo]

do it

Oh my god, so that is the game series where that character comes from. Shows how much of video games I still don't know. I kept seeing that dude in people's avatars (including our very own DunDunDunpachi ) and I kept thinking, "and just where the heck does that character come from?"

Now I know. Thanks, Guilty_AI

PS: I see that Sidney is now gone, likely a self-requested ban. Farewell, brother, and hope you're doing well wherever you are. Cheers!

 

[Guilty_AI]

Oh my god, so that is the game series where that character comes from. Shows how much of video games I still don't know. I kept seeing that dude in people's avatars (including our very own DunDunDunpachi ) and I kept thinking, "and just where the heck does that character come from?"

Now I know. Thanks, Guilty_AI

PS: I see that Sidney is now gone, likely a self-requested ban. Farewell, brother, and hope you're doing well wherever you are. Cheers!

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Someone's probably pointed it out before but I just noticed...

The title is a play on the Melee meme isn't it?

"No items, Fox only, Final Destination."

And BTW, I smashed that "No" button in the vote.

I'll probably chime in with (hopefully useful) information on games that are being played that I have played before. Maybe the odd joke and derail once in a while

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Someone's probably pointed it out before but I just noticed...

The title is a play on the Melee meme isn't it?

"No items, Fox only, Final Destination."

And BTW, I smashed that "No" button in the vote.

I'll probably chime in with (hopefully useful) information on games that are being played that I have played before. Maybe the odd joke and derail once in a while

I was originally thinking more along the lines of 007 N64 "no mines, slappers only" but you get the spirit of it.

 

[stn]

*points to avatar*

Deus-Ex 1 is incredible, play it! TaroYamada

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

There's a "Mount Olympus"/"Mount Rushmore" of games that for me, I replay every single year. If all of my library of games got taken away, and all I was left was with this small batch of games that I replay often -- I'd still be happy.

I'd like to know what your pantheon is, so that I too, can slay them one day.

 

[Soodanim]

Yo, wazzup!

A couple of things:

• Are you running Sonic Mania on PC? Maybe I haven't run it long enough for it to crash on me, but.... I haven't had that issue?
• Speaking of Sonic: I enjoy the classic Sonic games (own 1, 2, 3+K carts on Genesis, and Mania on PC), do well with them, and everything. But I must admit: to this day, I don't know how to properly play Sonic. It hasn't fully clicked with me yet. I know it's about "gotto go fast," but it's a lot more than that. For one, the levels have a lot of verticality and branching paths. That's a lot of cool stuff I want to eventually explore. So if anybody in this thread has tips on how to "properly" play Sonic, I'm all ears.
• I currently don't own any Onimusha games, but I want to get to them eventually. I mean, you're talking to one of the biggest Capcom fanatics on this forum (LOL), so you know I will eventually get to them. And now that you mention that the earlier games are tank controlled (!?), my hype has increased. I honestly don't know much about these games, but I'll check out some YouTube footage.

PC all the way, yeah. I've just deleted my settings files and I'll see if that fixes it, I don't think I have had reason to modify any of the other files but I might have to verify if I can't sort it out otherwise. I wonder if it has something to do with multi-monitor setups.

I'm in the same boat as you with Sonic, I'm classic all the way but I've never learned the fast routes. I see them as the single chance opportunities for a jump that were held back by 4:3 screens (which is why I'm so disappointed that the mobile ports aren't on PC). In Sonic 3 I end up getting to each crossroads and wondering which I took last time so that I can pick a different path this time, so I might have been double bluffing myself into the same path every time all these years.

Onimusha's movement controls are exactly the same as REmake HD, and the rest of the buttons barely change. R1 is lock on, so you have that familiar mapping. Fixed camera angles too, just to entice you that little bit more.

Aside from Deus Ex HR, i'm also playing Carmageddon Max damage and Horizon Chase Turbo Occasionally, since they're great to let off steam.

Horizon Chase Turbo is a fantastic Arcade racer, and i'd reccommend it for anyone who misses thoses types of games, especially the ones from the 8-16 bit era like Top Gear (its actually inspired by this one) and Outrun.

Spoiler: Some pics from the game

As for carmageddon, people criticized the game somewhat when it came out, but i think it does what it sets out to do just fine. A mindless destruction gory game with lots of weirdnesses and quirks.
I think the key to enjoying this one is to just not take it too seriously, which i think its where the problems lies. Any mode besides classic feels a bit too competitive for whats supposed to be a racing equivalent of Postal 2.

This looks great, and there's a demo too. Are demos permissible in our vow of new game celibacy, DunDunDunpachi ?

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

This looks great, and there's a demo too. Do demos permissible in our vow of new game celibacy, DunDunDunpachi ?

yeah feel free to try it out. Maybe I didn't mention it in the OP this year, but I've always included the caveat that you can boot a game if you feel like it (i.e. retro collectors testing a game to make sure it functions, or demos, or betas).

 

[InfiniteCombo]

I'd like to know what your pantheon is, so that I too, can slay them one day.

Without thinking too much about it at the moment, these are all games that I replay at least once a year:

NES:
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Contra
Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! (The cart I own is specifically the Mike Tyson version, screw that "Mr. Dream" nonsense)

SNES:
Super Mario World
Contra III
Mega Man X
Turtles in Time
Sunset Riders

PS1:
Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha
Tekken 2
Resident Evil (both OG and Director's Cut, though I prefer OG)
Resident Evil 2 (usually play GameCube version though)
Resident Evil 3 (usually play GameCube version)

Saturn:
The "Marvel" set; although I love this console and have other games for it, these games are expressly the reason why I've kept the console, as there are no other really viable alternatives to legally play them:
X-Men Children of the Atom
Marvel Super Heroes
X-Men vs Street Fighter
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter

Multi-platform/Arcade/etc (usually PC):
Resident Evil 4 <- greatest game of all time
The remakes of the first 3 Resident Evils (yes, I obviously like Resident Evil )
Any classic Street Fighter game from the Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, or Street Fighter III series. But mostly Super Street Fighter II Turbo. In many ways that game was Melee before Melee came around.

There are a few games in my backlog that I can easily see joining that general group: NES Castlevanias, Link to the Past, Yoshi's Island, etc etc etc...

PC all the way, yeah. I've just deleted my settings files and I'll see if that fixes it, I don't think I have had reason to modify any of the other files but I might have to verify if I can't sort it out otherwise. I wonder if it has something to do with multi-monitor setups.

I'm in the same boat as you with Sonic, I'm classic all the way but I've never learned the fast routes. I see them as the single chance opportunities for a jump that were held back by 4:3 screens (which is why I'm so disappointed that the mobile ports aren't on PC). In Sonic 3 I end up getting to each crossroads and wondering which I took last time so that I can pick a different path this time, so I might have been double bluffing myself into the same path every time all these years.

Onimusha's movement controls are exactly the same as REmake HD, and the rest of the buttons barely change. R1 is lock on, so you have that familiar mapping. Fixed camera angles too, just to entice you that little bit more.


This looks great, and there's a demo too. Do demos permissible in our vow of new game celibacy, DunDunDunpachi ?

"New game celibacy"..... I almost spilled my water reading that, LOL.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

I forgot Donkey Kong Country 1 and 3 for SNES on my previous list.

Super scorching hot take: I don't care what anybody says, to me, Donkey Kong Country 3 is the best of that original Super Nintendo trilogy. I don't even play DKC1 every year, but I do sure as hell play DKC3 every year. And DKC3 is the only game that I 100% on every playthrough.

 

[SpiceRacz]

I forgot Donkey Kong Country 1 and 3 for SNES on my previous list.

Super scorching hot take: I don't care what anybody says, to me, Donkey Kong Country 3 is the best of that original Super Nintendo trilogy. I don't even play DKC1 every year, but I do sure as hell play DKC3 every year. And DKC3 is the only game that I 100% on every playthrough.

Not as good as 2 imo, but definitely a top 10 platformer on the console.

 

[Soodanim]

yeah feel free to try it out. Maybe I didn't mention it in the OP this year, but I've always included the caveat that you can boot a game if you feel like it (i.e. retro collectors testing a game to make sure it functions, or demos, or betas).

That's good, because I already did it. I know, I'm a maverick. Runs like a dream as expected, graphics are clean and crisp, and it has high FPS support too. It's on my wishlist now, I need to own it at some point. It's a great example of the sort of racing game I've been looking for.

 

[Phase]

16. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (16hrs)

I write this one with a heavy, and frustrated, heart as I was nearing the end of the game (on the mission "The Road to Limansk") when trouble started - about 16.5hrs in. Crash after crash and four hours of trying to fix the game later, I've given up. The game will load every 20x I try but eventually crashes again anywhere from 5-20mins in.

I absolutely loved it up until that point. I was entrenched in this beautiful but gritty world yet again. My hat's off to the devs as this series has been one of the best. I will have to watch a playthrough of the last couple of missions as I'd like to see the end, but I am counting this one as finished. I'll be starting Call of Pripyat in a bit. Hopefully it won't be as harsh of a mistress.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Not as good as 2 imo, but definitely a top 10 platformer on the console.

Yeah 2 is in my backlog (I have a complete-in-box Super Nintendo copy I bought several years ago to complete the trilogy, just haven't gotten around to it but will this year). And yeah, and I'm well aware that the consensus is that 2 is the best. But I will carry 3 to my grave, LOL.

The darker tone of the music, the fun collectibles (really, this is one of the only games where I feel collectibles are not a chore, but actually fun to pursue), the almost puzzle-like nature of some of the DK coins, the map, the way Dixie and Kiddy both feel great to control. Oh yeah, while on that topic, I know Kiddy Kong is one of the reasons people hate on 3, but to me he seems fine. I prefer that 3 went back to the "one heavy character, one light character" formula from the first DKC, as opposed to DKC2 that seems to have... two light characters?

The return of the animal buddies. The sheer variety of the levels. I say "variety" which is a positive term here, as opposed to its negative cousin "gimmicky." I know it's a fine line but the levels don't feel gimmicky to me at all.

I don't have what I consider overly strong opinions on a lot of video game matters. But "Donkey Kong Country 3 is the best of the original SNES trilogy, and a masterpiece of platforming" is one such strong opinion, LOL

(PS: It doesn't matter to me which DKC people think is the best, because in any case, Yoshi's Island is the best platformer on SNES, easily.)

 

[stn]

DKC1 is my favorite. The music is great, you can actually play as DK, and it gives me the most nostalgia overall. I just love how simple and innovative it is. I think DKC2 has better gameplay but I still prefer DKC1 over it by a slight hair. Either way, both are in my top games list. Still need to beat DKC3 eventually.

 

[Tesseract]

repaired qanba q1 stick, playing a lot of street fighter 2 and 3 and slowly back into 5 with its absolutely insane number of content updates since its 2016 release

more apex, devil daggers which just got a 5-year anniversary qol update w / specialized daggers for psycho killers, pictured below:

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Without thinking too much about it at the moment, these are all games that I replay at least once a year:

NES:
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 3
Contra
Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! (The cart I own is specifically the Mike Tyson version, screw that "Mr. Dream" nonsense)

SNES:
Super Mario World
Contra III
Mega Man X
Turtles in Time
Sunset Riders

PS1:
Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha
Tekken 2
Resident Evil (both OG and Director's Cut, though I prefer OG)
Resident Evil 2 (usually play GameCube version though)
Resident Evil 3 (usually play GameCube version)

Saturn:
The "Marvel" set; although I love this console and have other games for it, these games are expressly the reason why I've kept the console, as there are no other really viable alternatives to legally play them:
X-Men Children of the Atom
Marvel Super Heroes
X-Men vs Street Fighter
Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter

Multi-platform/Arcade/etc (usually PC):
Resident Evil 4 <- greatest game of all time
The remakes of the first 3 Resident Evils (yes, I obviously like Resident Evil )
Any classic Street Fighter game from the Street Fighter II, Street Fighter Alpha, or Street Fighter III series. But mostly Super Street Fighter II Turbo. In many ways that game was Melee before Melee came around.

There are a few games in my backlog that I can easily see joining that general group: NES Castlevanias, Link to the Past, Yoshi's Island, etc etc etc...

That bait and switch, I thought it was gonna resemble a Greek pantheon but this is looking to be an Hindu one. (so many!)

Anyway, I had a hunch that you grew up on console gaming, cause it's almost impossible to not know who JC Denton is if you grew up on PC gaming around that same period. He wasn't Lara Croft but Deus Ex was hard to ignore on PC at the time.

It's a great list and like you, I was pretty steeped in Capcom's output in that era. At the time I always looked at RE as Alone In The Dark ripoffs (we're all young once, lol) but damn, did their fighting games capture the imagination. Wasn't good at the Vs series but getting *ahem* infinite comboed in the arcade was certainly an experience!

Finally, thanks for the list! I'll pick Contra III to slay soon

 

[stn]

Fun fact: I bought Deus-Ex on PC because I had just watched The Matrix and saw that JC looked like Neo. Good times being a kid, lol.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

That bait and switch, I thought it was gonna resemble a Greek pantheon but this is looking to be an Hindu one. (so many!)

"...this is looking to be a Hindu one. (so many!)"

That's funny and kind of clever

Hey man, I took a class on ancient Greece, and I think "pantheon" just means a collection of a given civilization's gods, so I don't think it's limited to a certain amount, LOL.

But I did bring up Mount Rushmore. Without thinking about it much, if I had to condense my list to 4 (since there are 4 Presidents on Mount Rushmore): RE4, SMB3, RE2 (OG), and Super Turbo. There you go.

Yeah, of course I grew up on console gaming. Not to get into my life story, but I didn't actually even own an SNES growing up -- I just played a lot on SNES's of various friends. Our first family PC was a grand event and we all had to save a lot of money for it, and we all had to chip in. Shit was $2500 -- in 1998 dollars. At that point I didn't even know there was a PC gaming scene, since the PC was largely for schoolwork and things like that. In any case, for modern gaming I'm unequivocally a PC gamer first, and I'm catching up with a lot of PC games I missed (have Half-Life 1 and 2 in my backlog... Yeahhh.....).

But anyway, thanks to this thread I now know there's a dude named JC Denton from a series called Deus Ex. Sweet.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

DKC1 is my favorite. The music is great, you can actually play as DK, and it gives me the most nostalgia overall. I just love how simple and innovative it is. I think DKC2 has better gameplay but I still prefer DKC1 over it by a slight hair. Either way, both are in my top games list. Still need to beat DKC3 eventually.

To this day, "Aquatic Ambience" is one of my all-time favorite video game tunes:

repaired qanba q1 stick, playing a lot of street fighter 2 and 3 and slowly back into 5 with its absolutely insane number of content updates since its 2016 release

more apex, devil daggers which just got a 5-year anniversary qol update w / specialized daggers for psycho killers, pictured below:

Nice! Do you have favorite games within the Street Fighter 2/3 series?

By the way when I saw your dagger picture -- without first reading the text around it, I thought it was like some modded version of SoulCalibur or something

 

[InfiniteCombo]

16. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (16hrs)

I write this one with a heavy, and frustrated, heart as I was nearing the end of the game (on the mission "The Road to Limansk") when trouble started - about 16.5hrs in. Crash after crash and four hours of trying to fix the game later, I've given up. The game will load every 20x I try but eventually crashes again anywhere from 5-20mins in.

I absolutely loved it up until that point. I was entrenched in this beautiful but gritty world yet again. My hat's off to the devs as this series has been one of the best. I will have to watch a playthrough of the last couple of missions as I'd like to see the end, but I am counting this one as finished. I'll be starting Call of Pripyat in a bit. Hopefully it won't be as harsh of a mistress.

You have a lot of interesting games in your backlog.

Are these crashing issues well-known or are they unfortunately happening just to you? Either way, sorry to hear that, man!

Your feedback on the gameplay seems pretty good though; is it more FPS or more survival horror?

Cheers!

 

[Phase]

You have a lot of interesting games in your backlog.

Are these crashing issues well-known or are they unfortunately happening just to you? Either way, sorry to hear that, man!

Your feedback on the gameplay seems pretty good though; is it more FPS or more survival horror?

Cheers!

I found some information on the crashes but the fixes don't work for everyone, including me. After investing so much time in it I figured I would just let it go. I watched the end of a playthrough yesterday which wrapped it up nicely.

I would say it's a good mix of both survival and fps, not really too scary minus an event here and there. The atmosphere is thick though, so if you've got an imagination it's brilliant. It's certainly not Dayz level survival, just have to eat/sleep etc. The third game is still a familiar formula but a bit better in presentation.

 

[Soodanim]

On the weekend I jumped back into yet another in progress game, Sundered: Eldritch Edition. I think I burned out a little bit before, but I jumped in to give it another chance and I couldn't put it down. I made some progress, beat a main boss (each area has 3 smaller boss battles which in turn unlock a true boss, and they're big boys). I unlocked a couple new abilities, which any fan of Metroidvanias knows is a wonderful thing, and I'm looking forward to playing more of it.

If anyone hasn't played it, it's got an upgrade tree that expands when you get the ability unlocks, so you get to choose which paths to take in the spider web of upgrades on your way to the more major upgrades (like armour +15%).

I might start bumping old threads for games I'm playing, in line with the recent Enthusiast thread. Sometimes I feel like these great games we talk about get lost because we're in our own world here. But at the same time we come here because the 10 LTTP posts we make a week might not gain much traction elsewhere.

 

[channie]

Just completed Subnautica which I had started right after release early 2018 and dropped a few months later, with about 20 hours poured in. What a mistake! The game is incredible. All the different biomes (especially the underground ones), the increasingly scary fauna, and building a big fucking rocket are some of the highlights that will remain fondly on my memory for the years to come.

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

"...this is looking to be a Hindu one. (so many!)"

That's funny and kind of clever

Hey man, I took a class on ancient Greece, and I think "pantheon" just means a collection of a given civilization's gods, so I don't think it's limited to a certain amount, LOL.

But I did bring up Mount Rushmore. Without thinking about it much, if I had to condense my list to 4 (since there are 4 Presidents on Mount Rushmore): RE4, SMB3, RE2 (OG), and Super Turbo. There you go.

Yeah, of course I grew up on console gaming. Not to get into my life story, but I didn't actually even own an SNES growing up -- I just played a lot on SNES's of various friends. Our first family PC was a grand event and we all had to save a lot of money for it, and we all had to chip in. Shit was $2500 -- in 1998 dollars. At that point I didn't even know there was a PC gaming scene, since the PC was largely for schoolwork and things like that. In any case, for modern gaming I'm unequivocally a PC gamer first, and I'm catching up with a lot of PC games I missed (have Half-Life 1 and 2 in my backlog... Yeahhh.....).

But anyway, thanks to this thread I now know there's a dude named JC Denton from a series called Deus Ex. Sweet.

Well, you mentioned Mt. Olympus which is why I brought up a pantheon haha. And yea I don't think there's a limit, it's just that I recall the Hindu pantheon is huge. Was expecting your list to be around ten, not forty, nothing wrong with that btw, was just me being startled lol.

Oh and I was making a sly reference to God of War where Kratos basically ends up slaying most of the Greek pantheon, so we're slaying our backlogs that way too.

Thanks for the shortlist of 4 as well!

Hey no worries, I'm not expecting anyone to trade life stories here, just celebrating games both new and old.

JC (Denton) is a reference to him being a Messianic figure btw. It's not a new thing in media, just a fun tidbit.

 

[JimmyRustler]

My friends, today is a very special day for me. Dark Souls 3 credit have just rolled and with that I am done with my backlog. Kinda amazing when backloggery looks like this.

My only unbeaten game here is Last of Us 2... but I bought that only a few weeks ago. And Doom Eternal is on beat only because I still need to tackle the DLC.

But yeah, this was it I guess. And what a timing it is with me snatching a PS5 this week and it already being on the way to me. It should have arrived today already. Hope I'll get it tomorrow. Will definitely wait to play LoU2 on that one.

Was a cool journey the get that all finished in the past 2 years and looking back it was worth it. Next "backlog" for me will be to get a few platinum trophies from games in my list. I will never get the 100% trophies in my list as there are some shitty games in there I played on the PS3 but those where I can and it seems fun I intend to get all the trophies next.

As for new games... My goal is to never go beyond 3 unbeaten games at any given time. No more senseless buying during sales. Only buy and play right away. As it should be.

So long my friends. keep fighting the good fight.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Legendary achievement JimmyRustler

I am in awe of the payoff for your dedication.

 

[Phase]

JimmyRustler That's awesome and pretty exciting. Your max-3 strategy seems like a good idea. Fully enjoy every game you buy when it's fresh to you.

As for me I've got 11 games to go, and it seems to be lining up nicely with finishing my new pc build.

 

[stn]

JimmyRustler Wanna come over and clear my backlog now?

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Today it's time to celebrate JimmyRustler 's achievement!

Fantastically done, brother! How long did it take you to go through your backlog from when you first said, "I should tackle my backlog" to now?

 

[JimmyRustler]

JimmyRustler Wanna come over and clear my backlog now?

Today it's time to celebrate JimmyRustler 's achievement!

Fantastically done, brother! How long did it take you to go through your backlog from when you first said, "I should tackle my backlog" to now?

About 2-3 years. But I wasn't just playing from my backlog. I was also buying new games here and there. What I did stop back then was sales buying. You know... Oh, this is cheap... let's buy, one day I'm going to play it.
I'll never pick this up again, so I doubt backlog will ever be a problem for me again. What I do now is usually put all games that interest me either on Steam, GoG or PSprices wishlist and then when I'm done with one game check said wishlists and then pick my next game. If nothing that interests me is on sale, I'll just pick up one of my older games and replay it.

Current games industry made it really easy for me to wait. Not only are broken games released and patched later but also good and stable games are vastly improved post release. While super neat from the devs, for me, as someone who usually just finishes games once, it makes it extremely uninteresting to buy a games early on. Rather buy the patched and improved version a few months down the line. I also got real patent of the past years and lost the urge to play everything immediately or at all. There used to be some many games I want to play as quickly as possible... Now it's just RE and possibly the next Elder Scrolls. But even there... The post release patching just got way to substitutional. Makes it so easy to wait.

 

[DelireMan7]

My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Some update on my backlog. I found a really cheap copy of Final Fantasy XIII so I took it.
Also I made a trip to Paris and went into some gaming shops. I found 2 games that I wanted to do, for quite a good price compare to what I see on the web :
Project X Zone and Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology
Anyway I'll wait that I have reduce significantly my backlog before playing them. A friend also gave me some PS3, Wii and DS games but nothing worth mentioning for the moment (except maybe Muramasa : The Demon Blade).

Physical Backlog :

• Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Done !
• The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
• Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
• Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
• Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3)
• Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) Ongoing !
• Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
• Hollow Knight (PS4) Ongoing !
• [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
• [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
• [2021] Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• [2021] Project X Zone (3DS)
• [2021] Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology (3DS)

Currently playing :
I also added Hollow Knight (started 26th of February) to my backlog (PSplus from few months ago) because I went to a friend this weekend and he propose me to start a new game to see if I like it.
I was intrigued by this game but I was not sure to like the art direction and, most important, the 2D platforming/action/oldschool gameplay which I am usually not a huge fan.
I was thinking playing it 30 min just to see and I ended up playing 3 hours in a row... The art direction, soundtrack and mood are amazing. I had to adapt to the platforming gameplay but it's fine for the moment.
The exploration is really well done and I love the ambient mystery.
The only thing that could be a problem is to get back to where I was after dying... In my first 3 hours (2 bosses), I died only twice at the very end of it so I didn't experiment too much the retraversal of level. And having to redo all the platforming etc... is a bit tedious for me. I like doing it the first time but again and again... I'll see on the long run.

Still 35h in Baten Kaitos, I couldn't play this week.

I usually don't play more than one game at a time so I hope it will be fine. I'll give priority to Baten Kaitos and do some sessions of Hollow Knight in between.

Games completed :

1. Rayman Origins (PS3) (started in Spring 2020, main story finished 5th of January 2021, coop with my 4 years old daughter, her first video game)
2. Lunar : Silver Star Harmony (PSP) (Started 1st of January, finished 17th of January, 25h56m)

 

[stn]

I beat Ghost of Tsushima (PS4), took me 31 hours. It was solid but very repetitive, so I give it 7.5-8.0/10. Think I'm burned out so I will leave the leftover side quests and collectibles for later. Next up I think I'll go back to Sekiro (PS4).

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Just finished Resident Evil: Director's Cut. Really enjoyed it.

I beat it in 7:23:45 and 24 saves.

Now I'm going to play it again as Chris.