Games completed 2017
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duskvstweak
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Re: Games completed 2017
Finished 2008's Prince of Persia. Still haven't decided how I feel about it.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games completed 2017
Did you play the dlc Epilogue? Because (controversially), that contains the actual conclusion to the story.
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duskvstweak
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Re: Games completed 2017
I didn't! I'm on the PC and they never released the Epilogue for it!ratsoalbion wrote: ↑December 27th, 2017, 8:25 pm Did you play the dlc Epilogue? Because (controversially), that contains the actual conclusion to the story.
Re: Games completed 2017
December 27th - What Remains of Edith Finch (XBO)Flabyo wrote: ↑November 10th, 2017, 8:59 amJan 1st - Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)
Jan 8th - Shantae: Half-genie hero (XBO)
Feb 1st - Tales from the Borderlands (XBO)
Feb 6th - Stories: The Path of Destinies (PS4)
Mar 19th - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (WiiU)
Apr 2nd - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
Apr 17th - Ryse: Son of Rome (XBO)
Apr 25th - The Sexy Brutale (XBO)
May 13th - Borderlands 2 (360)
May 21st - The Witness (XBO)
May 25th - Injustice 2 : story mode, all paths (PS4)
July 17th - Horizon : Zero Dawn (PS4)
August 7th - Splatoon 2 : Campaign (Switch)
August 12th - For Honor : Campaign (XBO)
August 14th - Attack on Titan : Wings of Freedom (XBO)
September 15th - Path of Exile (XBO)
September 21st - Alice: Madness Returns (360)
October 25th - The Turing Test (XBO)
November 5th - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
November 9th - Assault Android Cactus (XBO)
Loved it. Moves the genre on mechanically, tells an interesting tale, doesn’t linger too long on things. Pretty much perfect.
Also likely my last completion of the year as well, unless I play through Gorogoa as well before the end of the week. Nothing else I have on the go is likely to roll credits any time soon.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games completed 2017
Ah!duskvstweak wrote: ↑December 27th, 2017, 9:01 pmI didn't! I'm on the PC and they never released the Epilogue for it!ratsoalbion wrote: ↑December 27th, 2017, 8:25 pm Did you play the dlc Epilogue? Because (controversially), that contains the actual conclusion to the story.
Re: Games completed 2017
I did manage to squeeze in Gorogoa on my iPad as well today, not sure it’s worth me adding onto my completions as it’s very short, but I’d say it’s worth a poke for anyone looking for a puzzle game to pass an hour or so.
If nothing else, it and Edith Finch mark out Annapurna Interactive as a publisher to keep an eye on for 2018, they’re backing a lot of interesting things...
If nothing else, it and Edith Finch mark out Annapurna Interactive as a publisher to keep an eye on for 2018, they’re backing a lot of interesting things...
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
This is the recently released PS4 version. Still holds up brilliantly. Just as great as ever. And I finally got a platinum trophy this time too! My first one ever. Interestingly, the PS3 and PS4 versions share a trophy list, as if it were a cross-buy game. Meant I didn't have to do all the stuff I already did before, and could just focus on the few trophies I missed in the PS3 version.
It's been a very long time since I played it, but I remember that epilogue not really wrapping anything up. It carried on from the cliffhanger at the end of the game, but it doesn't really make good on the situation the game ended in, and just ends up being another cliffhanger itself.duskvstweak wrote: ↑December 27th, 2017, 9:01 pmI didn't! I'm on the PC and they never released the Epilogue for it!ratsoalbion wrote: ↑December 27th, 2017, 8:25 pm Did you play the dlc Epilogue? Because (controversially), that contains the actual conclusion to the story.
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Combine Hunter
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Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
Great stuff. The levels aren't as brilliant as Dishonored 2, but Billie Lurk has a great set of abilities to toy with.
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duskvstweak
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Re: Games completed 2017
I just finished Batman: Arkham Origins, really enjoyed it. I liked that it was focused story after the grab bag craziness of City. Cool boss fights, too. I might go in on the Cold, Cold Heart DLC sometime.
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seansthomas
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Re: Games completed 2017
5th January - Arkham Origins (Wii U)
12th January - The End of the World (Android)
18th January - Rayman Legends (Wii U)
31st January - Light House (Android)
1st February - Where shadows slumber (Android)
9th February - Pikmin 3 - Story mode (Wii U)
19th February - New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)
7th April - Deus Ex Go (Android)
19th June - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
20th June - Yellow (Android)
9th July - ARMS (Switch)
14th July - Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (Wii U)
20th July - Bulb Boy (Switch)
16th August - Shovel Knight (Switch)
29th August - Sonic Mania (Switch)
31st August - Splatoon 2 (Switch)
2nd October - Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch)
9th October - Thimbleweed Park (Switch)
1st November - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
17th December - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; Champions Ballad DLC (Wii U)
20th December - Super Mario Odyssey: 500+ moon challenges (Switch)
29th December - Gorogoa (Switch)
What an ingenious little puzzler. Hand drawn images you have to investigate, manipulate and combine to venture deeper into the tale.
As Flabyo said, it's very short, so be warned that your £10 or so isn't buying an expansive experience, rather a rich reward for hours of hard work. Suspect it's also best played on an iPad. I found it good on Switch handheld too.
12th January - The End of the World (Android)
18th January - Rayman Legends (Wii U)
31st January - Light House (Android)
1st February - Where shadows slumber (Android)
9th February - Pikmin 3 - Story mode (Wii U)
19th February - New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)
7th April - Deus Ex Go (Android)
19th June - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
20th June - Yellow (Android)
9th July - ARMS (Switch)
14th July - Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (Wii U)
20th July - Bulb Boy (Switch)
16th August - Shovel Knight (Switch)
29th August - Sonic Mania (Switch)
31st August - Splatoon 2 (Switch)
2nd October - Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle (Switch)
9th October - Thimbleweed Park (Switch)
1st November - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
17th December - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; Champions Ballad DLC (Wii U)
20th December - Super Mario Odyssey: 500+ moon challenges (Switch)
29th December - Gorogoa (Switch)
What an ingenious little puzzler. Hand drawn images you have to investigate, manipulate and combine to venture deeper into the tale.
As Flabyo said, it's very short, so be warned that your £10 or so isn't buying an expansive experience, rather a rich reward for hours of hard work. Suspect it's also best played on an iPad. I found it good on Switch handheld too.
Re: Games completed 2017
DEC - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4)Alex79uk wrote:JAN - Little Big Planet Vita (PS Vita)
JAN - Everybody's Gone To The Rapture (PS4)
JAN - Day Of The Tentacle Remastered (PS Vita)
JAN - Hidden My Game By Mom (Android)
FEB - Trials Fusion (PS4)
FEB - Life Is Strange (PS4)
MAR - ABZÛ (PS4)
MAR - Bloodborne (PS4)
APR - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS4)
MAY - Salt & Sanctuary (PS Vita)
MAY - Yakuza 0 (PS4)
JUL - Grand Theft Auto V (PS4)
JUL - World Of Goo (iOS)
AUG - Killzone Mercenary (PS Vita)
AUG - Burrito Bison: Launcha Libre (Android)
SEP - Outrun 2 SP (Sony PSP)
NOV - Scribblenauts Remix (Android)
DEC - Super Mario 3D Land (Nintendo 3ds)
DEC - 80 Days (Android)
Well, it's done. I've spent almost six solid months and over 140 hours in the company of Geralt. I've spent so long with these characters that they almost seem like familiar people, and the land feels like a place I know. I've battled the grandest of beasts, played mediator between warring groups and found frying pans for people. It's been an absolutely incredible experience and one I'll never forget. I could go on and on about how much the world building and character depth hooked me right in, but it's all been said before. Exceptional.
Having said that, I'm so glad it's finally finished. I've been dying to play some other stuff for ages now but felt committed to finish this off first. I'm looking forward to playing a few shorter games before diving in to Dark Souls 3 in the new year.
What a game.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
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Todinho
Re: Games completed 2017
Tatitcs Ogre: Let us Cling Together(PSvita)- IT IS FINNISHED! I didnt spend 140 hours on this game like Alex did on witcher 3 but boy it sure feels like it, there's a reason I started this game in the beginning of the year and only finnished today, right now in fact, to call this game a rollercoaster of emotions would be a massive understatement I dont think I ever felt so strongly about a game in oposite directions, this game has cemented to me that Yasumi Matsuno is hands down the best writer in the videogames industry and it also made me think that he might be a terrible gameplay designer...
I said it multiple times but I just want to underscore once again how this game narrative is incredible, I already talked about how it dealt incredibly, despite being made in the 90's, well with themes such as ethnic hatred, violence, civil war,etc. One thing I didnt mention though was how well it handles characters as well the game has a gargatuan cast, literally over a hundred of them most of which can join you, they add alot of to each of them, they are all pretty memorable making the ending where you see what happened to many of them really rewarding, the same can be said for antagonists some that dont get much screen time but the game still manages to get them across and flesh them out and I know for a fact that depending on whichever story branch you are you get to spend time with different characters, a character that died a horrible death in your playthrough might be your ally in another(I know I looked it up).
Speaking of which games like Telltale's claming to have "meaningfull choices" are now laughable, Tatics Ogre just might have the best handling of choice I've seen in such a story driven game, imagine the big choice at Witcher 2 that completelly changes the game, now add 4 of those throught the whole game plus the indivudual choices of which character join you or who you kill, yeah this game truly has meaningfull choices unlike 99% of other games I've played by comparison. Also talk about an unpredictable story, I mean the Game of throne comparison is played out but so of the twists here should make George RR Martin proud, important characters can unceremoniously die, heroic ones can have horrible fates and you will get betrayed at least once I assure you.
The last thing I want to mention when it comes to things I really love is the attention to detail here, for example there's a cutscene where you learn that you have to go to a certain place people are hostile to you, in cutscene you character mentions how if he were yo go alone and unarmed they would talk and everybody calls him crazy, so you got there and you enter the regular battle preparation but if you remove everyone but the main character,take his weapons away and deploy you just dont have to fight, and the game is full of details like that it really is incredible how much stuff there is here, every place has a history, no character is throwaway and it still blows me away that this game was originally made in the early 90's in the SNES I mean when I played Metal gear 2 I thought that the story it was telling was incredible for the time but Tatics Ogre is one a whole other level, have that game out and comparing it to other games stories at the time is like comparing Tolstoi kindergarden books and this might seem like and exageration but it really isnt, I wish this is where it ended but unfortunally actually playing the game was abit of a problem.
So after much deliberation I think playing Tatics Ogre might've been one of the most unplesant gaming experiences I've ever had, I hate playing this game there's no two ways about it. At first I thought I was crazy and that maybe I was missing something or that maybe Im just really bad at strategy but I went online and I came to the realisation that yeah Im not crazy and even the people who absolutelly love this game have big problems with the gameplay.
First off the game loves playing with elevation almost every map has tiles in different heights that can help and hinder units, what should've been a neat addition to the game is the most infuriating thing here, it makes ranged units incredibly overpowered because if they are on a high elevation they can pretty much it hit anywhere while being incredible hard to hit, now that in itself could've been ok if you and the opponent started the battle away from the high ground and having to fight for it but no, the game loves to spawn you on the lowest elevation while your enemy is at the highest, not only that but the maps can be really narrow and the elevation further hinder movement because you know units can climb too high, so there are alot of times where battles are just meat grinders where your units are getting shredded before they can do anything, Another thing that's really bad is that the game has alot of especific unit types that are only weak against certain weapons or classes, like undead are vulnerable agaisnt holy weapons and dragons are wak against dragoons, cool right? No, you dont get a preview of the enemy forces before you fight so you go into all of them blind not knowing whats in store for you so if you didnt bring any clerics and there's a bunch of undead well you're fucked because only clerics can permanently kill then, the amount of times I got into a fight and they restarted to have the proper units in is beyond counting, not only that but say the dragoon it's the class that's made to kill beasts and dragons because otherwise they have unresonably high defense against anything else, ok so the dragoon has 2 abilities one to kill beats and the other to kill dragons but you cant equip both at the same time because I dont know, not only you have to guess when you have to bring a dragoon but also which ability he should be equipped with, it's maddening.
Now let's talk about progression in general, none of your characters have levels here, you only lvl up your jobs and that's to make all characters equal I guess but that's totally bullshit alot of the especial characters are gonna excel at the class they enter as, so they might as well be that fixed class for instance arycelle in the best archer in the game there's no reason to change her and no other unit will be that good of an archer, also you dont get to carryover anything if you switch classes it doesnt matter you were a lvl 20 knight if you change to class like say necromancer that you can only get really late game and it starts at lvl 4 you are just a lvl 4 unit again(even gear is gated by level so even if you were using a lvl 20 sword and is in class that can use swords sorry you're stuck using a lvl 4 sword that is if you didnt sold those in the past 10 hours), and I really have to stress this because this makes getting new classes a chore because they all start at super low level and are increasingly worthless and time consuming to lvl up as the game progresses, so you either change everyone to that class and grind(which sometimes you cant do because the itens that change you to that class might be limited) or you have a worthless unit tagging along for it to lvl up it's just horrible, I didnt like getting new classes in this game I dreaded it, this system made not want to experiment at all this just add this whole layer of frutration in the whole game.
Lastlly I must complain how badly designed how many of the encounters are, they can range from pathetically easy to ungodly hard, first you only have 2 objectives the whole game which is kill all units or kill the boss and that's it. I already mention how the elevation can lead to some very frustrating maps but not only the encounters on those maps really cruel but the isometric perspective can easilly fuck you up by obscuring tiles. Also side content here really is side as in you really dont wanna do it because many of them are these huge dungeons that are really hard, speaking of which the games final act of sadism came at the very end where the game ends in a unresonably large final dungeon that has 14, and let me repeat that FOURTEEN sucessive battles meaning you cant go to a store and buy itens or anything and god help you if any of your units die, it took me 2 days to get through it and I hated almost every minute of it.
So Im here at a crossroads I love this game and I hate this game, I want to recommend this game to everybody and to go back to it right now and see what's in the other story branches I didnt take and how it turns out but just thinking about having to play another hour much less another 40 is something that I dont want to ever do. Alot of my time in this game has been "Ugh I hate this I want to throw this vita outta window" while playing the game only to hit the next story beat and plot twist and go "oh wow, that's great I need to see what happens next"
Yeah Im at a loss I can only hope sometime in the future Square enix decides to do a new remake from the ground up and fix all the gameplay problems so I can play and recommend this story without reservation.
I said it multiple times but I just want to underscore once again how this game narrative is incredible, I already talked about how it dealt incredibly, despite being made in the 90's, well with themes such as ethnic hatred, violence, civil war,etc. One thing I didnt mention though was how well it handles characters as well the game has a gargatuan cast, literally over a hundred of them most of which can join you, they add alot of to each of them, they are all pretty memorable making the ending where you see what happened to many of them really rewarding, the same can be said for antagonists some that dont get much screen time but the game still manages to get them across and flesh them out and I know for a fact that depending on whichever story branch you are you get to spend time with different characters, a character that died a horrible death in your playthrough might be your ally in another(I know I looked it up).
Speaking of which games like Telltale's claming to have "meaningfull choices" are now laughable, Tatics Ogre just might have the best handling of choice I've seen in such a story driven game, imagine the big choice at Witcher 2 that completelly changes the game, now add 4 of those throught the whole game plus the indivudual choices of which character join you or who you kill, yeah this game truly has meaningfull choices unlike 99% of other games I've played by comparison. Also talk about an unpredictable story, I mean the Game of throne comparison is played out but so of the twists here should make George RR Martin proud, important characters can unceremoniously die, heroic ones can have horrible fates and you will get betrayed at least once I assure you.
The last thing I want to mention when it comes to things I really love is the attention to detail here, for example there's a cutscene where you learn that you have to go to a certain place people are hostile to you, in cutscene you character mentions how if he were yo go alone and unarmed they would talk and everybody calls him crazy, so you got there and you enter the regular battle preparation but if you remove everyone but the main character,take his weapons away and deploy you just dont have to fight, and the game is full of details like that it really is incredible how much stuff there is here, every place has a history, no character is throwaway and it still blows me away that this game was originally made in the early 90's in the SNES I mean when I played Metal gear 2 I thought that the story it was telling was incredible for the time but Tatics Ogre is one a whole other level, have that game out and comparing it to other games stories at the time is like comparing Tolstoi kindergarden books and this might seem like and exageration but it really isnt, I wish this is where it ended but unfortunally actually playing the game was abit of a problem.
So after much deliberation I think playing Tatics Ogre might've been one of the most unplesant gaming experiences I've ever had, I hate playing this game there's no two ways about it. At first I thought I was crazy and that maybe I was missing something or that maybe Im just really bad at strategy but I went online and I came to the realisation that yeah Im not crazy and even the people who absolutelly love this game have big problems with the gameplay.
First off the game loves playing with elevation almost every map has tiles in different heights that can help and hinder units, what should've been a neat addition to the game is the most infuriating thing here, it makes ranged units incredibly overpowered because if they are on a high elevation they can pretty much it hit anywhere while being incredible hard to hit, now that in itself could've been ok if you and the opponent started the battle away from the high ground and having to fight for it but no, the game loves to spawn you on the lowest elevation while your enemy is at the highest, not only that but the maps can be really narrow and the elevation further hinder movement because you know units can climb too high, so there are alot of times where battles are just meat grinders where your units are getting shredded before they can do anything, Another thing that's really bad is that the game has alot of especific unit types that are only weak against certain weapons or classes, like undead are vulnerable agaisnt holy weapons and dragons are wak against dragoons, cool right? No, you dont get a preview of the enemy forces before you fight so you go into all of them blind not knowing whats in store for you so if you didnt bring any clerics and there's a bunch of undead well you're fucked because only clerics can permanently kill then, the amount of times I got into a fight and they restarted to have the proper units in is beyond counting, not only that but say the dragoon it's the class that's made to kill beasts and dragons because otherwise they have unresonably high defense against anything else, ok so the dragoon has 2 abilities one to kill beats and the other to kill dragons but you cant equip both at the same time because I dont know, not only you have to guess when you have to bring a dragoon but also which ability he should be equipped with, it's maddening.
Now let's talk about progression in general, none of your characters have levels here, you only lvl up your jobs and that's to make all characters equal I guess but that's totally bullshit alot of the especial characters are gonna excel at the class they enter as, so they might as well be that fixed class for instance arycelle in the best archer in the game there's no reason to change her and no other unit will be that good of an archer, also you dont get to carryover anything if you switch classes it doesnt matter you were a lvl 20 knight if you change to class like say necromancer that you can only get really late game and it starts at lvl 4 you are just a lvl 4 unit again(even gear is gated by level so even if you were using a lvl 20 sword and is in class that can use swords sorry you're stuck using a lvl 4 sword that is if you didnt sold those in the past 10 hours), and I really have to stress this because this makes getting new classes a chore because they all start at super low level and are increasingly worthless and time consuming to lvl up as the game progresses, so you either change everyone to that class and grind(which sometimes you cant do because the itens that change you to that class might be limited) or you have a worthless unit tagging along for it to lvl up it's just horrible, I didnt like getting new classes in this game I dreaded it, this system made not want to experiment at all this just add this whole layer of frutration in the whole game.
Lastlly I must complain how badly designed how many of the encounters are, they can range from pathetically easy to ungodly hard, first you only have 2 objectives the whole game which is kill all units or kill the boss and that's it. I already mention how the elevation can lead to some very frustrating maps but not only the encounters on those maps really cruel but the isometric perspective can easilly fuck you up by obscuring tiles. Also side content here really is side as in you really dont wanna do it because many of them are these huge dungeons that are really hard, speaking of which the games final act of sadism came at the very end where the game ends in a unresonably large final dungeon that has 14, and let me repeat that FOURTEEN sucessive battles meaning you cant go to a store and buy itens or anything and god help you if any of your units die, it took me 2 days to get through it and I hated almost every minute of it.
So Im here at a crossroads I love this game and I hate this game, I want to recommend this game to everybody and to go back to it right now and see what's in the other story branches I didnt take and how it turns out but just thinking about having to play another hour much less another 40 is something that I dont want to ever do. Alot of my time in this game has been "Ugh I hate this I want to throw this vita outta window" while playing the game only to hit the next story beat and plot twist and go "oh wow, that's great I need to see what happens next"
Yeah Im at a loss I can only hope sometime in the future Square enix decides to do a new remake from the ground up and fix all the gameplay problems so I can play and recommend this story without reservation.
Re: Games completed 2017
I just finished Duke Nukem 3D because I fancied it.
I do love that era of shooter. The semi-sandbox nature of the levels, like Goldeneye, really appeals to me.
I do love that era of shooter. The semi-sandbox nature of the levels, like Goldeneye, really appeals to me.
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
Finally got around to getting through this one. I did originally give it a go several years ago, but didn't make it far before just dropping off. That was on the 360 version, while this time was on the PC.
I enjoyed it, but I have to say I still have similar feelings towards it as I had when I passed on it last time. I did appreciate the combat more this time though, as I tried to come at it from a different perspective, trying to use the abilities they give you as much as possible, instead of just hiding behind cover. It is a lot of fun, sliding and rolling around, taking crack shots in slow motion. Some of the enemies are pretty fun too, like ones that transform in to different shapes, switching up the challenge between a slow and hulking robot with an axe, or dashing around quickly as a scorpion-like thing. Most of the enemies you come across are kind of mediocre though. A lot of basic robots that just shoot from behind cover. Sure, they rush you every once in a while so you don't stick in the same place, but that shouldn't really be an issue anyway.
While I was able to get over not having fun with the combat from my first go at this game, the other large thing that put me off still remains too. It's hard to explain, and I can't put my finger on it precisely. The game has a very odd feeling to it. Something to do with the pacing and general presentation. The game doesn't feel like it is telling a story that has a good satisfying arc to it. Instead its this odd string of arbitrary events that tend to blur together after a while. It's probably worst at the opening of the game too, where there's a protracted cutscene showing the protagonist and co. infiltrating the space colony the game takes place in. It's this unrelenting flurry of chaos and battles that goes on for way too long, and isn't very informative. Cutscenes in general seem to have an issue with audio mixing too. There doesn't seem to be a good consistency in the volume of dialogue and effects and such, which makes certain events fall comically flat, which adds to the off-kilter feeling of the game. It's like they didn't finish those parts of the cutscenes before they had to ship. On a similar note, the story and writing of characters is the absolute height of stupidity. Platinum's games have always had extremely cheesy dialogue and over-the-top characters, yet they always tend to do it with a certain charisma and tongue-in-cheek charm. You laugh along with characters, not at them. Not the case in Vanquish. The characters are an absurd pile of cliches that defies belief, yet it seems like it's trying to play them straight. Much like the audio mixing, it feels like it needed another pass, or two. But if I'm honest, I can't be mad at the game for that. Pretty much every cutscene had me laughing at those unbelievably dumb lines, gargled through gravel that makes Solid Snake sound like a choir boy.
In general I'd say I liked the game though, even if there's a lot to pick holes in. The core gameplay was a mostly successful attempt to turn a fairly plodding and dull genre on its head, in that uniquely Platinum way, and that is where the core of the experience is. I don't think it reaches the heights of anything like a "Bayonetta of shooters", but it certainly kicks the crap out of most other cover-based shooters.
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Combine Hunter
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Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
Probably my last entry in this thread.
It's fantastic. Slight dip in quality towards the last third, but overall a big win.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
61 games completed for 2017 & of course a tonne of BF4.
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
I've finally beaten one of these! Played all of them except the first, and despite really liking them, could never get past certain points in them. Glad to finally get over that this time.
It was a great time. I love the bouncy fun character to these games, and this one certainly had it in spades. Shantae and all the side characters are very charming and a bunch of fun. The visual style is pretty nice too. While I was a bit hesitant at first that they moved away from the brilliant pixel art of the previous games, this one is still great looking. Very colourful and with a nice style. I was actually kind of impressed how well the 3D backgrounds blended with the 2D sprites. If you stand still, you almost forget that it's actually 3D graphics, and it all looks very cohesive. The soundtrack too is as great as ever. Also a bit of a change from the previous games moving from the more chiptune style of the previous games to a more electronic/synthesized sounds, but it still retains the same character as it always had. Bouncy, hyped-up fun tracks with groovy hooks and a Middle-Eastern flair.
The gameplay is very enjoyable too. The platforming itself is pretty straightforward, but controls feel very tight and satisfying. While I enjoyed the levels, it also marks something of a change for the series. Or, it's more a trend that it's been going towards for a while. Used to be that these games were very open and quite dense. Metroidvania-like, but taking more influence from Zelda in many ways. As the series has gone on, levels have become more linear and disconnected. Here it's shifted so far to the point where I'm not sure you can even call it Metroidvania anymore. Some of the levels are pretty expansive, and all of them have you coming back with abilities you get later to find new things, but most levels still feel like a straight path from beginning to end in general. Not that it bothered me much. They were still fun levels.
This game does also suffer from the same problem as the others in the series though, which is what has stopped me from finishing them before now. Although I guess since I did this one, it's not as bad as in previous games. But the problem is that these games tend to have massive difficulty spikes. Being not so great at platformers, it stops me right in my tracks. Here there's a level halfway through that is way harder than anything else in the game so far, and still probably the hardest level in the game, where you have to jump between tiny blocks that appear and disappear on a timer, while you're also assaulted by a never-ending line of enemies dropping bombs on you, and monsters leaping up from below. It goes on for quite a while too. I managed to get past it though, so I guess it's not as bad as the horror of the last level in Pirate's Curse. Also I have to say the last boss in this game wasn't the best. In general the bosses are okay, but the final boss (or bosses, since it's a string of three) doesn't really make it clear what you have to do to beat it. There are also a couple of attacks that are kind of hard to see, which felt a bit unfair.
But those problems aren't really that big overall, and I have a feeling they might be exacerbated by my own incompetence at the genre, rather than them being massive flaws. In general it's a really fun time with cute characters and a killer soundtrack. Very uplifting.
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And with that I guess that's the last game of the year. Despite all the awful stuff going on in the world this year, it was actually really damn good for games. The best in a long time. So many great, genre-defining games came out. I think this year has produced more than a few all-time favourites. Japan did a great job of flexing its game dev muscles this year too, showing they've still got it. I even think this disaster with anti-consumer practices in games this year might actually end up being positive thing in the future. This year, all of those games tended to perform poorly, or under expectations at least. While at the same time, smaller, more niche games in the mid-tier showed that they still have an audience and can be sustainable. Hopefully lessons will be learned from this and the industry can shift towards a better future where there's a more healthy variety of games, and we don't have to feel like we as customers have to always be at war with publishers. At least, not so much.
Re: Games completed 2017
Totally agree about those final bosses in Shantae. Once you know what you have to do they’re really easy, but it gives you no hints or decent feedback to let you know when you’re doing the right thing.
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Todinho
Re: Games completed 2017
Cuphead(PC)-Managed to squeeze that one in just now, fantastic game and easily one of the best games I played this year and I mean that only on a gameplay level not even mentioning the incredible artstyle and animation but just as a game Cuphead is great, it's a hard game for sure but I felt the difficulty curve was very well handled it eases you in and each boss tests your skills in different ways, this is one of those game where sometimes you'll see a boss and go "How am I gonna do this, this is impossible" to completelly mastering it and killing it without getting hit, it's one of those games where you can feel yourself getting better at it and while you're in the thick of it you just enter this zen like state where you just know what to do, it reminded me of Furi in that regard.
Now gameplay aside the star of the show really is the art and like everyone has said already this is incredible, I was still blown away by how well it all looks and animates, but more then that I mean it would be impressive to just achieve this level of quality in art and animation but I really have to applaud the devs because the creativity here is top notch as well, how each level is packed with detail, how the bosses transform in interesting forms, the little touches in the overworld it's some great stuff, btw people on that team really like Mega man and Final Fantasy VI because there are a couple of bosses that are blatant references to those two XD. Also the music is great and fits the game perfectly.
I have a few issues with it first one being that when your super meter is full you can only use the super art and you cant really chose to do a ex move, that's a bit annoying and it did get me killed a couple of time because I was too busy dodging bullets to pay attention the meter, also some times the foreground can really fuck you over, thankfully it doesnt happen often but when it does it's infuriating and it's the only time the game feels cheap, lastlly some attacks from the bosses could have better tells there's alot of times that you pretty much have to get hit to know what's an attack given that the game is pretty visually busy, once again these are in the minority but still a bit of an issue.
So yeah if you still had any doubts go and play game!
Now gameplay aside the star of the show really is the art and like everyone has said already this is incredible, I was still blown away by how well it all looks and animates, but more then that I mean it would be impressive to just achieve this level of quality in art and animation but I really have to applaud the devs because the creativity here is top notch as well, how each level is packed with detail, how the bosses transform in interesting forms, the little touches in the overworld it's some great stuff, btw people on that team really like Mega man and Final Fantasy VI because there are a couple of bosses that are blatant references to those two XD. Also the music is great and fits the game perfectly.
I have a few issues with it first one being that when your super meter is full you can only use the super art and you cant really chose to do a ex move, that's a bit annoying and it did get me killed a couple of time because I was too busy dodging bullets to pay attention the meter, also some times the foreground can really fuck you over, thankfully it doesnt happen often but when it does it's infuriating and it's the only time the game feels cheap, lastlly some attacks from the bosses could have better tells there's alot of times that you pretty much have to get hit to know what's an attack given that the game is pretty visually busy, once again these are in the minority but still a bit of an issue.
So yeah if you still had any doubts go and play game!