Games Completed 2018

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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
04/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Normal)
05/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Jetstream Sam DLC (Normal)
06/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Blade Wolf DLC (Normal)
10/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Hard)
14/01 - Killer Is Dead (Hard)
18/01 - Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut
20/02 - Okamiden
23/02 - Bayonetta 2 (Normal)
27/02 - Shadow of the Colossus
02/03 - Monster Hunter World
06/03 - Snake Pass
08/03 - Deus Ex: The Fall
10/03 - Bayonetta 2 (Hard)
22/03 - Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
28/04 - Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth
03/05 - Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
05/05 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (Nero/Dante - Devil Hunter)
08/05 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (Vergil - Devil Hunter)
12/05 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
13/05 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (Lady/Trish - Devil Hunter)
21/05 - Omensight
26/05 - Mafia II
27/05 - God of War
31/05 - God of War: Ascension
12/06 - Unravel Two
15/06 - Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion
23/06 - Vampyr
05/07 - Cat Quest
14/07 - The Legend of Korra (Extreme)
20/07 - The Vagrant
28/07 - A Hat in Time
31/07 - Way of the Samurai 4

25/08 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Knight)

Finished up an old run through this game that I dropped a long time ago. This time going through on the equivalent of hard mode. Playing the game at this level does shine a light on its flaws however. I still like it, but I think when you put the game up to being this punishing the rough edges start to become quite abrasive. Although I would say it's still not especially hard, being punished for things that aren't really fair makes the problems a lot harder to forgive. The main problem being that the hurtboxes for certain unblockable enemy attacks activate at the same time as the animation does. So if you are standing in front of them when they pull out one of those attacks, there's basically nothing you can do about it. You get hit before they even take the swing at you. There's also the issue of the camera being poorly placed during some fights, way too zoomed out to see what it going on. So because of those problems I decided not to go through the DLC chapters this time either. The final boss of that is already garbage anyway, forcing me to drop down the difficulty before. So it seems next to impossible to beat him at this level.

But I still like the game though. Good atmosphere and art design, great soundtrack, and as long as you keep to the lower difficulty levels, the combat does have a nice rhythm to it. Also I think the earlier parts of the game are probably a bit more enjoyable. More lush and interesting environments, and better enemies too. Gets a bit drab towards the end.

25/08 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Also been replaying this one again recently, and just so happened to finish it on the same day. While on my first run I decided to to stealthy and non-lethal, this time I decided to go lethal and loud. At first it was a drastically different experience, being able to blast through levels in minutes that previously took a long time, but which as a result ended up selling the level design short a bit because I wasn't made to explore everywhere and work stuff out. But the further I got in to the game, the less that was the case. As it puts you up against harder enemies, you can't really tackle them head-on anymore. You have to explore around in order to find a good place to get the drop on enemies. Conserving ammo for when it's more necessary is also a good idea. So towards the end it became a more similar experience to my previous run, but that wasn't really a bad thing. Still a very enjoyable experience with a well realised world and great, densely detailed level design. As a shooter, it's not the best, but for what it's trying to be, it's still pretty fantastic.
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Michiel K
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Michiel K »

26-08 Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (Dreamcast)

Ran through the arcade mode with a team consisting of the initially unlocked characters of Ruby Heart, Amingo and Cable, on the default difficulty. I quickly figured out a cheap, easy and dirty combo with Cable, canceling the third pistol shot of his multiple times hitting HP into his Hyper Viper Beam super, for 38 hits and 33% damage, which saved my skin more than a couple of times.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2018

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ThirdMan wrote: August 25th, 2018, 2:40 pm Lifeline...

...So I've had enough. Maybe there's hidden depths if you stick with it long enough but those three 'playthroughs' were enough for me. The real disappointment was in the writing. I'd read that it was well-written however to me Taylor came across as an irritating, sardonic, comic-book type teenager, full of sass and bullshit. I really disliked it. It's meant to be funny but it's not and that's fatal to some of the scenes where he's at risk of death, yet still finds time to fire off one-liners.
Hmm, I don't know, still sounds like it's firmly on your plate to me... :lol:

Yeah the writing in Lifeline wasn't the best, but I still enjoyed it. The second game is quite interesting, totally different scenario, more of a magic realism affair. Then there is the third one set in the Arctic or something. I have to admit, I really like them. They're not fantastically written as you say, but I found them quite engaging in a charming way. The one you played, the story does get quite good a little later on, but if you're really not enjoying it, it's probably not worth sticking with the series.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Alex79 »

ThirdMan wrote: August 27th, 2018, 3:57 pm
I'm glad you had a better time with it though and thanks for mentioning the sequels as I didn't realise it was a series.
Yeah there are loads now, five or six I think!

Also I'm sure when you die, you can scroll back up and choose a different option and just carry on the story. Although, I guess that's kind of cheating!
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AndrewBrown
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by AndrewBrown »

Spoiler: show
02/01: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [SNES Classic]
04/01: Oxenfree [Switch]
13/01: Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition [Switch]
14/01: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Switch]
15/01: Super Mario World [SNES Classic]
20/01: BioShock Infinite [360]
23/01: The Fall [PSN]
26/01: Celeste [Switch]
31/01: Super One More Jump [Switch]
05/02: Night in the Woods [Switch]
08/02: Dandara [Switch]
14/02: Dragon Quest Builders [Switch]
20/02: Bayonetta [Switch]
21/02: Puzzle Puppers [Switch]
23/02: Fe [Switch]
24/02: Old Man's Journey [Switch]
26/02: Portal Knights [Switch]
28/02: Bayonetta 2 [Switch]
07/03: Subsurface Circular [Switch]
14/03: Coffin Dodgers [Switch]
15/03: OPUS: The Day We Found Earth [Switch]
18/03: Tesla vs. Lovecraft [Switch]
22/03: Fear Effect Sedna [Switch]
23/03: Destiny 2 [PS4]
31/03: Devious Dungeon [Switch]
31/03: Warp Shift [Switch]
01/04: Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap [Switch]
02/04: Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder Devastated [Switch]
09/04: Attack on Titan 2 [Switch]
11/04: The Bunker [Switch]
14/04: Streets of Red: Devil's Dare Deluxe [Switch]
16/04: Slayaway Camp: Butcher's Cut [Switch]
18/04: L.A. Noire [Switch]
23/04: Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition [Switch]
01/05: Saturday Morning RPG [Switch]
05/05: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze [Switch]
06/05: God of War (2018) [PS4]
13/05: Secret of Mana (2018) [PS4]
15/05: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle [Switch]
19/05: Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition [Switch]
22/05: Shadow of the Colossus (2018) [PS4]
25/05: Runner3 [Switch]
30/05: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Gold Edition [PS4]
06/06: PixelJunk Monsters 2 [Switch]
09/06: Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn [Switch]
13/06: The Banner Saga [Switch]
16/06: Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion [Switch]
28/06: Hollow Knight [Switch]
30/06: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus [Switch]
30/06: Star Fox [SNES Classic]
01/07: Bleed [Switch]
01/07: Bleed 2 [Switch]
03/07: Infinite Minigolf [Switch]
04/07: Crash Bandicoot [Switch]
07/07: Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back [Switch]
07/07: Mario + Rabbids: Donkey Kong Adventure [Switch]
08/07: Crash Bandicoot: Warped [Switch]
12/07: Riptide GP: Renegade [Switch]
14/07: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker [Switch]
29/07: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link [NES]
04/08: The Walking Dead: A New Frontier [PS4]
18/08: Titan Quest [Switch]

I was skeptical that a game like Titan Quest, a Diablo II wannabe-successor heavily reliant on the mouse to interact with its world, could be translated well to a cursor-less platform like the Switch (or the PS4 or Xbox 1 for that matter). "Clicking" on enemies and interactables in the environment works through a sticky-targeting system that automatically selects the nearest viable target. This works well enough in most combat scenarios, but a handful of unique enemy clusters require certain enemies to be eliminated first. These enemies are typically ranged, but even if they're not, they're easy to lose in a cluster of melee enemies. Specific enemies may be selected by holding down an action button, which brings up a cone-shaped targeting reticle. This does not slow down or freeze the game and I could not move while using this reticle, leaving my Brigand a sitting duck for enemy hordes. Only by kiting enemies in specific ways is this reticle in any way useful for targeting particular enemies. The right stick seems like a prime candidate for manipulating this reticle without sacrifice the ability to move, but instead it zooms the camera in and out, an option that not once felt game-changing.

Titan Quest's console port adaptations are functional in a bare minimum way but are no substitute for playing with a mouse and keyboard.

None of this disguises that Titan Quest is a boring videogame no matter the platform you're playing on. The Class system sounds promising: Nine skill trees may be mixed-and-matched to create 45 individual classes. The resulting hybrid classes don't get new powers, relying entirely on skill synergy to create a distinct experience. The result is less each class feeling unique as mashing up one skill you like with another skill you like; whether it's a Soothsayer, a Bonecharmer, or a Warlock, all three classes will be able to field the same Lich King tank courtesy of the Spirit skill tree. I opted to mix the Hunter with the Rogue, resulting in a Brigand, which I came to regret. The Hunter's core class skill is a net that pins enemies in place. Naturally all bosses and a good chunk of enemies are immune to this ability. Both the Hunter and the Rogue otherwise focus on boosting direct damage and supplementing it with Bleed and Poison effects; again, I constantly encountered enemies immune to one or both of these effects, turning the entire game into one long grind of hurling arrows into meat wall enemies. I can only presume if I had chosen a different class I might have enjoyed myself better.

I will not find out as the Titan Quest campaign was uninspired and boring, leaving me with no desire to revisit it, a huge problem for a loot-dropping ARPG. Environments--set in and around the Mediterranean--were not particularly interesting to look at, enemy design was predictable, and the story seemed to consist entirely of chasing bosses to their goals and arriving just minutes too late to foil them. These bosses, possessing no personalities or distinct characteristics, don't qualify as characters, just goals to be reached, macguffins to be sought, and faces to be pummeled. I had no investment in the story from start to finish, little interest in its stakes, and zero attachment to its characters. It was only in the final area, which saw me entering Hades to challenge... uh, Hades when he attempts to take over the world, that anything memorable happened. Turns out this entire sequence was an expansion pack for the original release of Titan Quest.

Every player character begins as the same boring muscledude and only distinguishes itself from other player characters by the armor they wear. Subsequently every player character ends up looking mostly the same regardless of class. Boring.

Avoid.

23/08: Immortal Redneck [Switch]

While vacationing in Egypt, a redneck gets drunk and crashes a dune buggy. When he wakes up he is on another planet and has been mummified. He cannot leave the desert valley he is in, and the three pyramids within the valley beckon ominously...

Immortal Redneck is a first-person shooter "roguelite." It handles like a dream; the Redneck is fast and responsive and able to make huge leaps. Make no mistake, this is an FPS very much in the spirit of Quake and not the cumbersome Modern Warfare. The Redneck begins quite weak, but every attempt at penetrating a pyramid showered me with more and more gold which may be spent on an upgrade tree in the valley. The tree literally sprouts and grows branches as I unlock more and more of its branches, finally growing into a massive, twisting Tree of Life that dominates the center of the valley when I reached its highest points. Also unlockable on this tree are additional "Allegiances," different Gods which the Redneck may temporarily align with. This changes his weapon loadout and active skill. His default Redneck class gets a pistol, shotgun, and sticks of dynamite, with an active skill that increases reload speeds; before long I had shifted to mainly using Amunet, a god who transforms the Redneck into a speedy ninja able to run backwards, drop decoys, and use super-powerful and accurate but slow-firing Kunai. Gods you haven't aligned with in a few runs get stat boosts, encouraging me to play with a variety of them (but I mostly just played with Amunet because the Kunai were that good).

Each pyramid has two bosses and both must be defeated in a single run (in normal conditions) to conquer the pyramid and unlock the next one. When all three fall, the game ends. Rooms and enemy composition within them are pre-built but randomly arranged; I immediately encountered rooms I'd already seen in my second visit to the first pyramid. The action is fast and challenging enough that this never really bothered me, but some rooms are quite large and only get larger in the second and third pyramids, making getting around the larger floors a bit of a chore. A teleportation system like those seen in Enter the Gungeon would have been appreciated.

Enemies and chests randomly drop scrolls which alter the Redneck's stats or confer other effects. Stacking these effects is essential conquering the bosses, and while the scrolls' are usually beneficial, several of them are not. The "Sorry Not Sorry" scroll, which replaces all of your weapons with randomly selected ones, came up quite often for me and is the most frustrating thing I've encountered in a videogame in 2018. As many of the weapons are less useful than others, having all of the weapons I opted to take replaced with random ones was nearly always a death sentence.

Immortal Redneck is a flawed experience. It's the first "Roguelite" on the Switch I've actually finished, and by no accident also one of the easiest. It could get a little tedious and grating but it's a fun idea and overall I enjoyed my time with it.

27/08: Slime-San: Superslime Edition [Switch]

Slime-San is a hyper-responsive platformer about an anthropomorphized blob that makes disgusting noises when it moves and stains floors and walls green when it touches them. Some videogames want to be Super Meat Boy so badly you can smell it on their store page.

Where Super Meat Boy focuses on basic platforming mechanics, Slime-San is much more ambitious. Slime-San can jump in midair, perform air-dashes, and enter an alternate state that lets it pass through objects that are colored green. More and more unique mechanics are stacked on these extra abilities in each level, ranging from riding on the back of ultra-fast slugs, Poochy-style, to a powerup that lets Slime-San's bird friend fly the pair to new platforms. It was all challenging and it worked but it seemed to move on to a new idea before it had really nailed an old one and left me feeling like I was constantly scrambling to keep up with it. Each of one hundred levels has four screens to be conquered, and each level has four apples and a challenge coin hidden in it. Finishing just one world was exhausting. Then there's the post-game levels and remixed New Game+ levels. If you're into difficult platformers, Slime-San will keep you busy for a long time.

All of this might have left Slime-San feeling like an inferior masocore platformer, but its art design is truly repellent. It has a good idea at its core: Things colored green are good, things colored red are bad. But these colors, plus white, black, and grey, are the only colors used throughout the entire game. It's a unique look in the current videogame market, but it was one that was offputting and unpleasant to look at. The underlying pixel art beneath it seems to be good, but the deliberately limited color palette held it back. There's a whole city and alternate environments to explore in Slime-San but it's all so ugly that I only ran through it briefly. I literally could not stand to look at it.
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Hunter30
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Hunter30 »

January - Jade Empire: Special Edition (PC)
February - Resident Evil HD Remaster, Jill playthrough (PC)
February - Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)
February - Super Metroid (SNES Classic Mini)
February - Resident Evil HD Remaster, Chris playthrough (PC)
March - The Walking Dead: Michonne (PC)
March - Tomb Raider: Legend (PS3)
May - Resident Evil 4 HD (PC)
June - The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (PC)

August - Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS3)
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MajorGamer
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by MajorGamer »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Neon Chrome (PC)
Jan 2 - Dispersio (PC)
Jan 9 - Numbus (PC)
Jan 11 - Hero Siege (PC)
Jan 14 - Castle of no Escape 2 (PC)
Jan 20 - Toy Odyssey (PC)
Jan 23 - 20XX (PC)
Jan 25 - Battle Chef Brigade (Switch)
Jan 29 - Kamiko (Switch)
Feb 1 - Guild of Dungeoneering (PC)
Feb 3 - KByte (PC)
Feb 7 - Cat Quest (Switch)
Feb 11 - DYE (PC)
Mar 7 - The End is Nigh (Switch)
Mar 10 - Shadow Warrior 2 (PC)
Mar 16 - The Keep (PC)
Mar 17 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd (PC)
Mar 18 - Hue (PC)
Mar 22 - Song of the Deep (PC)
Mar 28 - Metro: 2033 Redux (PC)
Apr 4 - Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)
Apr 6 - Xeodrifter (Switch)
Apr 8 - Has-Been Heroes (Switch)
Apr 14 - Slime-san (Switch)
Apr 20 - ReThink (PC)
Apr 22 - Little King's Story (PC)
Apr 24 - Headlander (PC)
Apr 28 - Dex (PC)
Apr 30 - SUPERHOT (PC)
May 6 - Azure Striker Gunvolt (Switch)
May 7 - The Ball (PC)
May 21 - Drakensang (PC)
May 23 - Spectrum (PC)
May 25 - Oceanhorn: Monster of the Uncharted Seas (Switch)
May 27 - The Sexy Brutale (PC)
Jun 4 - Immortal Redneck (PC)
Jun 5 - Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight (PC)
Jun 11 - Prey (PC)
Jun 14 - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Switch)
Jun 16 - Scrap Garden (PC)
Jun 17 - LostWinds (PC)
Jun 20 - Straimium Immortaly (PC)
Jun 25 - Dreaming Sarah (PC)
Jun 26 - Poi: Explorer Edition (Switch)
Jun 29 - Dungeon Souls (PC)
Jul 2 - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
Jul 6 - Bleed 2 (Switch)
Jul 11 - Risen (PC)
Jul 18 - Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (PC)
Jul 22 - Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten (PC)
Aug 8 - Styx: Master of Shadows (PC)
Aug 9 - Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch)
Aug 15 - Owlboy (Switch)
Aug 18 - DOOM [2016] (PC)

It took a long time for me to get to this one. You hear a ton of praise for this game and with my prior FPS experiences, I was expecting quite a lot out of this. All that praise? Completely earned.

This is a good mash up of bringing Doom into the modern era. The labyrinthine levels are gone, replaced with a mostly straight forward approach but there are plenty of secrets hidden around to find. Some are almost hidden too well. With the level changes, enemies are largely fought in arenas where you need to kill them all. A bit disappointing to stray in that regard but the combat is so good you want it to last. All the weapons feel great while you run all around the arena to take out everything in your sight. Every weapon returns plus a couple more and just about every enemy makes a comeback in some form. The exceptions being the most obnoxious ones which I am perfectly fine with. They even managed to do something with the enemies that is very impressive when looking at all the other modern FPS' and even the original didn't manage. There isn't a single hitscan attack in the game.

The upgrade system ends up being a nice addition. You can improve your max health, armor, and ammo as well as improve the weapons and their mods (most weapons gets two). Killing everything is enough to get most upgrade points but there are challenges in most of the maps to get a few more. The challenges aren't the best and are just kinda there. The secrets also get you a few upgrade points but finding them can be boring as there is nothing else going on during the hunt. There are also runes you can equip that give additional passives to help in your destruction.

It even has a story. Doomguy's only goal is to kill demons but the humans and what the UAC have been doing is surprisingly fleshed out considering everyone would have been happy with a "go kill demons" plot and nothing more.

There is one thing in the game that bugged me. Glory kills are a key part of the combat. Weaken enemies to stun them so you can close in and horribly murder them to get back health and ammo. It is a great system and it works and there are a surprising amount of different glory kills. The problem is that it immobilizes you. You are invincible while doing it but there were plenty of times where I got hit immediately after it ended before getting a chance to move. Since I was playing on Nightmare, that led to several deaths. You can time things to get safer glory kills but most of the time there is no way to tell.

This was absolutely fabulous even with that little wrinkle above. Bring on Eternal.
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AndrewBrown
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by AndrewBrown »

MajorGamer wrote: August 28th, 2018, 6:31 am It even has a story. Doomguy's only goal is to kill demons but the humans and what the UAC have been doing is surprisingly fleshed out considering everyone would have been happy with a "go kill demons" plot and nothing more.
One of my favorite things Very Doom does is have Doomguy be completely disinterested in the story happening to him, as exhibited through his utter contempt for the people he's dealing with and the instructions he's given. If you're into the story, you can focus on the characters and the context for what they're asking you to do. If you just want to punch demons, you can focus on Doomguy, who feels the exact same way.

Brilliant.
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Sinclair Gregstrum
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Sinclair Gregstrum »

Feb – Destiny 2 (Xbox One X)
Feb – Snake Pass (Switch)
Mar – NBA Playgrounds (Switch)
Apr – Assassin’s Creed Origins (Xbox One X)
May - The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter (PS4 Pro)
May - Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4 Pro)
Jun – The Wolf Among Us (Xbox One X)
Aug – Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360 via Xbox One X)

Aug - Bayonetta (Switch)

I've owned Bayonetta (the 'Climax' edition) since day one on Xbox 360, but I completely bounced off it at the time, mostly because I just couldn't get into the swing of it and died what felt like far too many times over the couple of hours I put in. So to one side it went, thinking 'one day I'll get back to that and crack it!', and of course I never did.

Fast forward to present day and the Switch, and that all too alluring bundle of Bayonetta 1 & 2 and the chance to play on the hop. I couldn't resist! I bought it at release again, installed the first game straight away and then didn't touch it, the game seemingly heading for the same fate once again. Then the USP of the Switch forced my hand - I was going away, had a 6 hour round trip on a train ahead, and needed something to play. I had a harsh word with myself and conceded that Bayonetta's time had come!

In short, it's a bonkers, bold and brilliant game that I'm a bit crap at, but am immensely proud I still made it through to the end on Normal difficulty (which apparently is pretty hard for first timers - it certainly was for me!). I will absolutely not be going back for a play through on the now-unlocked hard mode, but I'm certainly sure that I definitely might perhaps play the sequel at some point soon. Maybe.
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Simonsloth »

Spoiler: show
January 2018:
Bleed
Crackdown
Rez Infinite
Resident evil directors cut
Bioshock
Resident evil 2
Bioshock 2
Resident evil 3:Nemesis

Feb 2018:
Bioshock infinite
Def Jam: fight for Ny
Zone of The Enders
Resident Evil:code Veronica
Resident evil zero
Hyper light drifter
Braid
Yoshi’s Woolly World
Resident evil 4

March:
resident evil 5
resident evil 6
Lostwinds
lost winds 2
Ico 3D
Dead space
Dead space 2
Heavenly Sword

May:
Horizon Zero Dawn plus Frozen Wilds
Enslaved
Dmc
Steinsgate 0
Hellblade
Shadow of the Colossus Remake
Resident Evil 7

June:
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Bastion
Detroit
Vanquish
Battlefield 3 Singleplayer
Alice: Madness Returns

July:
Prince of Persia
The Last Guardian
Syndicate
Binary Domain
Call of Duty Classic HD

August:
Cave story 3ds
Eternal Darkness
Luigis Mansion
Mickey’s castle of illusion
Super Mario Bros
Silent Hill 2 HD Collection
999: 9 persons, 9 doors...
28/08

Shenmue HD

I originally thought this would take me a lot longer to finish but I raced through it. I just wasn’t enjoying any of the distractions and spent more time watching the clock than anything else. I did like the overarching story, the fight sequences and some of the mini games but there didn’t seem to be enough to do to kill the time or whole days in between events. I appreciate that it was groundbreaking and incredibly ambitious but I didn’t enjoy playing it in 2018.

It felt like hard work. I’m sure it’s not a spoiler but this is most agonising in the third act
Spoiler: show
when the game turns into a forklift truck driver sim
and I encountered a bug where the story won’t progress unless you go down a certain alleyway. This lead to many days of repetitive gameplay which sapped a lot of the goodwill the game had earned in the earlier parts.

The little arcade is a lovely idea and now I have the space harrier theme in my head which is such an earworm.

Unfortunately the yakuza scratches the same itch but does it so much more satisfyingly which makes Shenmue a piece of history and not something I wil revisit. Still it’s another major one off the backlog.
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Michiel K
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Michiel K »

29-08 D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (PC/Steam)

And now what?
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I'm almost done with Horizon Zero Dawn plus Frozen Wilds expansion.

It's probably one of the best open world games I've played, but I'm simply so incredibly tired of / cynical about the formula at this point that I can't help but constantly notice the fundamental aggravating flaws, of which there are many. Let's just say that the interesting-decision-per-minute-of-playtime ratio has remained frustratingly low over the course of my playthrough.

Aloy's design is fantastic, the story / world-building has some interesting elements, and some of the cutscenes have been the highlight so far, but it's just too little too late for me, I think.

I don't really enjoy writing negative contributions for the podcast so I think I'll sit this one out. I know this game means a lot to people and I don't want to rain on everybody's parade yet again.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Alex79 »

Alex79uk wrote: August 14th, 2018, 8:22 am JAN - Lumino City (Android)
MAR - Dark Souls 3 (PS4)
MAR - What Remains Of Edith Finch (PS4)
MAR - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS4) MAR - Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
APR - Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception
MAY - Shadow Of The Colossus (PS4)
MAY - Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PS4)
JUN - God Of War (PS4)
JUL - Dying Light (PS4)
JUL - Resident Evil VII: Biohazard (PS4)
AUG - Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
AUG - Gorogoa (Android)
AUG - The Last Of Us Remastered (PS4)

What is there left to say? It's just as good today as it was when I first finished it five years ago. Just top quality from start to finish. Looking forward to doing the DLC, which I never played first time round. But, a little break from zombies for a while I think. I've gone from big game to big game to big game this year, with very little else, think I'm going to have a month or so on a few smaller titles.
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Chopper
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Chopper »

KSubzero1000 wrote: August 30th, 2018, 10:10 pm
Aloy's design is fantastic, the story / world-building has some interesting elements
Definitely the highlights, and the combat was nice and fluid I guess. I think open worlders have been sustained to some extent by our sense of wonder (I can go and climb that mountain on the horizon), and that’s wearing off now. Even the move to more interesting ‘peaks and valleys‘ -type landscapes like Horizon and Ghost Recon Wildlands, can’t sustain it. That’s a small part of it of course, but I can’t help feeling ‘open world’ as a selling point has outlived its usefulness.

Not an original thought I guess, but hey ho.
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ADumican83
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by ADumican83 »

Bloodborne- Finished the main game and then the DLC on NG+. Loved every minute of it. Now onto the podcast
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ReprobateGamer
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Spoiler: show
Jan - The Turing Test (Xbox One)
Feb - Split Second/Velocity (Xbox 360)
Feb - Tales From The Borderlands (Xbox One)
Apr - Lego Harry Potter Years 1 - 4 (Xbox 360)
May - Lego City: Undercover (Xbox One)
June - Quantum Break (Xbox One)
August 30th - The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit (Xbox One)

Finally set aside a couple of hours to work my way through this one.

Short version -
If you like Life is Strange, then you'll probably want to check this out (if you haven't already). Otherwise, if you like environmental narrative, this may be worth a pop.

Long version -
It's from the LIfe is Strange universe from the folks at Dont Nod, and should tie into Life is Strange 2, though I don't know where or how at this point.
You play as Chris, a young boy living with his father in winter. Don't know how much of the story I can talk about without spoiling the game but most of the story of the boy and his father are told within the environment and provide the back story to the point where the game takes place - I say game, it's expressly a demo ahead of LIS2 being released.
The mechanics are in line with the LIS games so far released - the hook here is that some parts of the story relate to Chris's imaginary alter ego, the super hero Captain Spirit and the powers of that character.

I actually get shades of Toy Story from this - in particular, the scenes where the children are playing with their toys and you get hints of the broader picture that the toys have little concept about. Chris similarly has only a child's experience to interpret the world and this can lead to moments of poignancy or light relief (much more likely to be the former though) - the strongest moment for me being when I realised where the name of Captain Spirit's antagonist came from ...

Audio is used very well - largely being the ambient sounds that you would expect to hear, filtered when the onscreen activity is centered on Captain Spirit and the few music tracks deliberately placed.

If you need your games to be fast paced, or full of strategy then this certainly isn't for you. But if you are looking for something a little more thoughtful or something to scratch a Life is Strange itch before the sequel, this is worth a look. And as it's only a couple of hours long, it isn't too much of an investment either way (depending of course on how much Chris features in LIS2

As a side note, this thread is making it really apparent just how much of my already curtailed gaming time is now spent on games that are already completed (Lego/Kinect titles) with family, or ongoing online games that have an end game (as opposed to a game end ...)
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Flabyo
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Flabyo »

Flabyo wrote: July 29th, 2018, 6:39 pm 7th Jan - Mafia 3 (XBO)
29th Jan - Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (XBO)
31st Jan - The Room: Old Sins (iOS)
20th Feb - Celeste (XBO)
12th Mar - Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (PS4)
2nd Apr - Prey (2017) (XBO)
29th Apr - Dynasty Warriors 9 (XBO)
7th May - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (PS4)
17th May - Shadow Warrior (XBO)
20th June - Watch Dogs 2 (XBO)
9th July - Forgotton Anne (XBO)
29th July - Assassin’s Creed Origins (XBO)
1st September - Superhot (XBO)

Not much to say about this one really. The story mode is quite short but interesting, and there’s fun stuff unlocked after finishing it.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Indiana747 »

(Jan) Life is Strange: Before the Storm - PS4.
(Jan) Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition - PS4.
(Jan) Watch Dogs II(platinum) - PS4.
(Feb) Marlow Briggs - Xbox 360.
(Feb) Shadow of the Colossus - PS4.
(Mar) Assassin's Creed Syndicate - PS4.
(Mar) Ghost Recon: Wildlands - PS4.
(Apr) The Witcher III - PS4.
(May) Halo 4 :TMCC- XB1X.
(July) Dungeon Siege III - Xbox 360.
(Aug) Resident Evil 5 - PS4.
(Sept) SW Battlefront II(Campaign) - PS4.
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MajorGamer
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by MajorGamer »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Neon Chrome (PC)
Jan 2 - Dispersio (PC)
Jan 9 - Numbus (PC)
Jan 11 - Hero Siege (PC)
Jan 14 - Castle of no Escape 2 (PC)
Jan 20 - Toy Odyssey (PC)
Jan 23 - 20XX (PC)
Jan 25 - Battle Chef Brigade (Switch)
Jan 29 - Kamiko (Switch)
Feb 1 - Guild of Dungeoneering (PC)
Feb 3 - KByte (PC)
Feb 7 - Cat Quest (Switch)
Feb 11 - DYE (PC)
Mar 7 - The End is Nigh (Switch)
Mar 10 - Shadow Warrior 2 (PC)
Mar 16 - The Keep (PC)
Mar 17 - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd (PC)
Mar 18 - Hue (PC)
Mar 22 - Song of the Deep (PC)
Mar 28 - Metro: 2033 Redux (PC)
Apr 4 - Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Switch)
Apr 6 - Xeodrifter (Switch)
Apr 8 - Has-Been Heroes (Switch)
Apr 14 - Slime-san (Switch)
Apr 20 - ReThink (PC)
Apr 22 - Little King's Story (PC)
Apr 24 - Headlander (PC)
Apr 28 - Dex (PC)
Apr 30 - SUPERHOT (PC)
May 6 - Azure Striker Gunvolt (Switch)
May 7 - The Ball (PC)
May 21 - Drakensang (PC)
May 23 - Spectrum (PC)
May 25 - Oceanhorn: Monster of the Uncharted Seas (Switch)
May 27 - The Sexy Brutale (PC)
Jun 4 - Immortal Redneck (PC)
Jun 5 - Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight (PC)
Jun 11 - Prey (PC)
Jun 14 - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Switch)
Jun 16 - Scrap Garden (PC)
Jun 17 - LostWinds (PC)
Jun 20 - Straimium Immortaly (PC)
Jun 25 - Dreaming Sarah (PC)
Jun 26 - Poi: Explorer Edition (Switch)
Jun 29 - Dungeon Souls (PC)
Jul 2 - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Switch)
Jul 6 - Bleed 2 (Switch)
Jul 11 - Risen (PC)
Jul 18 - Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (PC)
Jul 22 - Defender's Quest: Valley of the Forgotten (PC)
Aug 8 - Styx: Master of Shadows (PC)
Aug 9 - Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch)
Aug 15 - Owlboy (Switch)
Aug 18 - DOOM [2016] (PC)
Aug 21 - Unbox: Newbie's Adventure (PC)

This caught my eye for its concept. It is a platformer where you play as a box. You get additional jumps based on how many boxes are left inside of you. I thought a lot could be done with this. Not much was done with this. It gives you up to 6 jumps in the air to get you where you need to go. You get your jumps back with little green boxes giving back one box or a checkpoint that gives them all back. Checkpoints are plenty so you rarely need to rely on the other boxes. Speaking of, there are also other green boxes that explode the second you touch them. Talk about bad design; the game itself mentioning it doesn't help.

There are two collectibles to get in the game. Golden tape that seemingly does nothing except exist to be collected and stamps (18 per world) that are the goal of the game. There are 200 tapes in each world (of which there are only 3). It is a waste of time going for them and because of how many there are, it is very easy to miss one and have no clue where it is. Some stamps are also scattered this way but you get an NPC dialogue box when you are near one to make sure they aren't missed. The other stamps are from missions. They are find collectibles in an area, kill enemies in an area, deliver some random item, or a race. None of them are noteworthy. After you find enough stamps in the world you can fight the boss and move on. None of the bosses are noteworthy.

All of that wouldn't be terrible (only a "meh" at best) but then comes the controls. As mentioned, you play as a box. To move, the character "rolls" around as a box. As you can imagine, a box doesn't roll very well. You sorta bounce back and forth and wobble around when moving. A straight line just doesn't happen. For the delivery missions, you get a thing strapped to you that further effects how awkwardly you move around. It feels like one of those beginner programming lessons to teach basic physics that they turned into a game. You can also attack but it is only a ground pound that sounds like they dropped a small, empty box about 1 foot off the ground. In another baffling decision, the key to jump is different to the key to double (or triple, etc) jump. Movement in a platformer is absolutely key and it just doesn't work.

This ultimately gets shuffled into my ever growing "How does this game have mostly positive Steam reviews?" category.
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Sinclair Gregstrum
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Sinclair Gregstrum »

Feb – Destiny 2 (Xbox One X)
Feb – Snake Pass (Switch)
Mar – NBA Playgrounds (Switch)
Apr – Assassin’s Creed Origins (Xbox One X)
May - The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter (PS4 Pro)
May - Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4 Pro)
Jun – The Wolf Among Us (Xbox One X)
Aug – Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360 via Xbox One X)
Aug - Bayonetta (Switch)

Aug – Subsurface Circular (Switch)

Squeezed this one in right at the end of August!

I picked Subsurface Circular up on a whim recently having had it on my radar from around release, mainly because it’s from Mike Bithell’s studio and anything Bithell’s involved in is worth keeping an eye on (big fan of Thomas Was Alone).

The game is essentially a text adventure set in a sci-fi future city where robots (or Teks as they’re called here) are an integral part of society, fulfilling all manner of jobs previously done by humans including everything from nannies and tradesmen to priests and detectives. This is all done under the watchful eye of Management, a human-run organisation who manufacture and control the Tek population.

Teks make their way around the city on an underground subway system called the Subsurface Circular, and it’s in a single carriage on the Circular that the entire game takes place, with you playing a detective Tek who gets unexpectedly embroiled a new case while in transit.

It’s a short game that’ll only take a few hours maximum to get through, and it’s all the better for it. This is a really tight, well thought-out experience with lots of quirky and interesting characters to meet along the way, and if you’re a fan of dialogue trees and a good script this will be right up your street.

I won’t say much more as the less you know going in the better, but if this kind of thing is your kind of thing then I’d definitely recommend Subsurface Circular!
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