Games Completed 2015

[ratsoalbion]

05 Jan: Silent Hill 3 (PS2)
23 Jan: Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
29 Jan: Assassin's Creed III (PS3)

17 Feb: Sleeping Dogs (PC)

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Sniper Elite V2 - PS3.
(Jan) Back to the Future:Episodes 1-5 - PSN.
(Jan) Velocity 2X - VITA.
(Jan) Killzone Mercenary(Veteran difficulty) - VITA.
(Jan) Nidhogg(Single player) - VITA.
(Jan) The Evil Within - PS4.
(Feb) Muramasa Rebirth - VITA.
(Feb) Tales from the Borderlands. Episode 1 - PS4.
(Feb) Resogun - VITA.
(Feb) Assassin's Creed III - PS3.

[DomsBeard]

Feb 10th: Life Is Strange Episode One Chrysalis.

Picked up the season pass and really enjoyed it, different to the Telltale stuff we are all used to nowadays. Sadly like telltale it is a bit janky in places and the lip syncing is quite poor. The post credits breakdown of choices is very very interesting and you can see what your friends chose. I'm not saying anything else. Great soundtrack, roll on episode two.

Game Of Thrones Episode Two. Really good compared to episode one but is it me or was it really really short?

[Scrustle]

Spoiler: show

03/01 - D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die: Season One
22/01 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition [Warrior (Normal) - 2nd playthrough]
23/01 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition: Reverie & Resurrection (Chapter XIII & XIV) [Squire/Warrior - 2nd playthrough]
25/01 - The Unfinished Swan
28/01 - Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island (Finale)

18/02 - Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers

Quite a rough but still pretty charming game. As I said in the other thread, the central mechanic of cutting everything is pretty interesting and fun to use, but there isn't really much to it. It's novel and entertaining enough for the short run time of the game, but even in that small dose it's not mind-blowing. It can't touch the likes of Braid, Fez, or even The Unfinished Swan come to think of it. One of the later levels limits the things you can cut, but it doesn't really change the gameplay at all. There are also some annoying boss fight sections where you have to cut stuff quickly, or even cut boulders being thrown at you, and that can be frustrating since you die in one hit and it can be tough to line up a shot in time, especially when you have to wait until things thrown at you get in range, all on top of having to worry about getting hit while you can't move.

There are a few platforming elements too, which are a bit crappy. Control and animation are stiff, and there are often areas where you can't clearly see there's a pit, or it's hard to judge distance properly, and you end up falling down quite a lot. That also added to the tedium of the boss fights. It's only an occasional thing though, and checkpointing throughout the game is usually quite generous, although you have to pick up any collectables lying about in the room again when you respawn.

But even though I'm being mostly negative I didn't dislike the experience most of the time. I suppose it's right for someone who is between games and wants to try out something a bit different, but doesn't want to put a load of time in, and isn't too bothered about it being that polished, then it's good enough to be a little distraction for a while that does have a fairly unique premise.

The aesthetic is a similar story. It's got a cool art style, with its messy hand-drawn look, and a silly, light story, with a mellow and unusual soundtrack. But the graphical quality is a bit lacking, and it feels all a little cobbled together in terms of polish, but it fits the tone.

[Flabyo]

Jan 15th - Dragon Age: Inquisition (XBO)
Jan 29th - Game of Thrones Episode 1 - Iron from Ice (XBO)
Feb 16th - Assassin's Creed : Unity (XBO)

Feb 18th - Game of Thrones Episode 2 - The Lost Lords (XBO)

So they finally fixed the bug that was preventing my chapter one choices from being carried into chapter two. It really is a shame about all the tech issues Telltale seem to suffer from because the actual games are pretty damn good.

This episode is more setting things up if I'm honest, but the weight of some of the first episode choices is already beginning to tell, and there are some you make here that are going to have much heavier consequences.

Mira is still the best character.

Here's to a much smoother launch for episode 3! *crosses fingers*

[RobC]

Spoiler: show

Jan - The Evil Within (PS4)
Jan - Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
Jan - Shovel Knight (3DS)
Feb - Resident Evil Remake (PS4)

*Finished* both Binding of Isaac rebirth & Rogue Legacy (PS4) over the weekend, or that's to say I've achieved enough with each one to say I'm done with it. I may come back to Isaac on the odd occasion and try and unlock / see some more stuff, had fun with each one though so I'm happy to move onto other things.

Also ploughed through Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris. I seem to have missed the wave of people playing through on Co op but I had a really fun time going through solo. It wasn't overly challenging and felt very straight forward, but that's what I wanted right now, it felt like gaming junk food.

[Scrustle]

Spoiler: show

03/01 - D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die: Season One
22/01 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition [Warrior (Normal) - 2nd playthrough]
23/01 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition: Reverie & Resurrection (Chapter XIII & XIV) [Squire/Warrior - 2nd playthrough]
25/01 - The Unfinished Swan
28/01 - Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island (Finale)
18/02 - Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers

19/02 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 [Creature of the Night/Lord of Shadow (Medium/Hard) - 2nd playthrough]

Second time through and I had just as much fun as the first time. The PC version is great too. The better frame rate really adds a lot to the feel of the game. Way more than it did to the first. Generally everything looks so much sharper and richer too. It's really nice. Although I don't think I would call it "perfect" now, as I did before. A small number of metallic surfaces can look a bit dodgy, and while the shadows are way better than on the console version, they're not the best I've seen. Still really damn great though. I couldn't help but constantly take screenshots all the way through. I took almost 2000! I'll probably post some in the in-game photography thread once I sift through them all and pick some to show. Might also add some gifs I was able to make as well.

I was a little apprehensive of what the game would be like going through a second time though, especially with the stealth sections. But this time through, they were a breeze. Even more than on the first time. Obviously, they're still not a great addition to the game, but now since I knew the solution to them all, I could do them on the first try easily. Even the ones I had trouble with last time. There was a somewhat unexpected side-effect of the improved frame rate though. Well, it's probably my own experience with the game as well, but I found combat significantly easier this time. So much so that I bumped it up from medium to hard half way through, and it still felt easier than before. It was still good fun, and overall it felt improved, but I did feel like I lost a little bit of that sense of discovery when going against bosses. On my first run, each boss took a little while to work out, and that was part of the fun in fighting them. But this time I already knew what I was doing so they were kind of easy, even on the hard mode. But since you unlock it when you finish the game, I might go through yet again and see what it's like on the very hard difficulty mode.

Another thing I noticed was how long the game took to beat as well. I always had a suspicion that this second game was a lot shorter than the first. It always felt like it went by faster, and it would make sense since apparently the game had a rough development. There are a lot of points in the plot where it seems like content had been cut. Anyway, after finishing the game, my play time (by the Steam counter at least) came out about the same length of time for each game (23 hrs for LoS1, 24 for LoS2). Although, I did take my time with LoS2 to go and find all the upgrade gems and such. While I tried to get as much of that as I could in the first, I didn't really bother to go back much in that game. Then again, the play time of the first game includes the DLC chapters. I haven't started the DLC on LoS2 yet, although I'll get to it soon. Either way it seems both games are of similar length, and it seems another of my suspicions was actually true instead. The second game feels much better paced and with a better sense of momentum behind it, since you're not interrupted by finishing a level and going back to the level select screen every 15 minutes. While it's not a fully open Castlevania-style world, the interconnected structure of LoS2 really does add to the experience.

19/02 - Grow Home

Just finished this off too. Well, the credits rolled at least. Very charming little game. I guess I sound like a scratched record when I say there wasn't much to it, but what there is there is pretty interesting and unique. Great art style with some interesting mechanics. I like how the world is very vertical too. You don't get many games that are like that. The procedural animation was pretty cool in some ways, but a little annoying in others. It's funny to watch BUD flop around everywhere, and the climbing controls are pretty good and intuitive. On the other hand, sometimes it's annoyingly slow to respond. When you're right on the edge of a precarious drop and you fall over and go rolling off the edge, it can be really annoying. It was rare, but when it does happen it can be a big pain since you often fall for quite a way, and climbing back up can often be very slow.

Anyway, cute little game. Now Ubisoft, let Reflections make another Driver game, and don't ruin it.

20/02 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2: Revelations [Lord of Shadow (Hard) - 2nd playthrough]

Finished up the DLC too. I guess there's not much more to say. Also just as much of a nice improvement over the console version. Quite short, but with some new areas, which are some of the nicest looking in the game too. The combat system isn't anywhere near as expansive as in the main game, but it's relatively different, and progress through it is quick, so it's still fun. You get to use Alucard's awesome sword at least. But generally it's more of the same, which I don't see as a bad thing.

Some of the non-combat stuff I still don't really like though. While it totally drops the stealth, the puzzle-type stuff they replace it with it pretty badly designed. Maybe it would have been better if they worked more on it, but as it is, quite a few puzzles are not fun at all. Others are okay though.

[Alex79]

JAN - Metal Gear Soild 2: Sons Of Liberty (PS Vita)

FEB - Ghost Squad (Wii)

I've had this forever, along with a bunch of other Wii games that have barely been touched. After hearing Chet Roivas mention it a couple of times over the last year I thought I'd finally stick it on.

It's awesome.

I've been a huge lightgun game fan right back since the likes of Operation Wolf in the arcade, through the 8 and 16 bit era on to Time Crisis and Point Blank on the PS1. Then lightgun games seemed to just stop being made for home consoles until the Wii and PS Move brought them back (if never actually making them popular) again. I still love arcade shooters, there's a great one where you put 3D glasses on and defend your pirate ship against hoards of pirate zombies but they cost so much these days. Anyway I digress, Ghost Squad is one of the best of the genre I've ever played. Its so much fun. Easily completable in under half an hour but I can see tonnes of replay value with unlockables etc. Whether or not I ever find time to put in to it I don't know, but what a great 30 minutes I just had!

[ratsoalbion]

Yeah, I liked Ghost Squad a lot. Played through the Wii version umpteen times chasing high scores.

[Todinho]

Jak 2 Renegade(HD collection)-So yeah I just got the urge to play this and ended up finnishing it,it's still one of my favorite games ever but I gotta admit nostalgia plays a big part in it for example the story was way more fleshed out in my head than it is in the actual game and man this game is unforgivable when it comes to checkpoints,but even with all those problems is still a really fun game to play all the way through,except that sewer mission...fuck that mission.

[dezm0nd]

Almost went a whole month without finishing a game! (Spending loads of my time in Smash Bros and IDARB lately)

Jan 5: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (100%)
Jan 6: Halo 3 (Legendary co-op)
Jan 14: Gears of War Judgement
Jan 18: Demons Souls
Jan 25: Resident Evil Remake
Jan 26: Halo 4 (Legendary co-op)

Feb 24: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
Feb 24: Grow Home

But put 30 hours into Majoras Mask 3D and i've still yet to do it all. For a game which is set in such a small world in such a small time frame, it sure is rammed full of things to see and do.

It's great but I can totally see why, even with the new improvements, people didn't really get on with it. Be careful what you wish for (changing Zeldas formula) you might just get it!

Grow Home. Fans of 3D platformers, this is a must.

[Dante Fireseed]

22 January - The Unfinished Swan (PS4)
21 February - Valiant Hearts (PS4)

[RobC]

Spoiler: show

Spoiler: hide
Jan - The Evil Within (PS4)
Jan - Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
Jan - Shovel Knight (3DS)
Feb - Resident Evil Remake (PS4)
Feb - The Binding of Isaac Rebirth (PS4)
Feb - Rogue Legacy (PS4)
Feb - Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (PS4)

The Swapper - Went back to clear out some of my PS plus backlog. I didn't really follow the plot, was more interested in the puzzles, by the very end I did come a bit unstuck and had to consult a guide, what I found was that I was supposed to be doing things that I felt were a bit outside the mechanics as I understood them. I didn't really click with the puzzles that needed slight of hand or quick reactions so I'm not too fussed about having to look at a guide to get through them.

[mikeleddy83]

Feb - Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (low level online & offline)
Something of a masterpiece, it's been the only game I've played for the last few weeks and with a monstrous number of hours on the guild card I still feel it has a lot to give. Without the underwater quests the game feels so much tighter but unlike previous games the difficulty curve has yet to hit the peak I hit much earlier with MH3U. Having taken a gamble on weapons I was less familiar with, the game seems much more forgiving but we'll see what the next few ranks bring to the table, early high rank activity doesn't seem to be crushing like the Gigginox duo of the past and I'll admit that I'd love to see the misty peaks of 3rd return once more but these are minor issues, it's likely to be the best in the series and by the day it's looking very likely to crush what already looked like a heavy investment in MH3U and 2G. As with any recommendation please note that I'll always suggest games based on my playstyle, I'm always aware there's a punch out way to play and the intended way, thanks to Grim I've got a deeper understanding of the balancing of equipment but I'm always keen to adopt an arcade approach where possible. Either way I'd believe the game does its job well.

Feb - Game of Thrones: 2. "The Lost Lords"
I'm far from regretting my forward thinking purchase but it felt decidedly average and a small step down from a good opener. Hopefully things improve for episode 3.

Spoiler: show

Feb - Star Fox 64 3D
Feb - Metroid Fusion
Feb - Super Metroid
Feb - BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea -- Episode 1
Feb - Gunman Clive
Jan - Shovel Knight
Jan - Chrono Trigger
Jan - Sega Rally Championship
Jan - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Jan - Salamander 2

[ratsoalbion]

05 Jan: Silent Hill 3 (PS2)
23 Jan: Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
29 Jan: Assassin's Creed III (PS3)
17 Feb: Sleeping Dogs (PC)

27 Feb: Chrono Trigger (DS)

[Scrustle]

Spoiler: show

03/01 - D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die: Season One
22/01 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition [Warrior (Normal) - 2nd playthrough]
23/01 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow: Ultimate Edition: Reverie & Resurrection (Chapter XIII & XIV) [Squire/Warrior - 2nd playthrough]
25/01 - The Unfinished Swan
28/01 - Forza Horizon 2: Storm Island (Finale)
18/02 - Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers
19/02 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 [Creature of the Night/Lord of Shadow (Medium/Hard) - 2nd playthrough]
19/02 - Grow Home
20/02 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2: Revelations [Lord of Shadow (Hard) - 2nd playthrough]

01/03 - Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death [Normal]

Not a bad game. Not exceptional, but still pretty fun. Some flaws here and there that do bring the experience down somewhat, but never enough to completely ruin it. It is incredibly derivative of God of War though. It's undeniable how close it is. The combat feels similar (although a bit clunkier), the camera angles are the same, the puzzles are the same, and even simply traversing through the levels is the same, with its climbing platforming elements. They're all done in pretty much the exact same way. It's similarly themed around a certain ancient culture's mythology too, although with this game it's the Mayans, and they do it a little differently. It's set in modern times, and the game has a sense of humour to it, which is quite refreshing.

Combat is good enough to be fun, but it's not really much more than that. You get some varied weaponry as you progress through the game, and they're flashy and colourful, but I never really felt like I ever completely mastered any of them. Combo sequences just never stuck in my head. Also, it can be a bit clunky at times. When you get towards the end of a longer combo, you are locked in to the animation, meaning if you see an attack coming your way you can't avoid or block it. That gets really annoying later in to the game when they put you up against large crowds of tough enemies.

Platforming is a pain too. It doesn't come up that often, but sometimes when it does it gives you these really annoying sequences where you have to jump across moving platforms with an awful camera angle and a floaty jump that's really hard to judge, and inta-kill death pits. That wasn't too frequent though, and there were some other platforming/set-piece moments which were actually kind of fun.

The game is surprisingly pretty for what it is too. It starts off with a bit of a bad first impression, by dumping you in to this generic industrial looking area, but once you get in to the jungle it starts looking pretty nice. The boss design is pretty cool as well. The game seems to have some problems with changing resolutions though, so I had to play the game in 720. That was somewhat noticeable, but it didn't stop the game from looking nice overall.

[wolfrider]

Jan:
LARA CROFT & THE GUARDIAN OF LIGHT
GOLDEN AXE ARCADE
RATCHET & CLANK-NEXUS
ALIEN ISOLATION
ALIEN ISOLATION CREW EXPENDABLE
ALIEN ISOLATION LAST SURVIVOR
JURASSIC PARK PART 1-THE INTRUDER
JURASSIC PARK PART 2-THE CAVALRY
JURASSIC PARK PART 3-THE DEPTHS
JURASSIC PARK PART 4-THE SURVIVORS
RATCHET & CLANK-QFORCE

Feb:
Assassins Creed 3
South Park-The Stick of Truth
Lego Indiana Jones 2 (Story)
Assassins Creed 3-The Tyranny of King Washington Part 1-The Infamy
Assassins Creed 3-The Tyranny of King Washington Part 2-The Betrayal
Assassins Creed 3-The Tyranny of King Washington Part 3-The Redemption

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Sniper Elite V2 - PS3.
(Jan) Back to the Future:Episodes 1-5 - PSN.
(Jan) Velocity 2X - VITA.
(Jan) Killzone Mercenary(Veteran difficulty) - VITA.
(Jan) Nidhogg(Single player) - VITA.
(Jan) The Evil Within - PS4.
(Feb) Muramasa Rebirth - VITA.
(Feb) Tales from the Borderlands. Episode 1 - PS4.
(Feb) Resogun - VITA.
(Feb) Assassin's Creed III - PS3.
(Feb) Resistance:Burning Skies(platinum) - VITA.

[The_Rooster]

Completed Alien: Isolation at the weekend. I loved it, a superb atmospheric, tense thrill ride. Dipped at some points but chapter 16 made up for the minor down sections.

My back was hurting every time I finished I was tensing up that much.

[dezm0nd]

Jan 5: Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (100%)
Jan 6: Halo 3 (Legendary co-op)
Jan 14: Gears of War Judgement
Jan 18: Demons Souls
Jan 25: Resident Evil Remake
Jan 26: Halo 4 (Legendary co-op)

Feb 24: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
Feb 24: Grow Home

March 3: Kameo: Elements of Power

Kameo for the podcast, coming soon!