Nioh(PS4)-By completing it I mean i saw the credits roll because as it turns out Nioh is just the gift the keeps on giving and the end game just unlocks more sub-missions(which are really really hard) and a main mission. So I've been in love with this game since I played the first alpha last year and I have to say the main release did not disappoint in fact it surprised me in how much I liked aspects of it,for instance I knew I would like the combat but I really liked the levels,how tightly designed they were and how packed with content in a relatively small space, I loved the game mission structure giving you sub-missions and main-missions and allowing to try and retry them as many times as you want, I loved the guardian spirit system with each spirit being cooler then the next,the loot system which despite the overwhelming amount of loot you get still makes each weapons and piece of armor look great and of course I also loved the setting.
I do have two criticisms of the game though,the first one is gonna sound very smug for those struggling with the difficulty of the game but I did find most of the bosses really easy to the point that defeating many of them didnt feel as rewarding as it should be,now this isnt a major thing because Im pretty sure this comes down to me playing these type of games for years now and even though I found many of them easy most if not all of them were always interesting and fun to fight and that's the most important thing but I would've liked if they'd put up more of a fight. The other problem I have is that while I love the premisse and setting the story itself is kinda garbage,first I have to say that most cutscenes in this game are really poorly directed and especially Williams presence in them is many times awkard,it doesnt help that he barely talks and has the personality of a flat table, and most of the other characters are either underdeveloped or show up too few times for you to get really invested in. Now the game has a character directory that expands on the characters,events and even Yokai which is really cool and it helps but still. Most of the time I would go: "Wow that guy is cool I wish there was more about him". If anything the game really made me want to research this period of history so it has done something right at least, Im especially curious as to why Oda Nobunaga is the greatest hero and villain in the history of Japan.
Now I know many just see this game as a "Soulslike" but,and this may be contentious, Nioh far surpasses those games in terms of gameplay. When I first played Demon souls I was blown away by the combat and how "real" it felt,how I had to go through every corner paying attention and how if something looked dangerous was because it was,when BloodBorne came along that blew the souls combat outta the water for me with the increased speed and changing weapons but playing Nioh just makes those games seem completely outdated,I know it may sound harsh but I just cant fathom playing a game like this again without a combo system,stances or Ki pulsing without feeling incredibly limited. To me this game is revolutionary, it's way more then a "clone" or a "inspired by" it outclasses the games they borrow from, to me it's already safe to put it into one of my favorite games of all time and I really hope to see more games in this style marrying character action and Action RPG, also fingers crossed for Team Ninja to make a Nioh Sequel starring the Obsidian Samurai,because I had no idea that guy existed and it just blew me away when I saw him and after doing a bit of research on it I really wanna play a game as that guy XD.
Games completed 2017
Re: Games completed 2017
FEB - Life Is Strange (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)
Bloody loved it, and one I'll remember for a long while to come. It's rare for a game to truly come along and take you by surprise these days, but this was one of them. Special.
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Joshihatsumitsu
Re: Games completed 2017
As of the previous night... Alpha Protocol (PS3)
Prior to playing Alpha Protocol, the perception was this game was either the worse thing ever made in the history of mankind, or a secret, under-the-radar gem that was overlooked and under-appreciated. There seemed to be strong feelings directed towards it from both sides.
And me? I like it. I'm not super-passionate about it, but while I was playing through I was engaged and invested. There's certainly some technical problems: I did have to reset the game twice, and both times involved interaction with the television in one of the safe houses, which lead to the game freezing. At least it didn't freeze during more important moments, so not a deal-breaker, just inconvenient.
Gameplay wise, it had that Mass Effect 1 feel where it looks like a third-person shooter, but it really isn't a third-person shooter. The Mass Effect sequels had the opportunity to smooth and improve the combat, something that unfortunately, Alpha Protocol didn't get to do.
And I say unfortunately because there's a lot of good ideas in this game. Not every game has the luxury of extensive resources and time; it's just a matter of making the best of what's available. There are things that do work in this game, and other things that don't, and as a person who has a particular fondness for spy fiction, I'd like to see more games like this. Its a genre that suits an RPG pretty well. it just needed a bit of polish.
As for recommending it: if you can forgive the technical issues (I mean, come on, Bethesda has had a ton of success releasing broken games), and if you have a soft spot for this particular genre of fiction, then you can pick it up pretty cheap. You may get something out of it, or maybe not.
Prior to playing Alpha Protocol, the perception was this game was either the worse thing ever made in the history of mankind, or a secret, under-the-radar gem that was overlooked and under-appreciated. There seemed to be strong feelings directed towards it from both sides.
And me? I like it. I'm not super-passionate about it, but while I was playing through I was engaged and invested. There's certainly some technical problems: I did have to reset the game twice, and both times involved interaction with the television in one of the safe houses, which lead to the game freezing. At least it didn't freeze during more important moments, so not a deal-breaker, just inconvenient.
Gameplay wise, it had that Mass Effect 1 feel where it looks like a third-person shooter, but it really isn't a third-person shooter. The Mass Effect sequels had the opportunity to smooth and improve the combat, something that unfortunately, Alpha Protocol didn't get to do.
And I say unfortunately because there's a lot of good ideas in this game. Not every game has the luxury of extensive resources and time; it's just a matter of making the best of what's available. There are things that do work in this game, and other things that don't, and as a person who has a particular fondness for spy fiction, I'd like to see more games like this. Its a genre that suits an RPG pretty well. it just needed a bit of polish.
As for recommending it: if you can forgive the technical issues (I mean, come on, Bethesda has had a ton of success releasing broken games), and if you have a soft spot for this particular genre of fiction, then you can pick it up pretty cheap. You may get something out of it, or maybe not.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games completed 2017
01 March: The Little Acre (PC)
- Spoiler: show
Really sweet wee point and clicker. Developer interview podcast coming up soon!
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AndrewBrown
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- Location: Portland, OR
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Re: Games completed 2017
15/02: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword [Wii] ***AndrewBrown wrote:05/01: Everybody's Gone to the Rapture [PS4] ****
13/01: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks [WiiUVC] ***
17/01: The Order: 1886 [PS4] ***
28/01: Undertale [PC] ****
29/01: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles [Wii] ***
18/02: Battleborn [PS4] ****
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Joshihatsumitsu
Re: Games completed 2017
I have to ask:Alex79uk wrote:FEB - Life Is Strange (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)
Bloody loved it, and one I'll remember for a long while to come. It's rare for a game to truly come along and take you by surprise these days, but this was one of them. Special.
- Spoiler: show
Re: Games completed 2017
No, I went with the selfish option. I've posted spoilerific thoughts in the podcast thread where you posted if you wanna read it?Joshihatsumitsu wrote:I have to ask:Alex79uk wrote:
FEB - Life Is Strange (PS4)
Bloody loved it, and one I'll remember for a long while to come. It's rare for a game to truly come along and take you by surprise these days, but this was one of them. Special.
- Spoiler: show
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Joshihatsumitsu
Re: Games completed 2017
Oh yeah, I could just do that! It's interesting that we both played the same game, cared about what happened to these characters, and yet had slightly different outcomes...Alex79uk wrote:No, I went with the selfish option. I've posted spoilerific thoughts in the podcast thread where you posted if you wanna read it?Joshihatsumitsu wrote:I have to ask:Alex79uk wrote:
FEB - Life Is Strange (PS4)
Bloody loved it, and one I'll remember for a long while to come. It's rare for a game to truly come along and take you by surprise these days, but this was one of them. Special.
- Spoiler: show
- Spoiler: show
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The Sonic Mole
Re: Games completed 2017
Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS Virtual Console)The Sonic Mole wrote: So far this year...
The Last Guardian (PS4)
My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (3DS)
Super Mario Bros. (Wii U Virtual Console)
Yakuza 4 (PS3)
Monkey Island 2: Special Edition (PC)
Solid platformer but lacked the magic of a real Mario game. Out of interest, is the slow-down in places the 3DS or is it emulating what was in the original?
Also, I found this incredibly difficult towards the end so Lost Levels is going to be a bloodbath. "Yay".
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games completed 2017
As far as I'm aware the slowdown is authentic, Si.
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The Sonic Mole
Re: Games completed 2017
That's what I suspected as it's quite pronounced for what looks like not particularly labour intensive stuff for the 3DS to handle. I had to ask though just to be sure. Cheers, Leon.ratsoalbion wrote:As far as I'm aware the slowdown is authentic, Si.
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Sinclair Gregstrum
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- Location: Dore, Sheffield
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Re: Games completed 2017
Jan - Titanfall 2 (XBO)
Feb - Mass Effect 3 (X360 via XBO)
After years of being sat in my backlog, I finally got round to playing through the final chapter in the original Mass Effect Trilogy this month thanks to it now being available to play on Xbox One via backwards compatibility.
It's been a long time since I played 1 & 2, and sadly the jump from playing on Xbox 360 to Xbox One meant that my ME 1&2 saves didn't make the jump with me. Now, given the gap of so many years since I completed ME 2, I didn't find that a massive issue as my memory was sketchy about the events of the last game, and I wasn't as connected to the narrative and characters as I was back in the day. This meant after a bit of Googling and YouTubing to get me back up to speed, I felt happy to just jump back in and let Bioware present me with their default vision of this final chapter.
From memory I'd say ME3 certainly has the best combat in the series and it felt like it restored some of broader scope and sense of scale that made the first entry so captivating and was lost a little in number two. Without spoiling anything, i thought the narrative was a mixed bag, and while the much discussed third act delivered some pretty definitive closure to the story at large, the individual character narratives that are the hallmark of the series got rather lost in all the explosions.
Anyway, there's no point in me analysing it too hard as those interested in the series have probably played it already and listened to the C&R episode where the guys as ever cover a broad spectrum of viewpoints that really say it all.
I'm certainly looking forward to seeing where they take the series with Andromeda, although won't be jumping straight in day one as I'll likely still be ploughing through Breath Of The Wild on Switch by then!
Feb - Mass Effect 3 (X360 via XBO)
After years of being sat in my backlog, I finally got round to playing through the final chapter in the original Mass Effect Trilogy this month thanks to it now being available to play on Xbox One via backwards compatibility.
It's been a long time since I played 1 & 2, and sadly the jump from playing on Xbox 360 to Xbox One meant that my ME 1&2 saves didn't make the jump with me. Now, given the gap of so many years since I completed ME 2, I didn't find that a massive issue as my memory was sketchy about the events of the last game, and I wasn't as connected to the narrative and characters as I was back in the day. This meant after a bit of Googling and YouTubing to get me back up to speed, I felt happy to just jump back in and let Bioware present me with their default vision of this final chapter.
From memory I'd say ME3 certainly has the best combat in the series and it felt like it restored some of broader scope and sense of scale that made the first entry so captivating and was lost a little in number two. Without spoiling anything, i thought the narrative was a mixed bag, and while the much discussed third act delivered some pretty definitive closure to the story at large, the individual character narratives that are the hallmark of the series got rather lost in all the explosions.
Anyway, there's no point in me analysing it too hard as those interested in the series have probably played it already and listened to the C&R episode where the guys as ever cover a broad spectrum of viewpoints that really say it all.
I'm certainly looking forward to seeing where they take the series with Andromeda, although won't be jumping straight in day one as I'll likely still be ploughing through Breath Of The Wild on Switch by then!
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
Glad I've finally ticked this off my pile of shame after all these years. The last boss reminded me of Metroid Primes final boss for some reason. Looking forward to listening to the show now.
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Dante Fireseed
- Member
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- Joined: September 5th, 2012, 1:26 pm
- Location: Somewhere within the Multiverse
Re: Games completed 2017
February 18th - The Witness (PS4)
February 26th - Mirror's Edge Catalyst (PS4)
Having very much enjoyed the original, Catalyst was enjoyable but ultimately didn't capture the spirit of the first game. The open world is largely pointless as is the skill tree. The main story was enjoyable enough. My feeling is that they should have concentrated on making a compelling linear single player campaign and drop all the open world stuff, it added nothing.
February 26th - Mirror's Edge Catalyst (PS4)
Having very much enjoyed the original, Catalyst was enjoyable but ultimately didn't capture the spirit of the first game. The open world is largely pointless as is the skill tree. The main story was enjoyable enough. My feeling is that they should have concentrated on making a compelling linear single player campaign and drop all the open world stuff, it added nothing.
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Todinho
Re: Games completed 2017
King's Quest: Season 1(PC)- So I've been wanting to play this game ever since it's reveal at the Game awards 2014 I finnaly picked the full version at the end of last year and well I really like this game, the game while borrowing from the Telltale structure is still very much an adventure game only with a few brancing choices and dialogue trees, I really like the gameplay in this because the puzzles are pretty well done and most importantly they make complete sense there were very few instances where I was stuck not knowing what to do next and solving the puzzles was actually really fun and not a sequence of trial and error.
Another thing that reallly impressed me was the story itself,from the beginning you can kinda figure out where the story is going and the game isnt gonna necessarily surprise you there but it still manages to be effective,also every chapter has a self contained story that is also really well executed so even if you play just one chapter it will still feel like you had a satisfing story,unlike in say Telltalle when sometimes nothing happens in a chapter, I wont spoil anything but it's a really touching story at the end I was really surprised by it and I expect it would be even more so if I had any attachmment with the original games,and yeah if anything the people who made this game clearly love the originals and really care about this game with the credits for every chapter starting with a big thanks to Ken and Roberta Williams for all they have done and I think that's really nice. Lastly I just wanna bring up the visuals because they are gorgeous and it really adds to the whole fantasy setting really well.
I cant stress enough how great of a game this is I just wish more people played it,I barely heard anyone talk about it after it's annoucemment in 2014 and people didnt even seems to review it because when checking metacritc there just 3 critic reviews...This game probably wasnt very cheap to make and it was finnanced by a regular publisher,and for them doing so in this day and age must've seemed like a hell of a gamble, so Im worried that it didnt sell very well and we will never get another one, so I if you like Telltale type games or adventure games I cant say enough times for you to try this game it wont disapoint you!
Another thing that reallly impressed me was the story itself,from the beginning you can kinda figure out where the story is going and the game isnt gonna necessarily surprise you there but it still manages to be effective,also every chapter has a self contained story that is also really well executed so even if you play just one chapter it will still feel like you had a satisfing story,unlike in say Telltalle when sometimes nothing happens in a chapter, I wont spoil anything but it's a really touching story at the end I was really surprised by it and I expect it would be even more so if I had any attachmment with the original games,and yeah if anything the people who made this game clearly love the originals and really care about this game with the credits for every chapter starting with a big thanks to Ken and Roberta Williams for all they have done and I think that's really nice. Lastly I just wanna bring up the visuals because they are gorgeous and it really adds to the whole fantasy setting really well.
I cant stress enough how great of a game this is I just wish more people played it,I barely heard anyone talk about it after it's annoucemment in 2014 and people didnt even seems to review it because when checking metacritc there just 3 critic reviews...This game probably wasnt very cheap to make and it was finnanced by a regular publisher,and for them doing so in this day and age must've seemed like a hell of a gamble, so Im worried that it didnt sell very well and we will never get another one, so I if you like Telltale type games or adventure games I cant say enough times for you to try this game it wont disapoint you!
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
I got all the bosses, Nameless King was a nightmare but the rest went down under 5 attempts.-
The Sonic Mole
Re: Games completed 2017
Virginia (PS4)The Sonic Mole wrote: So far this year...
The Last Guardian (PS4)
My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (3DS)
Super Mario Bros. (Wii U Virtual Console)
Yakuza 4 (PS3)
Monkey Island 2: Special Edition (PC)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS Virtual Console)
Great vibe. MAD ending.
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
Acts 1-4 were amazing but I thought 5 was a bit of a let down. I obviously miss the point of it somehow
Area X is absolutely amazing though and apart from a bit in Arkham my highlight of PSVR so far. Would love a game based on Area X
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games completed 2017
DomsBeard wrote:I thought 5 was a bit of a let down
