Games completed 2017
-
AndrewBrown
- Member
- Posts: 357
- Joined: November 21st, 2015, 8:37 am
- Location: Portland, OR
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
Don't ask me, I hated Thumper which is definitely a minority opinion.
-
James
- Moderator
- Posts: 1763
- Joined: August 28th, 2012, 5:42 am
- Location: Worcestershire, UK
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
Haha, fair enough. I imagine I'll be terrible at it (it is a rhythm-action game after all), but it seemed quite impressive when I played it at EGX a couple of years ago.
-
AndrewBrown
- Member
- Posts: 357
- Joined: November 21st, 2015, 8:37 am
- Location: Portland, OR
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
It's technically impressive but it's so invested in punishing you for small mistakes that it was completely impossible for me to get invested in the "rhythm" of it, which is, you know, kind of a problem in a rhythm game. I felt like I was at war with the music rather than becoming immersed in it, which might have been the point, but regardless I didn't like it. At all.
Once it introduced the halos that nuke you with lasers for missing one button press I was pretty much done. It introduces them at halfway through the game. Also, the levels are really really damn long and it's just exhausting playing through one in a single sitting. None of this is helped by the idiosyncratic difficulty and lengths of some sections of each level. Some sections are super easy and last only about thirty seconds. Others are super long and intricate and if you die at any point in them you have to start the entire section over again. I was not a fan.
Maybe I've been spoiled by Guitar Hero and DJ Hero but I'm pretty much of the opinion that the only penalty for bad performance in a rhythm should be a hit to your score. I compared it to playing Guitar Hero and having your player character explode if you don't play every section up to some arbitrary standard, and having to constantly restart until you do.
Once it introduced the halos that nuke you with lasers for missing one button press I was pretty much done. It introduces them at halfway through the game. Also, the levels are really really damn long and it's just exhausting playing through one in a single sitting. None of this is helped by the idiosyncratic difficulty and lengths of some sections of each level. Some sections are super easy and last only about thirty seconds. Others are super long and intricate and if you die at any point in them you have to start the entire section over again. I was not a fan.
Maybe I've been spoiled by Guitar Hero and DJ Hero but I'm pretty much of the opinion that the only penalty for bad performance in a rhythm should be a hit to your score. I compared it to playing Guitar Hero and having your player character explode if you don't play every section up to some arbitrary standard, and having to constantly restart until you do.
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
A really enjoyable experience. It's beautiful artistically, and has a lot of really great poignant moments. One thing that it is not though, is original. It's obviously very derivative of a lot of similar games. Mostly Journey and Ico, with a bit of Wind Waker thrown in there. Mostly with the visual style. But it takes a lot of what makes those games work well, and does them well too. If you like these types of games, this is worth checking out, but there will be no surprises here. The beats are all quite familiar and can be spotted a mile off, but they are still done well. Despite how similar it is to other games visually though, I think it does manage to cut out its own very small niche in that regard. The way it uses colour when it comes to the blues and whites is pretty striking. It does evoke a very Mediterranean feel with its perfectly blue skies and emerald green waters, along with the sun-bleached stone towers. It's especially true near the start of the game. There also happens to be a day/night cycle in that area, which is also gorgeous.
-
ColinAlonso
- Member
- Posts: 585
- Joined: September 6th, 2016, 9:13 pm
- Location: Dublin
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
Forgot to add this one to the list. A massive improvement over the first game. It removes the frustrations and cheap deaths of the first game while remaining a challenge. I can see why a lot of people love this one.
Re: Games completed 2017
3 June: Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)
Just in time for tonight's podcast recording. I couldn't play in the daytime today, so I had to pull a bit of an allnighter.
Just in time for tonight's podcast recording. I couldn't play in the daytime today, so I had to pull a bit of an allnighter.
-
Todinho
Re: Games completed 2017
Tekken 7: The Mishima Saga(PC)- So yeah Im a bit disapointed with the story mode because it's too short and it has a terrible framing,what happens in it it's pretty awesome but the main problem is that you dont have much time to stay in scenes and take things in until they have to rush along to another area and unlike say Mortal Kombat it isnt all one continuous movie type thing, the story is constantly interrupted by these still images of some random journalist that's the narrator but it doesnt add anything to the story and it just brings the pacing down, the only reason I think this is here is that I think they clearly didnt have the money to make the story mode more fleshed out.
The moments that they had to nail, they absolutely did though and there are some really awesome moments here, the final boss in particular is my favorite final encounter in any fighting game to date even if he can be extremelly hard, but overall it wasnt really the "conclusion" of Tekken that I expected, storywise it leaves the series at the same point after tekken 5 pretty much but I understand why Harada wanted to this but these are just the ramblings of someone who cares way too much about this crazy story about devil genes XD.
Gameplay I fucking love it! I sticking with Heihachi and Jin for the most part but there isnt a character yet that I'v tried and didnt like, everyone feels great and after being away from the series for over 10 years now(man I feel old) I was really surprised how easy it was to pick up and play, there's something about tekken that's immediatly acessible. Also the slow mo when both characters are in low life and are trading blows is genious, it's so hype that when it happens near the end of a match I caught myself audibly going "WOW!" that's pretty awesome and it's gonna make for some great Evo moments Im sure, and yeah the PC version is fantastic it runs super smooth and I didnt even went to check the settings A+ Namco =D
The moments that they had to nail, they absolutely did though and there are some really awesome moments here, the final boss in particular is my favorite final encounter in any fighting game to date even if he can be extremelly hard, but overall it wasnt really the "conclusion" of Tekken that I expected, storywise it leaves the series at the same point after tekken 5 pretty much but I understand why Harada wanted to this but these are just the ramblings of someone who cares way too much about this crazy story about devil genes XD.
Gameplay I fucking love it! I sticking with Heihachi and Jin for the most part but there isnt a character yet that I'v tried and didnt like, everyone feels great and after being away from the series for over 10 years now(man I feel old) I was really surprised how easy it was to pick up and play, there's something about tekken that's immediatly acessible. Also the slow mo when both characters are in low life and are trading blows is genious, it's so hype that when it happens near the end of a match I caught myself audibly going "WOW!" that's pretty awesome and it's gonna make for some great Evo moments Im sure, and yeah the PC version is fantastic it runs super smooth and I didnt even went to check the settings A+ Namco =D
Re: Games completed 2017
Stellaris (PC)
This was a trip. The game has it's faults and frustrations for sure, but it succeeds extremely well as an 'immersive' 4x where you get invested in the races, the politics and the battles. I ended up winning a 'domination' victory, where I controlled 40% of the planets in the galaxy, but the way that was achieved was very interesting, involving very few wars of conquest.
Instead I stopped two empires from expanding through blockades, vassalised several others looking for protection, formed a federation with another empire which made the two of us a very powerful bloc, uplifted a few pre-sentient species (some kind of birds, cockroaches and fish-men respectively), watched two primitive civilisations in my empire obliterate their planets via war once they hit the nuclear age, suppressed a xenophobic faction in my own party, and fought off a galaxy invasion which left about a quarter of the galaxy uninhabitable afterwards. Also my own race has ascended to full Psionic capabilities and has opened a rift to another dimension which doesn't bode well.
So it's been pretty great. I think I'm probably done with it now - playing a different race, like a hivemind, might be slightly different, but you research the same technologies and build the same buildings, so the gameplay would be very samey.
Overall it's been a pretty great mix of story and (slow-paced) action. Very impressive.
This was a trip. The game has it's faults and frustrations for sure, but it succeeds extremely well as an 'immersive' 4x where you get invested in the races, the politics and the battles. I ended up winning a 'domination' victory, where I controlled 40% of the planets in the galaxy, but the way that was achieved was very interesting, involving very few wars of conquest.
Instead I stopped two empires from expanding through blockades, vassalised several others looking for protection, formed a federation with another empire which made the two of us a very powerful bloc, uplifted a few pre-sentient species (some kind of birds, cockroaches and fish-men respectively), watched two primitive civilisations in my empire obliterate their planets via war once they hit the nuclear age, suppressed a xenophobic faction in my own party, and fought off a galaxy invasion which left about a quarter of the galaxy uninhabitable afterwards. Also my own race has ascended to full Psionic capabilities and has opened a rift to another dimension which doesn't bode well.
So it's been pretty great. I think I'm probably done with it now - playing a different race, like a hivemind, might be slightly different, but you research the same technologies and build the same buildings, so the gameplay would be very samey.
Overall it's been a pretty great mix of story and (slow-paced) action. Very impressive.
-
Combine Hunter
- Moderator
- Posts: 892
- Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:40 pm
-
James
- Moderator
- Posts: 1763
- Joined: August 28th, 2012, 5:42 am
- Location: Worcestershire, UK
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
I haven't tried the story yet, but look forward to it being as bananas as I gather the rest of the series is.
On accessibility, I'm really glad it's good for those coming back to it. Sadly, for those new to the series, there's no tutorial. I found, as I have on the rare occasion that I've ever played Tekken, that it's incredibly difficult to work out what's going on. I'll stick with it, and of course there are videos online and folks on Twitter to ask, but if tapping to dodge and the massive number of command normals aren't already second nature, it's beyond baffling.
On the plus side, it looks great and my other half (the Tekken fan in our household) was, like you Todinho, able to pick up and play immediately.
-
MagicianArcana
Re: Games completed 2017
- Spoiler: show
I think I got too distracted after Persona 5 came out.In my opinion, season 3 of TellTale's The Walking Dead was a vast improvement over season 2. It rivals season 1 for me.
-
Indiana747
- Member
- Posts: 1014
- Joined: September 3rd, 2012, 5:17 pm
Re: Games completed 2017
(Jan) Quantum Break - XB1.
(Jan) Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - PS4.
(Jan) Adr1ft - PS4.
(Jan) Dear Esther - PS4.
(Jan) Virginia - PS4. (platinum).
(Jan) The London Heist - PSVR
(Feb) Flashback(2013) - PSN.
(Feb) Rain - PSN.
(Feb) Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light - PSN.
(Feb) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - PS3.
(Feb) Far Cry Primal - PS4.
(Feb) Bayonetta 2 - WiiU.
(Feb) Sniper Elite 3 - PS4.
(Mar) Life is Strange - PS4.
(Mar) Nier Automata - PS4.
(Mar) Halo 2:Anniversary - XB1.
(Mar) Guns, Gore & Canoli - PS4.
(Apr) Alien Breed Ep.3:Descent - Xbox 360.
(Apr) Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4.
(May) Battleborn - PS4.
(May) Diablo 3:RoS - PS4.
(May) Deadpool - PS4.
(May) The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - PS4.
(June) Killing Floor 2 - PS4.
(Jan) Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - PS4.
(Jan) Adr1ft - PS4.
(Jan) Dear Esther - PS4.
(Jan) Virginia - PS4. (platinum).
(Jan) The London Heist - PSVR
(Feb) Flashback(2013) - PSN.
(Feb) Rain - PSN.
(Feb) Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light - PSN.
(Feb) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - PS3.
(Feb) Far Cry Primal - PS4.
(Feb) Bayonetta 2 - WiiU.
(Feb) Sniper Elite 3 - PS4.
(Mar) Life is Strange - PS4.
(Mar) Nier Automata - PS4.
(Mar) Halo 2:Anniversary - XB1.
(Mar) Guns, Gore & Canoli - PS4.
(Apr) Alien Breed Ep.3:Descent - Xbox 360.
(Apr) Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4.
(May) Battleborn - PS4.
(May) Diablo 3:RoS - PS4.
(May) Deadpool - PS4.
(May) The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - PS4.
(June) Killing Floor 2 - PS4.
-
Todinho
Re: Games completed 2017
Wow I never considered that the game could be this hard to approach for someone new, for me alot of it comes as second nature so I havent given much thought XD, but you might want to play Akuma then I've seen alot of street fighter people say that his translation to Tekken was spot on and he still feels like he does on SF.James wrote: ↑June 5th, 2017, 10:46 am On accessibility, I'm really glad it's good for those coming back to it. Sadly, for those new to the series, there's no tutorial. I found, as I have on the rare occasion that I've ever played Tekken, that it's incredibly difficult to work out what's going on. I'll stick with it, and of course there are videos online and folks on Twitter to ask, but if tapping to dodge and the massive number of command normals aren't already second nature, it's beyond baffling.
On the plus side, it looks great and my other half (the Tekken fan in our household) was, like you Todinho, able to pick up and play immediately.
The hardest thing in tekken I feel is knowing to use movement, I mean im actually a bit embarassed by my lack of side stepping skills and that's kinda simple, but I find it so much easier to understand in Tekken is how each button is mapped to a limb so for example it makes total sense that Heihachi's double palm move is done by pressing the 2 punch buttons together and how Law flip kicks are done by pressing the 2 kicks so on and so forth, so even if you dont really know the combos you can string something together. Also it helps me that most of the moves dont involve alot of quarter circles to perform.
-
James
- Moderator
- Posts: 1763
- Joined: August 28th, 2012, 5:42 am
- Location: Worcestershire, UK
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
I have heard people say Akuma plays similarly to the Street Fighter EX games. I'll give him a try! Thanks. 
-
Todinho
Re: Games completed 2017
oh yeah I found this really good video talking about characters and how each plays and how easy it is to play,etc. Might help!
-
James
- Moderator
- Posts: 1763
- Joined: August 28th, 2012, 5:42 am
- Location: Worcestershire, UK
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
Cool video, thanks. I've got 7 possibles from that breakdown. Odds are I'll end up trying Bob first!
Re: Games completed 2017
So, Rakuen (PC).
It's the first game by Laura Ishigara, who composed songs for To the Moon and Plants v Zombies etc. Like To the Moon, it's an adventure game made in RPG Maker. While it has common themes - it's set in a hospital where pretty much everyone is in a bad way - I found it even more sentimental, and feel that it crossed the line into twee.
The gameplay wasn't great - a lot of puzzles based on opening doors, and what felt like a phenomenal amount of walking from one end of the map to the other and back again. You could see some of the rough edges in development, where rather than abandoning the idea, they kept it and fudged it a wee bit. I feel bad criticising it, because it has a good heart, and a really well done ending, and it is incredibly sad, but I don't think the story does enough to transcend the gameplay in this case.
Lots of people absolutely love it though, so your mileage may vary.
It's the first game by Laura Ishigara, who composed songs for To the Moon and Plants v Zombies etc. Like To the Moon, it's an adventure game made in RPG Maker. While it has common themes - it's set in a hospital where pretty much everyone is in a bad way - I found it even more sentimental, and feel that it crossed the line into twee.
The gameplay wasn't great - a lot of puzzles based on opening doors, and what felt like a phenomenal amount of walking from one end of the map to the other and back again. You could see some of the rough edges in development, where rather than abandoning the idea, they kept it and fudged it a wee bit. I feel bad criticising it, because it has a good heart, and a really well done ending, and it is incredibly sad, but I don't think the story does enough to transcend the gameplay in this case.
Lots of people absolutely love it though, so your mileage may vary.
-
ratsoalbion
- Admin
- Posts: 7928
- Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
- Location: Brighton, England
- Contact:
Re: Games completed 2017
*Shigihara
Re: Games completed 2017
Gah!
Thanks for that!
Thanks for that!
-
Indiana747
- Member
- Posts: 1014
- Joined: September 3rd, 2012, 5:17 pm
Re: Games completed 2017
(Jan) Quantum Break - XB1.
(Jan) Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - PS4.
(Jan) Adr1ft - PS4.
(Jan) Dear Esther - PS4.
(Jan) Virginia - PS4. (platinum).
(Jan) The London Heist - PSVR
(Feb) Flashback(2013) - PSN.
(Feb) Rain - PSN.
(Feb) Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light - PSN.
(Feb) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - PS3.
(Feb) Far Cry Primal - PS4.
(Feb) Bayonetta 2 - WiiU.
(Feb) Sniper Elite 3 - PS4.
(Mar) Life is Strange - PS4.
(Mar) Nier Automata - PS4.
(Mar) Halo 2:Anniversary - XB1.
(Mar) Guns, Gore & Canoli - PS4.
(Apr) Alien Breed Ep.3:Descent - Xbox 360.
(Apr) Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4.
(May) Battleborn - PS4.
(May) Diablo 3:RoS - PS4.
(May) Deadpool - PS4.
(May) The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - PS4.
(June) Killing Floor 2 - PS4.
(June) Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - PS4.
(Jan) Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag - PS4.
(Jan) Adr1ft - PS4.
(Jan) Dear Esther - PS4.
(Jan) Virginia - PS4. (platinum).
(Jan) The London Heist - PSVR
(Feb) Flashback(2013) - PSN.
(Feb) Rain - PSN.
(Feb) Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light - PSN.
(Feb) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - PS3.
(Feb) Far Cry Primal - PS4.
(Feb) Bayonetta 2 - WiiU.
(Feb) Sniper Elite 3 - PS4.
(Mar) Life is Strange - PS4.
(Mar) Nier Automata - PS4.
(Mar) Halo 2:Anniversary - XB1.
(Mar) Guns, Gore & Canoli - PS4.
(Apr) Alien Breed Ep.3:Descent - Xbox 360.
(Apr) Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4.
(May) Battleborn - PS4.
(May) Diablo 3:RoS - PS4.
(May) Deadpool - PS4.
(May) The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - PS4.
(June) Killing Floor 2 - PS4.
(June) Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - PS4.