Games Completed 2018

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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by ratsoalbion »

Good call. Yeah I’m playing on the WU GamePad which feels a tad chunky but the d-pad does the job.
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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]

As some of you may know, I'm making it my goal to beat 100 games total in 2018. The sticky wicket is always downloadable content: When does it count as a full game? My outsized ego wouldn't let me get away with reaching 100 at the end of the year if a quarter of it is piddly little DLC cash-ins that take a couple hours to play through and add little of meaning to the base game. The answer, of course, is they always count--I have multiple games on the above list that only took me a couple hours to beat--but then what about the "Complete Editions?" What was a DLC campaign in last year's Resident Evil 7 base release is in this year's Gold release just part of the core game. How do I justify calling those previously-DLC campaigns a "whole game" and not also call the post-game time trials in Shadow of the Colossus a whole new game as well? I know many of you reading this paragraph are thinking me incredibly precious right now, and I don't disagree. I also don't really have an answer to this alleged "problem." All of this is merely a belabored way of working towards this point:

Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion is a deeper, more challenging, more interesting, and more robust single-player campaign than the core game's Hero Mode and not a mere level pack with an unlockable multiplayer skin.

Casting the player as one of the villainous Octolings, they awaken with amnesia in a deep sea subway system alongside Captain Cuttlefish after a battle with Agent 3 (the protagonist of Splatoon 1's Hero Mode) goes awry. Dubbed "Agent 8" by the Captain, the pair have no choice but to team up to escape the subway and return to the surface. This conceit is the weakest thing about Octo Expansion: Rather than humanizing (for lack of a better word) and providing depth to the Octolings, Agent 8 is twisted into a token "good" Octoling through her amnesia, from which she never recovers. For all that background material and unlockable items give the impression that the Octolings are an oppressed race forced to live in polluted squalor by the Inklings, don't expect to find resolution to this plot point in Octo Expansion.

Players are given a remote control and allowed to guide the subway along tracks, stopping periodically to investigate one of eighty levels. The network is quite sprawling, but not unmanageably so, and each stop provides a unique level challenge. Fight the Octo Shower with a permanent Inkjet ultimate or the Octo Samurai with the Baller ultimate? Octo Expansion gives you these opportunities. Win a 1v4 botmatch in the Rainmaker and Tower Control multiplayer modes? Oh yes. Other challenges task Agent 8 with dodging a barrage of enemy fire for thirty seconds, guiding a giant 8 ball to the end of an obstacle course, successfully sniping a group of enemies riding on a giant carousel--Octo Expansion offers more variety and challenge between any two levels than Hero Mode did in its entire collection.

One thing which concerns me is each challenge does require paying an entry fee every time you want to attempt it. Octo Expansion is very difficult, and while there's a generous system in place to skip a level if you're struggling with it, I still wouldn't be surprised if some players found themselves running out of money and having to return to previous levels to farm more so they may continue. I managed to come out the other end of Octo Expansion with a considerable stockpile of cash leftover, but I worry about the experience less hardy players than myself may have here.

Clearing the challenge at a stop opens up additional stops on the line, and completing every stop in a line unlocks a unique piece of equipment to be used in Splatoon 2's core multiplayer mode, ranging from Octoling combat armor to a replica of Captain Cuttlefish's clothes. The real goal of Octo Expansion's story is to find four items hidden in the network; once these four items are obtained, Agent 8 and Captain Cuttlefish can make their escape from the subway to the surface. This might seem like the end, but brace yourself: Once the final sequence is unlocked, it opens a final set of levels that offer challenges never-before-seen in a Splatoon single-player campaign and multiple boss fights that more than make up for the rather lackluster final boss in the core Hero Mode. But even once you've finished all eighty levels and escaped the subway, there's still more to be discovered in the depths if you choose to return. Escaping the subway with Agent 8 lets you play as an Octoling in Splatoon 2's core multiplayer modes, which is a nice prestige reward but in practice it's difficult to tell them apart from Inklings in the heat of battle.

Octo Expansion is a worthy addition to Splatoon 2 and puts the original Hero Mode to shame. The new denizens of the Splatoon world introduced on the subway are brilliantly and creepily designed and hint at a much larger world which we may explore more fully in future Splatoon installments. Or, if the depth and breadth of this "expansion" is any indication, we may well see this world explored more fully through more Splatoon 2 DLC in the future.
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mikeleddy83
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Spoiler: show
Jan - Mega man 3
Jan - Mega man 4
Jan - Mega man 5
Jan - Mega man 6
Jan - Mega man 7
Jan - Mega man 8
Jan - Mega man 9
Jan - Mega man 10
Jan - Horizon: Zero Dawn
Jan - Metal Slug XX
Jan - Dead Rising: Case Zero
Jan - Talespin
Jan - Darkwing Duck
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
Jan - DuckTales
Jan - DuckTales 2
Feb - Wild Guns Reloaded
Feb - Bound
Feb - Quantum Break
Feb - Monster Hunter: World
Feb - Forza Horizon 3: Blizzard Mountain
Feb - Steins;Gate 0 (platinum)
Mar - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (story and arcade)
Apr - Tekken 7
Apr - Ratchet & Clank (2016)
May - Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X
May - Hyper Dyne Side Arms
May - Street Fighter
May - Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
June - Street Fighter II′: Champion Edition
June - Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting
June - Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
June - Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack
June - Street Fighter Alpha 2
June - Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams
June - State of Decay 2
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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)

A fairly solid action platformer though suffers a bit from that old school design. The only way to get some of the buyable equipment is by grinding and it can take quite a bit of time unless you know of a couple really good spots. There are some invisible doors around that fall under Guide Dang It. Oddly the new graphical approach gives one of those doors away but completely hides a different entrance that is clearly visible in the retro graphics. Speaking of, it is pretty cool you can switch between the updated and old graphics whenever you feel like.

Jun 16 - Scrap Garden (PC)
Jun 17 - LostWinds (PC)

Getting up to date with finished games here real quick. Both of these are short platformers that are fairly simple and really have anything to talk about.
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James
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by James »

Chopper wrote: June 11th, 2018, 4:43 pm Dark Souls Remastered

Thank heavens for that. I was stuck on Gwyn for a while there at the end, now I can move onto something else.

Given that we are all sick to the back teeth of Dark Souls after the last seven years, I will say no more, except that it's still good. :)
Who's sick to the back what? ;)
Completing DSR has me wanting to jump into Scholar Of The First Sin, and see if I can't polish off a fourth achievement list for Dark Souls II. Just me? Okay then. :oops:
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Flabyo
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Flabyo »

Flabyo wrote: May 17th, 2018, 8:16 am 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)

Mechanically this isn’t that much further on than the first game, evolution not revolution. (The hacking puzzles gaining environmental aspects being a particularly sweet bit of game design)

It’s a better game than the first by far though, because it isn’t so far up itself. The original was so damn serious, and full of all the boring ‘my dead family!’ tropes along with a gravel voiced Jake Template lone wolf main character.

This game isn’t that. Characters are still stereotypes, but they’re fun ones with some colour to them. And you’re part of a ‘family’, people have your back and you have theirs. It doesn’t take itself quite so seriously (at first, the stakes do raise eventually). The tone is so different it sometimes doesn’t feel like a sequel at all.

Some of the satirical skewering of social media and Silicon Valley culture is a little ham fisted, in places it feels quite naive compared to where the world has actually gone since they made it, but that’s probably part of the charm.

I’d say the leap in quality from 1 to 2 is on a par with Assassins Creed 1 to 2.
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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 20th - Quantum Break (Xbox One)

Picked this game up for just a few quid last November for a personal alphabet themed challenge and after a short amount of game-play this has been sitting on my pile of shame, until TrueAchievements picked it as their playlist game for June and gave me enough of kick to complete it.

Short version for those who don't really care for the mini critiques in this thread - a good game, not great, probably worth playing but don't pay much for it

Long version:

As expected from the team at Remedy, this is a story driven 3rd person action game where the USP is an ability to control time and where they interweave a few episodes of live action in with the game itself. The acting is good, and there is a little bit of 'hey, that's the guy from Lost/Game of Thrones/voice of Zavala/X-Men'. The story isn't afraid to leave loose ends where they don't affect the main story - nothing feels like it's been hurriedly put in to address something and it's nice to have an in-universe reason why the main character can shrug off being shot and recover so quickly.

As a shooter it works but it's important to note that it's a cover shooter in the way that Vanquish is a cover shooter - it's just there to take a breath before headed back out. And as your character is an everyman who has suddenly gained special powers, rather than a badass normal in a power suit, you can't push what is possible too far.

The various skills work well and once you click into managing your time powers, it flows almost in the same way that a puzzle game does - you can't just spam one power as they take time to recharge so you have to consider what you next few moves will be so that you are either in cover when recharging, or that a power is back available to finish off what ever group of enemies are currently around you.

There are a few number of collectibles in the game - either 'chronon sources' to upgrade your powers or various intel/media/Quantum ripples strewn through the levels. The game has a great way of approaching this however - the timeline of the game is visible and shows what order it expects you to collect everything, and how many of each time of item there is in every chapter of the game. You can load into a chapter at any time and each chapter has internal checkpoints that are held even if you head to a different chapter.

EVERY game with collectibles should do this - you still have to physically find everything but you always have a good idea of whereabouts to seach. Absolutely no slow traversal looking for that final bit of intel here.

The Quantum ripples are a nod to the butterfly effect and once found will slightly alter the live action episodes - there are also larger choices to be made through the game at the end of each Act, which make changes to both the live episodes and also to the collectibles. These will still be found in the same place but in one version one item could be a PR report and in another it would instead be a riot response report(note for anyone who is going for collectibles achievements that the major choices will affect completion totals so get the achievements first before seeing what happens in other versions of the timeline).

This games gets a lot right but sadly it also gets somethings wrong - the loading time between cut-scenes, live action and gameplay segments is a noticeable wait and long enough to break immersion in the game, the final boss is a let-down, the internal rules are not always consistent (just how do radio waves work in a timeless environment) and there are loose ends in the live action segments that could/should have been addressed (what happened to all those B-characters?). Plus you have the issue that plagues 3rd person shooters not set in a war scenario where the main protagonist is mowing down all these nameless mooks and suffering no psychological trauma as a result.

I like the game but I don't love the game. Glad I played it but also glad that I didn't pay much for it. Intrigued enough by the difference the choices make to intel to at some point go through and collect the other versions but not so intrigued as to try a hard mode run (though that would give me the final achievement ..)
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Pitwar
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Pitwar »

7th Jan - Halo 4 (Xbox One)
13th Jan - Halo 5 (Xbox One)
4th Mar - Bayonetta 2 (Switch)
24th Apr - The Inpatient (PS4)
17th Jun - Gears of War 4 (Xbox One)

I hadn't played a Gears game since I finished 2 back in the day, and started playing 4 just after Christmas.

After several months of it being on the back burner I thought I should pull my finger out and finish it, especially with 5 being announced.

I had a good time with it, and it was exactly as I expected. Well worth a play if you have an Xbox, especially an X with a 4K TV as it looks lovely.
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Chopper
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Chopper »

James wrote: June 20th, 2018, 4:16 pm
Chopper wrote: June 11th, 2018, 4:43 pm Dark Souls Remastered

Thank heavens for that. I was stuck on Gwyn for a while there at the end, now I can move onto something else.

Given that we are all sick to the back teeth of Dark Souls after the last seven years, I will say no more, except that it's still good. :)
Who's sick to the back what? ;)
Completing DSR has me wanting to jump into Scholar Of The First Sin, and see if I can't polish off a fourth achievement list for Dark Souls II. Just me? Okay then. :oops:
You have to admit non-fans have had a rough go of it since 2011; I'm just being a good community member and being sensitive to their needs :D

I'm actually just back in Anor Londo on NG+. I'm suffering a little in this game due to lack of health but my brother is here on his first go round and I don't want to overlevel him in case he needs help with O&S.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I did it! Just grabbed the platinum trophy on Assault Android Cactus. That took some doing. :P

One of the biggest surprise for me this gen is that I just so happen to love twin-stick shooters. I wish somebody had told me this sooner! This one is an excellent beginner-friendly title with a slick presentation, cute characters, wonderful animations and simple, responsive controls. My only gripe with it is the rough difficulty spike during the high-level endgame. I wish the developers had spent a bit more time smoothing various things out and tried to reduce the game's tendency of screwing the player over during certain sections. Endurance tests are fine, but being forced to repeat lengthy, highly demanding levels through no fault of your own can be a bitter pill to swallow.

Overall, I prefer Nex Machina for its superb variety and polish, but AAC is a fantastic entry-level game that I would recommend to anyone curious about the genre and looking for something a bit more jazzy than Geometry Wars. Great game.
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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

A very enjoyable time, that ended up being more or less what I hoped/expected to be. There may have been some issues with overall polish, and some mechanics that weren't perfectly executed, but it had some really interesting ideas in terms of narrative presentation and gameplay systems that turned out really well. The aesthetic of it is pretty nice too. I like the dark gloomy atmosphere to it, and it has a very cool unique soundtrack as well.

The big draw here is the NPCs and your interactions with them. Every single one of them is at least reasonably fleshed out, and playing detective to uncover all the little details about their personality was really fun, and lead to a lot of unexpected little tidbits too. Most of them have several character traits going on that tie in to each other, and other characters they have a relationship with. It helps make everyone feel like they are real people with a life outside of what you see in the game.

The way it ties in to the mechanics is really well done and compelling too. As a vampire and a doctor, the character you play as is torn between wanting to help and heal people, but also always looking for your next meal to gain more power for yourself. The game has a system where you get a large boost of XP from killing these named NPCs, but in order to get the most possible, you need to learn hints about them through talking to them, observing them, or doing sidequests. So it forces you to interact with them and get emotionally involved to make the most out of them. Not only that, but feeding on NPCs affects the condition of the district they live in, making it more dangerous and harder to manage, until eventually other residents start going missing. It creates that same feeling in the player of being torn between empathy and hunger for power through the mechanics. It's a really great idea and it works well.

The combat though is merely so-so. At the beginning of the game it's pretty poor. It's clunky and kind of sloppy. It has pretensions of being a more thoughtful system that makes you manage stamina, but in practice it just slows things down too much, and the animation quality is nowhere near good enough to make that kind of high-risk combat system feel fair. But as you get towards the end of the game, after you've gained enough stamina, found decent weapons, and upgraded enough of your vampire powers, there is actually something to it. It can be fun to dash around like that, juggling all your different skills for whatever enemy you happen to come across. By the end of it I found a pretty nice play style where I had a fast sword that did good damage and was pretty good on stamina too. I also has a quick knife in the off-hand slow that directly drained blood from enemies (instead of having to stun them and bite them), and a powerful vampiric claw slash, ranged attack, and a teleport to close distance. Also a couple of shotguns to deal huge damage that were each specialised towards each type of enemy. So I reached a point where I could be using all of these skills fluidly in a single fight. I still wouldn't go so far as to say this is a particularly well executed system, but it is at the very least not the black mark on the game I was expecting it might be.

On the topic of combat though, I was thinking about what I've heard others say in regards to it. I haven't looked in-depth in to it, to avoid spoilers as I was playing, but I saw at least one piece mention how the combat was the weakest part of this game, and therefore shouldn't have even been a part of it. Even before I came around to the combat, I can't agree at all with that assessment. I think it's one of those things that people feel like they should want to say, as there is a push away from violence being the all-encompassing and dominant form of interaction in games. And because of this there are games out there that use it when they would be better off without. I agree with that in principle, but I don't think it works here at all. Violence definitely has a place in this game. The setting itself is inherently violent. It doesn't feel like it's been forced in any way. You are in a version of London that is torn apart by an epidemic, with vicious monsters roaming the streets, and various factions vying for power and trying to use the chaos as a way to leverage their goals. And of course as a vampire, it makes sense that there will be people out there who don't like you and want you dead. It also provides a very good incentive towards the really exceptional parts of the game. After all, if there's no reason to defend yourself against a hostile world, then why gain vampiric powers to do so? It's also a decent way to portray or justify a district falling in to disarray. Where are people going missing if they're not being turned in to beasts or killed by overzealous vampire hunters? It makes sense. But in a general sense, I think the idea that just because some aspect of a game is lacking in quality, and is also not the focus of the experience, that does not necessarily mean it should be axed. It could merely mean it needs improving, such as is the case with this game.

The main central plot is rather middling though. It has some good aspects. There's engaging, well fleshed out characters here too. There are some pretty interesting twists to uncover as you weave your way through the various different echelons of London's society, and there are some compelling choices to make that tie in to the overall district condition and NPC mechanics as well. Voice acting across the game is great too. Just the right level of melodramatic, with very well done British accents. The voice of the main character, Jonathan Reid, in particular is delicious. Deep and silky and full of drama. The only minor issues I could point to that betray it as not being written by a native British English speaker is the occasional incorrect word choice. A few "jerks" or "that smarts" that are a little jarring in an overall great script. On a similar note, the post boxes are about a foot too short as well. But back to the plot! Despite its good characters and various twists, it feels somewhat aimless and jumbled. It doesn't have a well paced arc, and feels a bit like a simple procession of events. I think the game has multiple endings, but I'm not sure. I got the sense that the finale played out in ways that could have been different depending on my actions. Not that it was unsatisfying, but I get the feeling things could have turned out better for the characters if I had played things differently. It was an appropriate bittersweet ending though.

I suppose I should mention some of the technical shortcomings too. As is pretty obvious just on first glace, the level of fidelity isn't the best. It looks like a previous generation game. It doesn't look bad, just behind the times somewhat. It's made up for with its art style, providing an appropriately dark and melancholic London shrouded in fog and night. But the textures are a bit muddy, there doesn't appear to by any fancy lighting or rendering effects, and the foliage looks a bit pants too. Playing on PC, I found it to be pretty buggy. While the performance is generally fine, I got a couple of crashes at one point. But usually it's much smaller things. Sound bugs were fairly common for me. Music not stopping when it's supposed to for example. And I think the music bugged out during the final boss, since I heard none. Also a few occurrences of sound effects of some fight going on far away playing as if it was right up close, or several missing SFXs during some fights. And a couple of animation glitches too. A few t-poses, enemies teleporting, or just standing stiff when killed instead of ragdoll-ing. So it does have a pretty prevalent jank throughout, but it's small enough that I was able to overlook it for the most part.

Overall it was a great time. Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for as a follow-up to Remember Me. It may not be the most polished or shiny game out there, but it had some really unique and interesting ideas going for it that made it a good experience that stands out. I think it surpasses Remember Me quite handily too. Even though I have a fondness for that game, I don't think I could ever call it "good". I liked it more for its potential than its reality. it had some neat ideas, but basically failed at all of them. The only thing I think it did right was the aesthetic. But I admired what it was trying to do. But Vampyr mostly succeeds at what it's trying, and nothing about it was downright awful. I really look forward to seeing what DONTNOD do in this sort of vein next, since Life is Strange never really appealed to me. Twin Mirror might fit the bill. We have no idea what that is right now, but the vibe I'm getting from it is that it's somewhere in between their more traditional games and their all-narrative choice-driven stuff.
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by ColinAlonso »

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Jan 7 - Bleed (PC)
Jan 19 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Feb 11 - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Feb 28 - Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (PC)
Mar 8- Final Fantasy III (PSVita - PSP version)
Mar 21 - Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch) Three stars on all 150cc cups.
Mar 24 - Golf Story (Switch)
Apr 2 - Nier: Automata (PS4)
Apr 23 - Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
May 3 - Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies - Turnabout Reclaimed DLC (3DS)
May 5 - Final Fantasy IV (PSVita - PSP version)
Jun 4 - Advance Wars: Dark Conflict (3DS - DS cart)
Jun 9 - Ratchet and Clank (PS4)
Jun 23 - Pocket Card Jockey (3DS)

Brilliant. I played this for hours at a time early on as I really got into it. I eventually wrapped up the 20 Grade 1 race wins needed to finish the game. There's actually a 21st Grade 1 (King's Gate) that acts like a final challenge but isn't required to finish the game, although I did once lose by a nose.

I'd find it too hard to explain how it works but, simply, the better you are at the card game, the better your horse runs. Also there is a risk/reward mechanic in that you can take on the game with more cards to get more benefits. There's a demo on the 3DS shop too.
Todinho

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Todinho »

Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition(PC)-

It feels good to cross this one off the list it has been a long time coming, I do finnaly understand why so many people still consider DMC 3 to be the bet character action game ever made, do I share these feelings? No, not in a world that has Bayonetta but DMC 3 is still pretty good.

The things that hold the game back for me boil down to the controls and the game`s own limitations, starting with the camera which is a big issue, the fixed angles are ok for portions of the game but the game`s enviroments tend to be a bit cramped and whenever fights get hectic you often find yourself not being able to see the enemies and then good luck dodging attacks. Speaking of which your evasive roll is god awfull and its your only defensive move other then say jumping so if you want good defensive options during combat you are gonna want to stick with trickster style for a decent dodge or Royalguard if you fancy parrying.

Regarding the style system, I like the idea of it but I dont really like it how it was implemented in here especially since I played DMC4 where they fixed my main issue which is you being unable to switch styles at the fly , here you end up being boxed into a single style because not only you have to level up each style to get the full use out of them but you also can only switch twice per level, as a result combat can feel really limiting because you know all the tools you have access to but you cant use them especially since each style is usefull for different situations: Trickster for dodging, Swordmaster for Combos and damage, Gunslinger for crowd control and Royalgard for parrying(hell I didnt even touch quicksilver or doppleganger so i dont even know what they do).
I ended up sticking mostly with trickster because being able to dodge at the touch of a button was incredibly usefull and necessary for me and it made me feel like garbage because everytime I threw an enemy in the air I couldnt do anything with them because I would need Swordmaster for that. Lastly some of the enemies are pretty bad both visually and in how you have to fight them, I mean whats up with the whole chess board motif? The worst ones though are angels near the end because once again you can only properly fight them with swordmaster and those disapearing jellyfish that are super annoying.

Now for what I liked I have to start with the difficulty for one, this may sound weird but I really enjoyed the challenge because usually in these games, or at least since Bayonetta, I never feel the game is really challenging in the sense that I never worry about dying what I do worry is about keeping my combo up and not getting hit at all, but in this game I was actually dying and having to redo sections and bosses until I learned how to read the enemies and how to react, that really dawned on me when I got to the boss rush in the end and I was acing bosses that I had previously died 5 or 6 times to. Also the style meter I loved it because getting a SSS rank much less mantaning one is really hard so whenever you do get it feels great, that was one of my biggest problems with DMC Devil amy cry because that game just awarded S ranks like candy, here you really feel like you earned it.

The bosses were also a big highlight for me with exception of 2(that centipede and the penultimate boss which was garbage, yeah I really didnt like having my style taken away from me there) they are all pretty great they were challenging and creative in all the right ways, I also liked how you usually got a weapon from them, I ended up loving Cerberus and Agni&Rudra. Vergil is the highlight of course and I liked how each fight with him progressed and the final fight is the best fight out the whole game as it should be.

Also for what it was I ended up liking the story, its fun and doesnt take itself too seriously, actually scratch that it actually does but Dante is the one who doesnt take anything seriously, everybody else is all doom and gloom while Dante is surfing on demons, he is a lovable idiot. Weirdly enough his story with Vergil ends up being really underdeveloped we never learn why Vergil wants power or how was his relation to Dante before this point, which is kinda of important if the crux of your story is the rivalry of the two. Lady on the other hand is by far the best female character of the entire Devil May Cry series reboot included, she really cool being a human fighting demons and having to rely on a endless supply of guns I also liked her no nonsense attitude and how she actually had a character arc and wasnt a romantic interest for Dante, I really liked how they had mutual respect for each other by the end without having a romance or even hint of one shoehorned in. I wise you could play as her.

All and all I really liked Devil may cry 3 in fact way more then I was expecting and despite the issues I had I would still highly recommed this for fans of action games, it might be rough to get on with it at first especially if you`re used to Bayonetta but I think it worth to stick through, and now Im really in the mood for DMC4 because Im hungering for that instant style switching :D
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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)

This has a basic roguelite setup but things fall apart on execution. It has a unique dialogue quirk to it with descriptions but all it did is make things annoying to read and sometimes not even sure what an item does. There aren't even many items in the game on top of only seeing a handful in a run. You are often just as strong as you started as when you end. The ultimate goal is to kill each of the four bosses in each quadrant of the map (the entire map is a cube) and then take out the last boss in the middle. The only consistent strength increase you get is extra HP from each boss but you always have pretty low HP since only a few hits kills you and HP drops are pretty rare. Not helped that there are times it feels like there is no way to get out of a situation unscathed. This one isn't good at all despite looking unique.

Jun 25 - Dreaming Sarah (PC)

Shocking for me to type something up the same day I beat it. That is because this game is a sidescrolling game where you randomly stumble upon where to go next with no logical reasoning. Some areas are confusing messes and the entire thing makes very little sense. It is no surprise that you are dreaming the entire time (it is the title, after all), but that just feels like an excuse for how incoherent the game is. There is another game I've played that has the same end but is far superior, though I can't really name it now since the game being a dream is a spoiler in that one.
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Chopper
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Chopper »

Telltale's Batman The Enemy Within

I didn't have high hopes for this after the first Telltale Batman but was pleasantly surprised. Plot and story were tightly written, with only a few bits and pieces feeling rushed in comparison to the first. Some great characters, and the move away from 'Gordon will remember that' to 'Your relationship with Gordon has changed' removed some of the usual annoyance there. I thought it was very well directed, though I'm no expert on these things.

Strangest of all was that I went to look up a couple of reviews of the final chapter when I was done, and it sounded like they were discussing a completely different game! So much so that I wondered whether the reviews were kidding me. Apparently the final episode plays out totally differently depending on your choices, for once. I was genuinely shocked and impressed.

No technical issues either, which was strange, as their move to a new engine is still in the future. Telltale really delivered here, a very enjoyable experience.
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mikeleddy83
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Spoiler: show
Jan - Mega man 3
Jan - Mega man 4
Jan - Mega man 5
Jan - Mega man 6
Jan - Mega man 7
Jan - Mega man 8
Jan - Mega man 9
Jan - Mega man 10
Jan - Horizon: Zero Dawn
Jan - Metal Slug XX
Jan - Dead Rising: Case Zero
Jan - Talespin
Jan - Darkwing Duck
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
Jan - DuckTales
Jan - DuckTales 2
Feb - Wild Guns Reloaded
Feb - Bound
Feb - Quantum Break
Feb - Monster Hunter: World
Feb - Forza Horizon 3: Blizzard Mountain
Feb - Steins;Gate 0 (platinum)
Mar - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (story and arcade)
Apr - Tekken 7
Apr - Ratchet & Clank (2016)
May - Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X
May - Hyper Dyne Side Arms
May - Street Fighter
May - Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
June - Street Fighter II′: Champion Edition
June - Street Fighter II' Turbo: Hyper Fighting
June - Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers
June - Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack
June - Street Fighter Alpha 2
June - Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams
June - State of Decay 2
June - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition
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James
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Location: Worcestershire, UK
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by James »

Chopper wrote: June 22nd, 2018, 4:11 pm You have to admit non-fans have had a rough go of it since 2011; I'm just being a good community member and being sensitive to their needs :D

I'm actually just back in Anor Londo on NG+. I'm suffering a little in this game due to lack of health but my brother is here on his first go round and I don't want to overlevel him in case he needs help with O&S.
I'll admit nothing of the sort. Anyone finding misery in others' enjoyment of a video game is making a rough go of it for themselves. ;)

Bless you for being considerate though. :)
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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]

Oftentimes when I sit down to play an indie game, I brace myself with a question: "Does this game want to be Earthbound, or Super Metroid?" Hollow Knight wants to be Super Metroid in the most Indie Game Cliche way, but it succeeds in the most triumphant way possible.

Hollow Knight has astonishing breadth and depth. Many times, when I thought I had reached the perimeter of the world, I found another area that just kept going and going. Many of Hollow Knight's darkest secrets are hidden in these dank peripheries, and I've only begun to scratch at their doors. I'm calling this game "beaten" even though I've only earned the bare-minimum "bad" ending, a feat that took me eighteen hours to accomplish. Obtaining the more satisfying, more resolute endings requires exploring the deepest recesses of Hallownest and piecing together cryptic clues, leading to a more permanent solution to what ails our heroes.

"Cryptic" is how Hollow Knight tells its story. I take control of a diminutive bug/knight creature--who may or may not be the titular Hollow Knight--and am dropped into the mountains outside Dirtmouth, a town sitting above an ancient, buried kingdom. My player character cannot speak, neatly sidestepping the videogame-y impulse towards interrogatory conversations and exposition, leaving me to piece together the situation in Hallownest through inference and discovery. It becomes apparent that most of the inhabitants of Hallownest have become infected with a plague that turns them into single-minded killing machines, but the full truth is more complicated than that and it will fall to the player character to discover the awful secret and put an end to it.

Combining the character-growth-through-exploration trappings of Metroid with challenging boss fights, light RPG customization, and brilliantly realized character design and animation, Hollow Knight is an incredible title--at only fifteen dollars US!--and will doubtless be one of the best Switch releases of the year.
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Michiel K
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Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Michiel K »

KSubzero1000 wrote: June 23rd, 2018, 1:18 am I did it! Just grabbed the platinum trophy on Assault Android Cactus. That took some doing. :P

One of the biggest surprise for me this gen is that I just so happen to love twin-stick shooters. I wish somebody had told me this sooner! This one is an excellent beginner-friendly title with a slick presentation, cute characters, wonderful animations and simple, responsive controls. My only gripe with it is the rough difficulty spike during the high-level endgame. I wish the developers had spent a bit more time smoothing various things out and tried to reduce the game's tendency of screwing the player over during certain sections. Endurance tests are fine, but being forced to repeat lengthy, highly demanding levels through no fault of your own can be a bitter pill to swallow.

Overall, I prefer Nex Machina for its superb variety and polish, but AAC is a fantastic entry-level game that I would recommend to anyone curious about the genre and looking for something a bit more jazzy than Geometry Wars. Great game.
Good to read. I grabbed it on the Steam summer sale as it had been sitting on my wish list for a long time already. I need at least one extra controller and then I can play it together with friends 'n fam.
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Flabyo
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Location: Guildford

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Flabyo »

AAC is a game with gold for July. Definitely get on that if you haven’t.
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