Games Completed 2019

[Stanshall]

It's a game that's meant to be replayed and mastered, in my opinion, rather than a one and done thing. Isn't that the nature of music/rhythm/driving/shmup hybrids?

[ratsoalbion]

Yeah, and I will go back and try for more golds, but I got silver almost all the way through and nothing about the feel or mechanics felt robust or compelling enough to make me want to immediately keep playing for score attack purposes, based on my one play through anyway.

[KSubzero1000]

Finished my God of War 3 Remastered playthrough on Chaos (Very Hard).

Really enjoyed my time with it overall. It's not the greatest game of all time, and it doesn't even trouble GoW2 for my favorite in the series, but it's still an excellent game. I prefer the pacing and narrative priorities of the second one and I think 3's endgame is a bit of a disappointment in comparison to its superb opening and mid-game. The changes to the combat between 2 and 3 are a bit of a mixed bag as well. Great enemy variety and added movement options however, and the tiny margin of error on this difficulty mode really made me appreciate the polish of some of the boss fights even more. Hades in particular is truly special in my opinion.

I've reinstalled the reboot. Curious to see whether I still feel as positive about it one (and a half) year later.


Dunno what it is about this series but it always puts me in the most charitable mood.

[seansthomas]

1st February - Dark Souls
8th February - The Gardens Between
9th February - Quarantine Circular
20th February - Night in the woods
26th March - Ape Out
16th June - Brothers
25th June - My Friend Pedro
7th July - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
23rd July - Streets of Rage 2
27th August - DOOM (1993)
2nd October - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
6th October - Astral Chain

9th October - Untitled Goose Game

Quite a charming little game. At times some genuine laughs and clever conundrums. At others, an exercise in frustration a la the Broken Sword goat puzzle where you know what to do but can't nail the timing. Nice controls and art style too, but wore a bit thin after a couple of hours.

Anyhow, fun idea and nice to play something a bit different.

[Conor NVM]

I too very recently finished the Goose Game. In one sitting too, but I actually felt that was a nice way to experience it.

Without spoiling the ending, the way it wraps up is sublime. It's just short enough that when the ending references the journey your goose has gone on, it feels complete and timely.

I can just imagine the dev team's conversation when they first thought of the ending. It's must have been an easy decision, because it's so poetic.
I'd really be interested in reading/watching a 'making of' for this game.

[Alex79uk]

JAN - Super Mario Land (Nintendo Gameboy)
JAN - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Megadrive on PS4)
FEB - Professor Layton & The Curious Village (Android)
FEB - Donkey Kong '94 (Nintendo Gameboy)
FEB - Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
FEB - Chuchel (Android)
FEB - Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4)
MAR - Spider-Man (PS4)
MAR - Florence (Android)
MAR - Where On Google Earth Is Carmen Sandiego (Browser)
MAR - Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (PS4)
MAR - Final Fantasy X (PS Vita)
MAY - Söldner-X 2 (PS Vita)
MAY - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
MAY - The Punisher (Arcade on PS Vita)
JUN - Super Mario Bros. (NES on Switch)
JUN - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (PS4)
JUL - Windjammers (Arcade Mode) (PS Vita)
JUL - Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
JUL - Super Mario Odyssey: Credits Roll (Switch)
AUG - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES on Switch) SEP - Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4)
SEP - Yakuza Kiwami 2: The Majima Saga (PS4)
SEP - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (PS4)
SEP - Batman: The Telltale Series (PS4)
SEP - The Room (Android)

OCT - The Room 2 (Android)

Absolutely impeccable. Even better than the first. Outstanding series, really. Already bought and downloaded the next game, can't wait!

[duskvstweak]

Spoiler: show

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Chrono Trigger
Wolfenstein: The New Order
DOOM (2016)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Super Mario 64
Metro: Last Light
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Shovel Knight
The Last of Us
Valkyria Chronicles
Mad Max
Suikoden
Hollow Knight
Dead Cells
The Messenger
Resident Evil 0

Finished Resident Evil 0. It's not really a hard game, especially considering how angry Code Veronica made me. But, the amount of backtracking I had to do on a fairly small map made it take quite some time. There were some nights I think my progress was a quarter of my actual playtime. But, I took KSub's advice, rolling saved often, played in 4:3 and kept the important items close by at all times so it never became too frustrating. And, I saved all my grenades and magnum bullets for the last section of the game that Tyrant's and final bosses were not a problem (I got the "Winged Spawn of Satan" achievement on Steam! Top 4%, baby!)

It's a pretty game for how old it is, still plays relativity smoothly and had some fairly inoffensive encounters, but it left little in the was of an impression on me. While I could easily replay REmake or the PS1 version of Resi 2, I doubt I'll ever come back to 0, unless I get real crazy and need a replay of the whole series.

Also! Considering this is the last of the "classic" RE games and that I have played 4 in the past, I feel like I achieved something of a personal goal. Growing up in both middle school and high school, I was always fascinated by the Resident Evil games and what seemed to be a mixture of convoluted lore and scary monsters. Since I never played the games, I could only watch from the outside as people talked about the series and it's characters. Having played as many as I have now means I've broken through all of that and I can finally be part of the conversation...albeit a few decades late!

[Michiel K]

14-10 - The Evil Within (X360)

I made it at 3:15 in the morning, recording day of the podcast. Turned out I didn't have many time slots available to play it, as it's not something you put on while the kiddies are still up and about.

[Caligulas Horse]

They've probably turned it into a fucking 3rd person shooter by now, have they?

They tried with one of the sequels but it wasn't well received by long-time fans at all. The 2016 reboot and its sequel on the other hand thankfully take a complete 'back to the roots' approach and are as slow, methodical, strategic, and True-Hitman-y as it gets. Fantastic games, the complete opposite of dumbed down action shooters.

I think a lot of people (and I'm certainly not implicating you with this comment) really didn't give the game a fair chance, because the Hitman they loved is truly there. It's just linked together by some more outright action sections that played like an Uncharted/Gears cover shooter.

It's cool that you liked it but that's a bit like saying "the pizza you love is truly there it just has pineapple on top" lol. I think people did give it a fair chance, it just wasn't the game we had hoped for. IIRC The levels were more linear, the locations weren't as varied or interesting and I remember there being too many missions where you didn't have a target. Definitely not a bad game, it just didn't hit that spot that the previous Hitman games did.

[seansthomas]

1st February - Dark Souls
8th February - The Gardens Between
9th February - Quarantine Circular
20th February - Night in the woods
26th March - Ape Out
16th June - Brothers
25th June - My Friend Pedro
7th July - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
23rd July - Streets of Rage 2
27th August - DOOM (1993)
2nd October - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
6th October - Astral Chain
9th October - Untitled Goose Game

16th October - What Remains of Edith Finch

I'll be honest, I went into this purely on personal recommendation and only knew it was a walking simulator affair. What I did NOT know was how short it was.

Now I have no issue with short normally. Inside, Ape Out, The Gardens Between, Gris... All wonderful, all brief. But this felt like it ended just as I was warming up to it!

Genuinely presumed I was playing the scene setting intro before the game proper until the credits appeared; I sat there stunned and confused.

What is there is interesting. The way the narrative is interwoven is great. The flashback memory sequences are mostly fascinating. Uncomfortable at times, sporadically humourous, often dark. And it looks gorgeous. It is dripping with atmosphere and style.

But I can't get past the length, which is so unlike me. It felt like it was only just beginning.

So I have no idea how to sum up this one.

Is it good? Yes.
Did it leave me wanting more? Yes.
Is it original? Yes.

All good things. So why has it left me feeling hollow and slightly ripped off?

[KSubzero1000]

After months and months of steady incremental progress, I've finally solved the last Infinifactory puzzle in a grueling multi-hour (fasting) session a few days ago.

I thought for sure this one was ever so slightly above my skill level last time I took a break from the game, so it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders when I saw the production line finally work as intended for the first time.

Rather proud of myself and very happy with my purchase overall. This game is an absolute treasure in all the right ways.

[mikeleddy83]

Spoiler: show

Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
Resident Evil 2
God of War
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Prey
Persona 5
Tetris Effect
Journey
Red Dead Redemption 2
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Mega Man 11
Metal Gear: Survive
Undertale
Street Fighter Alpha 3
Dante's Inferno
Super Castlevania IV
Castlevania
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Metal Slug X
Inside
Phantasy Star
Doki Doki Literature Club
Captain Commando
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Final Fight
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Knights of the Round
The King of Dragons
Warriors of Fate
Armored Warriors

Devil May Cry 5

Not counted it but managed to get my first S rank on resident evil 2. Totally different game for me when played quickly and still brilliant!

[Chopper]

All good things. So why has it left me feeling hollow and slightly ripped off?

Spoiler: show

I dunno, was the game really that short? You didn't feel this way with Untitled Goose Game? Just generally, I guess if we went into more things blind, we'd probably have more visceral reactions, if that makes sense. Weird one.

After months and months of steady incremental progress, I've finally solved the last Infinifactory puzzle in a grueling multi-hour (fasting) session a few days ago.

Congrats! I might have taken too long a break from it myself, I think I'll struggle to get back into it now. I suspect I'm only about halfway through (I'm just past the level where you have to chop up the giant tree). Great game though, excellent stuff.

[KSubzero1000]

I might have taken too long a break from it myself, I think I'll struggle to get back into it now.

No, you won't! It's like riding a bike, I promise. 3 minutes in, you're like: "This is absolutely incomprehensible, how did I ever manage to get this far??" One hour in, you're like: "shtick shtack boom zzzip brrr kling wutwut, easy peasy, new optimization record!"

[Flabyo]

I generally go into ‘walking simulators” expecting to get through them in one go. I think the only one that’s stretched that was Everbodys gone to the rapture, which it was quite far into the following morning by the time I wrapped it up.

So some of it is expectation.

Also, with Edith Finch it seems to be a case of whether the themes explored in it resonate with you or not. I suspect parents, or people past the prime of their life, might find it cuts deeper than others.

That’s part of the point with games like this though, they’re not attempting to appeal to everyone, and the designers expect that many players won’t be into it.

So it’s fine to not like it. Or Firewatch, or Tacoma, etc...

[seansthomas]

I guess it fell between two stools for me.

I never felt like my actions impacted on the story like they did in Firewatch. And at times I felt it would have made a better short film as when it did ask me to control something (the bath toy, the tentacled beast) it didn't respond well and shattered the immersion.

I did like the narrative and as a parent, a few scenes hit home hard. But I'm totally unclear what the point of the tales are or what takeout I'm supposed to have? Maybe I'm being thick but I simply missed a point.

By the 3rd hour, I guess I was done with that Goose and was happy to wrap it up. Whereas here, they created such a rich, dense atmospheric world that felt, to me, like it had nothing to do in it and that left me feeling like the story had only just gotten going, as it ended.

[MajorGamer]

Spoiler: show

Jan 2 - War for the Overworld (PC)
Jan 13 - Pyre (PC)
Jan 16 - Heroes of Hammerwatch (PC)
Jan 17 - Mega Man 11 (Switch)
Jan 20 - ReThink | Evolved (PC)
Jan 20 - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)
Jan 22 - Ruzar - The Life Stone (PC)
Jan 27 - After Death (PC)
Feb 6 - Vikings - Wolves of Midgard (PC)
Feb 21 - Loyalty and Blood: Viktor Origins (PC)

Feb 27 - Book of Demons (PC)
Mar 4 - Vaporum (PC)
Mar 5 - Frost (Switch)
Mar 9 - DarkMaus (PC)
Mar 10 - Octopath Traveler (Switch)
Mar 31 - Final Fantasy X (PC)
Apr 5 - Treasure Adventure World (PC)
Apr 15 - Greedy Guns (PC)
Apr 23 - ChromaGun (PC)
Apr 27 - The Quest (PC)

May 1 - Skautfold: Usurper (PC)
May 7 - Alwa's Awakening (PC)
May 9 - OneShot (PC)
May 13 - Darkest Dungeon: Ancestral Edition (Switch)
May 27 - Warhammer: Vermintide 2 (PC)
May 29 - Styx: Shards of Darkness (PC)
Jun 5 - The Fall of the Dungeon Guardians (PC)
Jun 5 - Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom (Switch)
Jun 11 - Yoku's Island Express (Switch)
Jun 17 - LISA (PC)

Jun 18 - Heroes of the Monkey Tavern (PC)
Jun 24 - Halcyon 6 (PC)
Jun 29 - Fox n Forests (PC)
Jul 4 - Battle Princess Madelyn (Switch)
Jul 14 - Dustforce (PC)
Jul 26 - Ambition of the Slimes (Switch)
July 29 - Final Fantasy X-2 (PC)
July 31 - Epistory - Typing Chronicles (PC)
Aug 2 - Moonlighter (Switch)
Aug 6 - Seasons After Fall (PC)

Aug 10 - Bayonetta 2 (Switch)
Aug 12 - ReThink | Evolved 2 (PC)
Aug 21 - Shadows: Awakening (PC)
Aug 24 - Singularity (PC)
Aug 26 - Typoman (PC)
Sep 4 - Mercenaries Saga: Will of the White Lions (Switch)
Sep 4 - The Surge (PC)
Sep 6 - Rise & Shine (PC)
Sep 14 - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
Sep 15 - -KLAUS- (PC)

Sep 22 - MagiCat (Switch)

Oct 3 - Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (PC)

After Witcher 3, there was been many iterations on their Gwent game. This game is all Gwent with a story wrapped around it. The story bits are really good and the choices and consequences can make for some thinkers. You can lose some of the named heroes you run into along the way (and thus, their card) based on what you do and they can easily swing rounds in your favor. It all makes for good setup to the card game itself.

Gwent has been improved quite a bit. Things are down to two rows instead of three and spies have been reworked to no longer be easy wins. It is still the basic scenario of winning 2 of 3 rounds to win the match though this game puts changes on that. There are quite a few matches that only last 1 round so you can go all out to win there. There's also puzzle matches that are exactly as they sound like. The board is set up in some fashion and you need to complete the objective to win. Some are pretty easy while there are a few that can be difficult. Ultimately, the changes are fine and good but its hard to test the extent of things because you are largely stuck with only one of the factions for your cards for the game. Depending on choices you can get a few cards from the others but nothing to base a deck on. Also be warned that the climatic battle absolutely brutal difficulty spike, not helped that only one strategy really works when everywhere else there are a few things you can do to set up your deck.

It all makes for a fun romp through the world. On one hand I wish you could experiment with the other factions' cards but on the other I'm sure that would drastically change how the story works.

Oct 9 - Serious Sam 2 (PC)

Still waiting for one of these to be one I like and considering there's only one left, things aren't looking good. Excess really is the name of this series. It still regularly puts you into an arena and then dumps enemies on you. I regularly thought "when are they going to stop coming?" when things aren't even halfway through a section. I had to take breaks because my finger was physically hurting from all the shooting all the time. As an example, the final level has 1204 enemies. Most original Doom levels are seen as excessive before 150, sometimes even 100. There's also jokes during the opening/ending cutscenes for every level but I use the word joke lightly since I found them dumb.

[ReprobateGamer]

Spoiler: show

Jan - Lego Marvel Avengers (100%)
Jan - Titanfall 2
Feb - Oxenfree (100%)
March - Gorogoa (100%)
April - Resident Evil 2 Remake - Leon A + Claire 2nd Run + Runaway
April - Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 - story
April - holedown
June - Abzú
July - Gears Of War 4 (story)
July - The Gardens Below - 100%
July - Old Mans Journey (100%)
September - Batman: Arkham Knight
September - Gears of War 5 (story)

October 17th - What Remains of Edith Finch (Xbox One) (100%)

I'll be honest - the only reason I finished this last night was seeing seanthomas post earlier about how short it was. For some reason I thought it would be longer than the 3 hours or so I put into it. I had started the game as part of an achievement dive a few months ago but felt this was a game that I needed to spend a little time with - not so much apparently.

It's a very well crafted tale but it is short. I similarly was just getting invested into characters when it came to a close. However, I think on balance it was better to end it at that point. There are elements of mystery woven into the story so closing this chapter when they did I think helps to keep that mystery and investment. I'd love to have known more but I think I'd rather have been left wanting more than have the experience drawn out too far.

For anyone yet to try this, definitely do it in one seating. There are narrative clues right from the beginning which I had missed from having a few months between doing the opening and coming back to it now. That time I spent included taking a bit of time to look around and soak in the atmosphere of the environment so easily manageable in a session

I will raise my hand here and say that I did have the list of achievements to hand for this. I'm not certain this is a game I would want to come back into on a deliberate achievement hunt - I was much happier wrapping their collection into the story. I think it would have taken something out of it to redo the sections with the rabbits (both of them, and I think one of those isn't in the PS version?) for instance rather than have them included as just another action the character took, as happened with my playthrough. I do appreciate why one of the sections has to be replayed for it's particular 'ping'.

But the achievements are not the focus of this game. It's a little beat in the history of a family that have a very interesting tale to tell. Annapurna nailed the aesthetic, though some of the graphics are a little ropey (don't spend any time looking at the incidental books in the library if you looked at the ones in the kitchen!).

Oxenfree may remain my favourite walking simulator (and yes I appreciate I'm stretching that definition a little...) but this is certainly one to experience

[Chopper]

Also, with Edith Finch it seems to be a case of whether the themes explored in it resonate with you or not. I suspect parents, or people past the prime of their life, might find it cuts deeper than others.

Very interesting point, though I might mildly disagree, I'm not sure. The scene I see most often mentioned as resonating with people is the one with the fish factory worker, and that hits a lot of notes in the area of low-income work, drugs and associated themes. I feel that you'd struggle now to find somebody under 50 that hasn't been impacted in a big way by a drugs-related death, maybe I'm wrong.

That's just a single example of course, so I dunno how valid a criticism it is. I like your point overall. Firewatch hooked me from the very start with that simple text about the parent with Alzheimer's, as I'm starting to think about that stuff as I get older (in regard to relatives).

I sympathise with Sean S's point about a lack of interactivity and actions not having any impact in Edith Finch. For me it was like reading a book of short stories, each of which was packed with inventiveness.

[Chopper]

I will raise my hand here and say that I did have the list of achievements to hand for this.

You monster!