Games Completed 2020

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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
03/01 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
08/01 - Need for Speed: Carbon
12/01 - Devil May Cry (Normal)
15/01 - Devil May Cry 2 (Normal/Dante)
26/01 - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
08/02 - Dishonored
18/02 - Deus Ex: The Fall
23/02 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Normal/Dante/Free Style)
26/02 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Normal/Vergil)

Didn't feel like stopping so I went right on to Vergil. He's fun to play as, but I don't like him as much as Dante in this game. His move set is simplistic compared to Dante, which is made much worse by Free Style mode being a thing. But even without that, Vergil's weapons don't really have many moves, even if they are still pretty fun to use. But there's the sense you can't really do a huge amount with them, and they don't even have pause combos. The only significant thing that Vergil has over Dante is that his Beowulf has a launcher that carries you up with it. And is it just me, or is Yamato kind of crap in this game? The move set seems a bit lacking even compared to Vergil's other weapons. So much so that I actually couldn't do a few of those statues that require you to reach a certain style rank wailing on them. I simply didn't have enough moves to vary them up enough. Not to mention how a few attacks just miss the thing. Yamato is so much better in 4SE, as is Vergil in general. But it's not all terrible. In some ways the simpler move set is good because it means you don't have so much to keep track of and get overwhelmed by in the middle of a fight. And while it varies between different enemies, it seems that in general Vergil deals slightly more damage than Dante.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Completely agree with the notion that Vergil plays a lot better in 4SE than 3SE. In the latter he feels like little more than an afterthought, unfortunately.

In fact, there are plenty of gameplay-related elements that I think are better in DMC4. The combat is a lot more precise and smooth in general with more fluid movement and a much better implementation of the style system, although I think DMC3 has better enemy design and weapon variety. DMC4's combat is really brought down by a lot of enemy types that are frustrating to fight and oddly difficult to read at times, including some of the bosses.

DMC5's combat system feels like the best of both worlds, really.

Although one of the few elements that I wished had been transferred over from DMC3 is the dope wall-running in Trickster. Wall-running mechanics in general are awesome, they instantly add some verticality options to the gameplay and they seem comparatively simple to implement (at least for me as an outside observer). That's one of the big reasons why NGB's core gameplay loop is still unmatched for me in many respects. Some of MGR's early trailers showcased something similar, I was very disappointed when it ended up being cut from the final product.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Alex79 »

Alex79uk wrote: JAN - Titanfall 2 (PS4)
JAN - Pinball FX3: Fish Tales (Switch)
FEB - Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
FEB - Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4)
FEB - Mafia 3 (PS4)

Just finished this, and what an absolute mixed bag it is! The game does so much right, but is let down majorly by such a repetitive mission structure. However, I really believe the game does enough to warrant a playthrough.

The setting is excellent and everything about the world builds such an atmosphere, from the cars and buildings to the music and the politics. There are aspects of this game which have amazing attention to detail. I honestly don't think I've ever played a game with better facial animation - every wrinkle, every frown, the faces move so naturally. The puddles on the road when it's wet also look really good. The art style in general is really nice, however the PS4 version I played is massively let down by awful pop in and muddy textures. Sometimes trees were appearing mere inches before me.

There are some incredible missions mixed in with the cookie-cutter majority. The set pieces are excellent, right up to the games final moments. In the penultimate mission, I don't want to give away any spoilers, but the song the pianist is playing whilst everyone is losing their shit is a really nice touch. I wonder if anyone else spotted that? Driving to the last mission is brilliant too, again no spoilers, but if you're planning playing the game, take note of what the radio stations do to get you pumped for the finale.

Overall I did really enjoy this. It was a bit of a slog in places, but once I decided I just wanted to finish the story rather than do any more side stuff it became a lot more enjoyable. And the story - it was good, well written and really well acted. I would recommend this with the caveat of making sure you stick with it and forget about side missions if you're finding it hard going.

7/10.
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Flabyo
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Flabyo »

Yup, pretty much I’m agreement with Mafia 3. The opening few hours are amazing, a lot of the grand set pieces missions are too. And that finale with its build up, great.

There’s just so much filler in the middle. I didn’t mind it, it turned into an evening wind down for me to mop up a few things before turning in, but it does become a very unfocused game for a while there.

Some will find the social commentary uncomfortable. And they should.
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Simonsloth »

Spoiler: show

January:
God of War
Resident Evil 2 remake: Leon A and Claire B
February:
Triforce Heroes
Donkey Konga Trilogy
26th Feb: Halo 4

Finished in just under 4 hours in co-op. I couldn’t really tell what what was going on except a lot of things got shot in the face and someone at 343 didn’t set flying controls to invert as default so I crashed into the floor a fair bit before I worked out where the setting to change it was hidden.
Overall a short fun experience ticked off the backlog. Onto Halo 5 soon.

27th Feb: Yakuza Zero

Loved it. My one rather large criticism would be the lack of an auto save. I spent 2 whole evenings on the cabaret in side story and fishing mistakenly keeping the PS4 in rest mode. My daughter got her hands on the controller the next day and managed to close my game and all was lost. I lost so much progress on the optional quests that I decided to just mainline the story and only do new side quests. A bit disappointed but I don’t think I can bring myself to do that all over again.
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Spoiler: show
Jan - Blasphemous
Jan - A Short Hike
Jan - Dear Esther
Jan - Luigi's Mansion 3
Jan - Sayonara Wild Hearts
Jan - Gorogoa
Feb - Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition
Feb - Samurai Showdown (2019)
Feb - SAR: Search and Rescue
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Jon Cheetham »

13th Jan - Dishonored 2
19th Jan - Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
23rd Jan - Sayonara Wild Hearts
4th Feb - Wolfenstein: The New Order
18th Feb - Titanfall 2

28th Feb - What Remains of Edith Finch

Played this today. I haven't delved into the walking sim too much but I plan to, and this was a neat entry point. Beautify rendered environment, good voice cast, and the story kept me plodding along reading diaries and getting in crawlspaces.
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chase210
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by chase210 »

God of War Chains of Olympus - not that great, unfortunately. Shrinking the god of war experience to PSP size didn't improve it, if anything, it made it incredibly dull. Remove the large spectacle, replace with endless waves of frustrating enemies, and brain dead puzzles.
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
03/01 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
08/01 - Need for Speed: Carbon
12/01 - Devil May Cry (Normal)
15/01 - Devil May Cry 2 (Normal/Dante)
26/01 - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
08/02 - Dishonored
18/02 - Deus Ex: The Fall
23/02 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Normal/Dante/Free Style)
26/02 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Normal/Vergil)
28/02 - Horizon Chase Turbo

Generally a really fun and characterful little game but with minor issues that do mar the experience a bit. It's a pretty impressive homage to the old 2D sprite scaling racing games, yet using 3D graphics. But somehow it captures the look and feel of them impressively. At first that was a bit jarring to me, not really ever having got on with those sorts of games, but I got used to it after a while. It does have a strange false sense of depth, but at the same time also a really thrilling sense of speed to it. Although funnily that meant I found this game played far better in handheld mode on the Switch, where I played pretty much all of it. It moves too fast, with corners coming up too quickly and sharply to really see properly on a big screen. It needs to be smaller just to be able to understand what you're looking it. Speaking of look, it's a quite pretty game, with great use of colour, and a clean low detail style which still has a lot of personality. It's got a pretty catchy soundtrack too.

But there was one thing that really got on my nerves playing, and that was how it deals with colliding with opponents. It can be pretty punishing with the way it bonks you off course and slows you down when it happens. But a lot of the time, you can't really avoid it, as you're driving through the pack on tight turns. Other times you'll get punished when they hit in to you too. And it has this tendency for opponents ahead of you to gradually block you as you approach them from behind, which makes judging how to pass them a vague gamble sometimes, and on some occasions just impossible if you're on one of the narrower tracks. Also driving on tracks set at night were not particularly fun, as you practically can't see where the track is on a lot of them.

28/02 - EQQO

I saw this pop up on the eShop a few days ago and it piqued my interest, and it was pretty cheap too so I gave it a shot. It's a short adventure game about guiding a blind child as they carry a giant magical egg on a journey to and through an ancient temple. It's a very simple game with basic mechanics and story, but it's enjoyable for what it is. One interesting twist is that you don't control the child directly, and instead you play as the narrator of the story giving him directions. I guess that means this counts as a "second person" game in a way. Aesthetically it's quite nice. Again, very simple, but it's got some atmospheric backdrops that are helped by the fixed camera angles meaning it can have more control over composition. But it does have this strangely aggressive depth of field effect that can really get in the way sometimes, blurring everything on screen. Also this is a game clearly designed for touch devices, so using a controller made for a pretty unwieldy time. But the thing is, it does still have touch controls, and I did try them, yet they're even worse. Also there are a couple of puzzles which are awkward because they require you to interact with some object, but will only let you do it from a specific camera angle, even if you can clearly see it in another. Occasionally there's some dodgy pathfinding too. But anyway, not a bad way to spend less than a fiver I suppose.
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stvnorman
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by stvnorman »

Always glad to get value out of PS+, and did this month with Bulletstorm and Bioshock. Same for Game Pass and Bloodstained (though my excessive use of Demon’s Tilt makes that a given).

Two more kidney surgeries meant my handhelds got plenty of love, with Castlevania: Circle of the Moon being a particular highlight, though finally finishing the original Mario Bros was pretty cool too.

And as I like to every now and again, reminded myself why Ghostbusters on C64 is my 28th favourite game ever. One practice game to remind myself how it goes (which I actually did on the Spectrum this time), then straight through as usual. Timeless!
Spoiler: show
3 January: Untitled Goose Game (Xbox One)
13 January: Punch-Out! (NES on Switch)
16 January: Spyro the Dragon (PS4)
19 January: Mega Man X (SNES Classic Mini)
26 January: The Ninja Saviors (Switch)
31 January: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island (SNES on Switch)
3 February: Bulletstorm (PS4)
5 February: Koral (Switch)
7 February: Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES on Switch)
9 February: Super Mario Bros. (NES on Switch)
10 February: Super Cycle (C64 Mini)
16 February: Bioshock (PS4)
18 February: Castlevania - Circle of the Moon (Game Boy Advance)
19 February: Bloodstained - Ritual of the Night (Xbox One)
25 February: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Game Boy Advance)
27 February: Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Boy)
29 February: Ghostbusters (C64 Mini)
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Alex79 »

Jon Cheetham wrote: February 28th, 2020, 12:22 am 28th Feb - What Remains of Edith Finch

Played this today. I haven't delved into the walking sim too much but I plan to, and this was a neat entry point. Beautify rendered environment, good voice cast, and the story kept me plodding along reading diaries and getting in crawlspaces.
Always happy to see people enjoying this for the first time, I thought it was amazing. Try Gone Home, my personal favorite 'walking sim', and an absolute masterclass in environmental storytelling. Just make sure you explore everywhere and read everything. So much going on in that game.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Alex79 »

chase210 wrote: February 28th, 2020, 10:01 am God of War Chains of Olympus - not that great, unfortunately. Shrinking the god of war experience to PSP size didn't improve it, if anything, it made it incredibly dull. Remove the large spectacle, replace with endless waves of frustrating enemies, and brain dead puzzles.
Hmm I did enjoy Chains Of Olympus personally, but Ghost Of Sparta was definitely the better of the two portable games. Were you playing it on an actual PSP or Vita or playing the remastered ones on PS3? I played it on PSP near to when it came out which may have made it feel more impressive for the time I guess.
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Jon Cheetham »

Alex79uk wrote: February 29th, 2020, 8:14 pm
Jon Cheetham wrote: February 28th, 2020, 12:22 am 28th Feb - What Remains of Edith Finch

Played this today. I haven't delved into the walking sim too much but I plan to, and this was a neat entry point. Beautify rendered environment, good voice cast, and the story kept me plodding along reading diaries and getting in crawlspaces.
Always happy to see people enjoying this for the first time, I thought it was amazing. Try Gone Home, my personal favorite 'walking sim', and an absolute masterclass in environmental storytelling. Just make sure you explore everywhere and read everything. So much going on in that game.
I'm halfway through it right now! Was playing it on a flight on my switch. Can't wait to finish it later :)
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by dezm0nd »

Finished super Mario bros the other day.

Still good fun via NES online for switch
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Jon Cheetham »

13th Jan - Dishonored 2
19th Jan - Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
23rd Jan - Sayonara Wild Hearts
4th Feb - Wolfenstein: The New Order
18th Feb - Titanfall 2
28th Feb - What Remains of Edith Finch

2nd Mar - Gone Home
So as mentioned and recommended by Alex79UK, got this in an eshop sale and played most of it on the plane yesterday. Finished it this morning and pretty much loved it. I'm a big fan of environmental storytelling and the way you learn about this family as you navigate the house is really great.

It's something I just can't quite get from other media - one of the reasons I love immersive sims is going through people's stuff, finding out who they are/ were, and just having a story delivered in that way. It makes you feel close to the characters in a more immediate way than exposition, at least for me. Also I tried the code 0451 on the first safe I found and was not disappointed!

I need a detective game with this granularity of environment and object examination.

2nd Mar - Florence

Was reminded that this was being covered by a Twitter post last night when I couldn't sleep so I just downloaded it and played it. Really nice, will contribute over at the appropriate thread.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Simonsloth »

Simonsloth wrote: February 27th, 2020, 8:16 pm
Spoiler: show

January:
God of War
Resident Evil 2 remake: Leon A and Claire B
February:
Triforce Heroes
Donkey Konga Trilogy
Halo 4
Yakuza Zero
1st March:
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Bury Me My Love

Going to try and get Axiom verge and Days Gone done in March.
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Sinclair Gregstrum
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Sinclair Gregstrum »

stvnorman wrote: February 29th, 2020, 6:55 pmTwo more kidney surgeries meant my handhelds got plenty of love
Hope whatever's going on with your kidneys isn't serious mate and that you're doing well! My son only has one kidney and have spent a lot of time in renal appointments. I understand all too well that kidneys can be finicky bastards, and if you even look at them funny they seem to take it personally and stop working so well...
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by ratsoalbion »

All the very best for a swift and full recovery, Steve!
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
03/01 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
08/01 - Need for Speed: Carbon
12/01 - Devil May Cry (Normal)
15/01 - Devil May Cry 2 (Normal/Dante)
26/01 - Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
08/02 - Dishonored
18/02 - Deus Ex: The Fall
23/02 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Normal/Dante/Free Style)
26/02 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Normal/Vergil)
28/02 - Horizon Chase Turbo
28/02 - EQQO
02/03 - Yakuza 3 Remastered

Interesting to go back to the first game I played in the series. It still stands up pretty well, and I had a good time. It does sit in a sort of weird place being kind of in between what the series was in previous entries and what it eventually became to be known as these days.

One thing that I was interested in comparing was the bosses. I remember way back when, one of the big criticisms I had at the time was the bosses felt kind of unfair, like it was too tough to get past their defenses and they punished your attempts to do so too harshly. I thought maybe being more experienced at the games now that might not be a problem. Turns out it actually was still, for the early bosses at least. Although I wouldn't say they're unfairly punishing now, but I do think they block far too much. Early on there isn't really much you can do to get around it, so it feels kind of obtuse. But once you unlock abilities to deal with it better, it's not a big issue. Which is another thing I noticed playing this time through. I made a point to try harder at unlocking more combat abilities this time around, and I was surprised to find there's actually a lot more in this game than I originally thought. Lots of moves that I thought were introduced in the later games are actually already here. So that was a nice surprise, although I think some are perhaps a bit too far out of the way. Good thing they improved that in sequels.

The story is still good, but it feels somewhat light compared to where the series ends up later. I suppose this is where the game most feels like it's in between eras. The main central plot feels like it's carrying on the same sort of thing 1 and 2 were doing, but then the subplots are starting to introduce the more decentralised story threads that have a more familial, ensemble feel to them. Most notably with the orphanage stuff. It's not paced as well as later games did it, but there's still some nice moments and character bits there which makes it feel like it justifies its place. It's also rather interesting how these elements set in Okinawa feel pretty similar to the sections of 6 set in Onomichi. Something that struck me playing that game too. The finale for this game though felt a bit understated now, just probably because of how much the series escalated over time.

Technologically it still holds up well too, with some very minor but somewhat strange hiccups. Kamurocho still impresses with its density and detail, and character models still look great, at least for major characters. This new version is so much sharper and cleaner than the original too, which is much appreciated. The frame rate is a flawless 60fps, except for curiously in some of the in-engine cutscenes. It sometimes cuts down to 30fps momentarily. No big deal since it only ever happens in non-interactive moments that generally don't have much fast movement either. It doesn't impact the experience at all, but it's noticeable. I guess it's a v-sync issue. Probably only using a rudimentary double buffer since the game isn't being stressed anywhere near enough for it to be an issue anywhere important.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Alex79 »

Looking forward to playing 3, 4 and 5 soon as they hit sale prices - do these new versions offer much over the PS3 originals? I know there is content restored that was in the original Japanese release cut from the worldwide one, but did you happen to notice how much? Is it limited to side stories? It's just 4 and 5 are available on PS Now for PS3, and I wondered if the new versions are worth paying for (which I absolutely will if necessary, love the series).
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