Games Completed 2020

[duskvstweak]

I backed Alwa's Legacy on Kickstarter after being frustrated but still charmed by Alwa's Awakening, which has a fun NES vibe and a smart, somber final dungeon and ending. But Legacy updates the graphics to more of a SNES/Mega Drive look and it loses a lot of the charm from a lack of fidelity. Also, it's both relatively short and a slog half the time. There's also weird glitches and I don't trust it's jump mechanics when they reverse gravity in some levels.

Anyway, I still think Awakening is worth an 8-bit look, but Legacy didn't do it for me.

[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
03/03 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Hard/Dante/Free Style)
10/03 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Very Hard/Dante/Free Style)
13/03 - Mirror's Edge Catalyst
19/03 - A Short Hike
01/04 - Doom Eternal
02/04 - Lucah: Born of a Dream (NG+, Bad Ending)
14/04 - Yakuza 4 Remastered
17/04 - Fable Anniversary
21/04 - Transistor
01/05 - The Last Guardian
11/05 - Mafia III
15/05 - Mini Ninjas
17/05 - Burnout Paradise Remastered (Elite License)
20/05 - The Gardens Between
25/05 - The Wonderful 101 Remastered (Normal)
27/05 - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
06/06 - Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
14/06 - OneShot
16/06 - OneShot (NG+)

22/06 - The World Begins With You

One of the games that caught my eye from the big itch.io bundle. It's just a very short 3D puzzle/platformer type thing that feels more like the result of a hobby project rather than a fully fledged game. In fact the store page for it says it was created as part of a game jam, so that makes sense. You control a character moving through some desert ruins, and an underground cave at one point. There's a short stealth section and a couple of mazes, and that's pretty much it. It was over very quickly, although it still managed to drag at the stealth part and one of the mazes. It has some nice visuals though, with its flat colour scheme, use of fixed camera angles creating appealing shots, and heavy use of volumetric light. Although I have to say, even as a fan of volumetrics, here they are used far too excessively. There are points where you can't see your character on screen because they are drowned out in the thick fog of hazy light. Although at one point that seems intentional, as the game ends with you walking off in to the distance in to the blinding white light. Either way, I like what it was going for, but they overdid it by quite a lot there.

[seansthomas]

13th Jan - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
24th Jan - The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone
28th Jan - Far Lone Sails
10th Feb - Super Mario World
21st Feb - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
7th Mar - The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
18th Apr - Batman - The Telltale Series
9th May - Animal Crossing
9th May - Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - Donkey Kong Adventure DLC
29th May - Luigi's Mansion 3
9th June - Journey To The Savage Planet

24th June - Golf Peaks

Can tell this is a mobile port as it feels like it was designed to work with a touchscreen but it's a great little puzzler to relax too. Found the music and calming nature of just trying to simply work out how to get the ball in the hole with the 4 or 5 shots available to me strangely therapeutic just before bed, and it often sent me to sleep! Which isn't a bad thing at all.

Beaten all 121 levels (though did have to look up one I just could NOT figure out). Often on sale for under £2 and well worth a look.

24th June - Streets of rage 4

Feel like I can add this to the list now I've beaten the game on Easy and Hard and unlocked most of the bonus characters. I'll carry on playing it but my feelings towards it are set now.

I bloody love it.

I think Streets of Rage 2 is one of the few retro games I dip back into regularly. In general, whilst I nostalgically love games from the 8, 16 and 32 bit era, I seldomly want to ever revisit them. They either require the patience of a saint or have been simply bettered nowadays. But SOR2 is an exception to that rule for me.

And 4 builds on so much that it nails (the music, the way the different characters play, the dance you do with the enemies to get a window to attack in) but adds loads of new twists.

The secrets and retro characters are a nice touch for fans. The feeling of connecting those blows is more crunchy and solid than ever. The enemy variation is greater. The bosses require different strategies. I love the art design and new music too. When that track kicks in as you busy out of the jail cell is superb.

It's the quality of life stuff I really like. Turning the base game into a Story mode but keeping Arcade Mode present for hardcore fans is great, but the risk reward scheme of the Specials and Strong attacks add whole new dimensions and combos. Even little touches like small hit windows to chain together throws (to avoid damage briefly) and being able to retrieve projectiles is a masterstroke and adds to the feeling of you being a one person army.

I've beaten a few levels on Hard now but watching videos on YouTube of people tackling Mania with 1 life is incredible.

All in all, a worthy sequel to an iconic series and the perfect way to both pay homage - and reboot - a dormant series.

Now Sega, do the same for Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Daytona, Sega Rally and Virtua Racing please!

[NoMoreSpearows]

Wow, how many hours did that take, NoMoreSpearows?

"Played for 310 hours or more" according to my Switch profile. Walks the line between an accomplishment and an embarrassment.

[Jobobonobo]

Spoiler: show

Jan 31-Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
April 13: Yakuza Kiwami
April 30: Locoroco 2

June 21: Batman: Arkham Knight

I was unfortunately too late to get on the show but I quite enjoyed myself with this one, all things considered. The combat is a bit more basic especially compared to the PS4 Spiderman game but the Predator sections are still tremendous fun. Unlike some of this game’s more vocal critics I quite enjoyed the batmobile sections for the most part with the exception of

Spoiler: show

escaping the Arkham Knight in that tunnel, that was quite rubbish.

The tank combat was something I got to grips with quite quickly and could be useful to navigate the narrower streets in Gotham, particularly when you are ambushing a larger enemy vehicle. But where I really enjoyed the Batmobile was its use in puzzle solving. Throughout the game, they managed to utilise it in creative ways and you and your vehicle progressing together through an enemy building gave it a particularly tricky Zelda dungeon vibe. So, overall the Batmobile mostly worked for me.

The story was quite fun as well and Scarecrow was a formidable threat throughout the entire game. The Arkham Knight reveal was a tad predictable if you are familiar with the comics but was told well enough. And due to its main villain, the atmosphere of the game is definitely more foreboding and tense than the other two games in the trilogy.

Spoiler: show

Manbat’s reveal when you first encounter him gave me a proper shock and I was worried I would encounter him in similar circumstances throughout the game. The city covered in fear toxin made for some of the most apocalyptic visuals associated with Batman. I also enjoyed that for most of the game you are affected by fear toxin which results in you seeing Joker everywhere in the environment, either as him literally standing by your side mocking you or seeing his face on various objects in the environment.

Speaking of which, despite him being dead this is the game where he pops up the most by far. I really enjoyed that by the end of the game, Batman finally defeats him for good (His victory at the end of City is a very hollow one) and that whole sequence where you are playing from Joker’s perspective made for a worthwhile finale. However, I stuck around and also finished off a few more side quests to unlock the Knightfall ending and honestly, I would say don’t bother. The main ending wraps things up more satisfactorily and is a fitting end to the Arkham series.

My main complaints with this game are not really about story or gameplay but mainly in how certain villains were represented. Two-Face had little to do in City and he has equally little to do here, resulting in a fun but all too brief side mission which was a shame as seeing the city fall into chaos might have bought out Dent’s more noble side and could have made for some interesting story telling. I was also disappointed that other than a few cute little cameos throughout the series, Scarface and the Ventriloquist never properly showed up and gave Batman some grief. They have just the right amount of absurdity, creepiness and tragedy to be one of my favourite Bat-villains and were annoyed that they get no attention while generic arse Mr. Zsassz played minor roles in the first two Arkham games.

However, there were portrayals of certain villains that I really enjoyed. Riddler was spot on in this game with his smug narcissism in full display. Most of his riddles were genuinely tricky at times and very satisfying to solve when you figure it out. Rocksteady always seemed to have a good grasp on what makes Eddie a fun antagonist and he has been utilised here just as well as in the previous games. Professor Pyg is a character I am not as familiar with but he is certainly one of the most unforgettable of Batman’s Rogues gallery. A real skin crawler.

So I have prattled on for quite some time but in summary, while not quite up to the same standards as the first two I still had a really good time with Arkham Knight and would say check it out if you are a fan of Batman and played and enjoyed the other Arkham games. Be interested to see what Rocksteady is doing next and what the next installment for the Dark knight will look like.

[Flabyo]

If you’ve not been following the potential leaks around the next games in the Batman series... and want to know...

Spoiler: show

The team that did Arkham Origins are likely making a game based around the Court of Owls storyline.

Rocksteady themselves are likely doing a Suicide Squad game.

[Jobobonobo]

I never tried out Arkham Origins, just dismissed it because it wasn't a Rocksteady Batman title. That might have been unfair of me, this new title does sound intriguing enough. Ironically, not too into the series that Rocksteady is focusing on next so will probably give it a mix. Thanks for the heads up!

[Angry_Kurt]

I wouldn't say it is as good as the Rocksteady games but it's still a really good Batman game, especially if you liked the Arkham combat. The only Arkham game I haven't played now is Orginis Blackgate on Vita, was thinking of picking it up. Can anyone speak to its quality?

[dezm0nd]

I finished DUSK yesterday. What starts off as a simple Quake-like FPS soon turns into some of the most inventive level design i've seen in a videogame for ages.

Literally made me audibly comment due to the surprises on show.

[Jon Cheetham]

Literally made me audibly comment due to the surprises on show.

Same here. Those later levels are terrific. I'm about three from the end I think.

[Alex79]

I wouldn't say it is as good as the Rocksteady games but it's still a really good Batman game, especially if you liked the Arkham combat. The only Arkham game I haven't played now is Orginis Blackgate on Vita, was thinking of picking it up. Can anyone speak to its quality?

Blackgate on Vita is OK. It's not amazing, but it's not bad if you like the character. It's got the combat and gadgets, some decent boss fights and one of the worst, tricky to use maps in the history of games! I've played it through twice, and actually enjoyed it more the second time around. I'd give it a 7 out of 10. It's easy to get lost trying to navigate the world, and there is a lot of backtracking (well, it's a MetroidVania I suppose) and some duller parts, but it's worth playing if you can get it for under a tenner.

Also - honestly, Origins is my favorite of the Arkham games. I think its got the best story, and has been really unfairly ignored by so many people for not being a Rocksteady game. I remember talk of the combat not being as responsive, and it's possibly that it'd been patched by the time I played it, but I never had any issue with it at all.

[Alex79]

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)
MAR - Mega Man X (Switch)
MAR - Assassin's Creed III Remastered (Switch)
MAR - Control (PS4)
MAR - Shadow Of The Tomb Raider (PS4)
APR - Yoku's Island Express (100%) (Switch)
APR - WWF Wrestlefest (Arcade on PS Vita)
APR - Holedown (Android)
MAY - South Park: The Stick Of Truth (Switch)
JUN - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

JUN - Golf Story (Switch)

I had a strange relationship with this game; there were points where I almost had to force myself to play it (because I didn't want to start another game till I'd finished it) but once I was playing it I really enjoyed it. There were times I just wanted to play golf and having to do some RPG stuff got in the way, but overall its a hugely fun game and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on its sequel when it comes out. Nice moment when the camera pans out of the word map at the end, too.

[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
03/03 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Hard/Dante/Free Style)
10/03 - Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition (Very Hard/Dante/Free Style)
13/03 - Mirror's Edge Catalyst
19/03 - A Short Hike
01/04 - Doom Eternal
02/04 - Lucah: Born of a Dream (NG+, Bad Ending)
14/04 - Yakuza 4 Remastered
17/04 - Fable Anniversary
21/04 - Transistor
01/05 - The Last Guardian
11/05 - Mafia III
15/05 - Mini Ninjas
17/05 - Burnout Paradise Remastered (Elite License)
20/05 - The Gardens Between
25/05 - The Wonderful 101 Remastered (Normal)
27/05 - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
06/06 - Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death
14/06 - OneShot
16/06 - OneShot (NG+)
22/06 - The World Begins With You

27/06 - Titanfall 2

I didn't end up with much strong feelings either way about this one. It's far from bad, and I even appreciated some parts of it, but none of really particularly impressed me either. While I have heard this game hyped up a whole bunch as being one of the best shooters in recent years, I never really bought in to it. So I don't think this is necessarily a case of something falling short of unreasonable expectations, because I never really expected to love this game to begin with. Although I think there is one case where that might have been a factor, which I'll get to later.

On a basic mechanical level, I'm sort of ambivalent/lukewarm on it. I tend to dislike shooters that have an emphasis on aim-down-sights mechanics as this game does, and I think it still suffers from some of those game issues. I don't like the forced dichotomy between having accuracy and having mobility. It makes movement while in a firefight feel stodgy and like you can't really avoid hits if you want the chance to get some in yourself. Also I find the change in how the aiming feels switching between hip fire and ADS always feels kind of off, like I'm never quite in full control. Although of course one of the big selling points of this game are the parkour mechanics, supposedly bringing back mobility. But I rarely felt like it naturally fit in to combat. It gives you more speed and momentum, sure, but it's only forward, and you don't have full control over it. You can't choose to just stop and turn around quickly. So with the forward focus, that often meant you're just running towards danger, which of course isn't helpful. And not having full control over it, I found it tricky to compensate aim against my direction of travel. I suspect that might be an issue of playing on a controller though, and a mouse would make that much less of a problem, letting you more quickly switch your view between different directions as needed. But comparing it to the modern Doom games, in those you have speed in any direction, that you have full control over at any time, and pushing forward is rewarded instead of punished. I find that to be a much better system that is more cohesive. I also didn't care for the enemy design in these more pilot-focused segments. Mostly just generic enemy soldiers that blend in to the background in their military gear, or robots who are practically the same thing. The alien dog things felt like they had way too much health and were too easy to lose track of, and the exploding mine robots that chase you are just annoying. Although I guess the point of them is to get you moving about more.

I liked the Titan mechanics more though. Although they are slow, it's appropriately so, as they sell the weight and power of these massive machines, and they can stand up to much more damage as well. The weapon loadouts are more interesting and varied than what the pilot gets access too, although none of them were especially imaginative. But they did the job at giving at least some variety. And it meant enemy design was much better than the human sized enemies too, going up against other Titans that share the same loudouts you can unlock. Sound design is of high quality as well. That goes for all parts of the game, but especially so in the Titans, with how much of a punchy power the weapons have. Although it did lack personality somewhat. This is actually a problem I have with sound design across pretty much every medium these days, emphasising short, punchy sound effects at the cost of anything that has a unique distinctive character to it. So while the weapons feel good to use, nothing stands out as having a recognisable personality. Like if you played all the effects for the guns in this game back to me, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you what any of them were. But when I think of like the sniper rifle from the old Halo games, or the sound of the blasters or ships from Star Wars, I can hear them perfectly clearly in my mind.

As for campaign and level design, again not much really stands out, apart from one level of course. But for the majority of it, I can't think of much to say. The usual big, flashy, linear shooter campaign where you go from shoot-out to shoot-out, and then the credits roll. Some set pieces along the way, nothing felt like it was badly designed particularly, except perhaps a bit of a lull in the middle. But then of course there's the time travel mission. The one that everyone hypes up and is supposed to be one of the best shooter levels in ages. So even if I wasn't especially excited by the idea of this game overall, I was at least expecting this level to show me something cool. And... it was okay. So I think this one was a victim of being overhyped. The idea of jumping back and forth in time in the middle of platforming and gunfights is neat, but it wasn't mind-blowing. It takes that idea and just... does that. Which is fun enough on its own, but it doesn't feel like it really runs with it and explores what could be possible, or what I got the impression it was going to be based on how much praise this level gets. So while I would say it's the most imaginative and memorable level of the game, it's not amazing. And it being a level which you almost exclusively play as a pilot didn't help.

I suppose I should mention the story too, but it's a total blur. It doesn't set up anything, so I have no idea what this conflict is, who the characters are, or why I should care about anything. It feels like it's relying on you already knowing all these characters and this world from the last game I suppose, but I remember hearing how that game was even worse for this sort of thing, with the "story" only being conveyed by radio chatter during online matches. Watching the credits and seeing the montage of all the characters and their voice actors, for about half of them I was thinking "who?" Though I have to admit that I liked BT. Despite being an example of that really well worn cliche of a monotone, matter-of-fact talking robot, his dialogue did get a smirk out of me every so often. They had some good comedic banter with him, and knew how to do this sort of character right without leaning in too hard with the singular tired punchline that these sorts of characters can suffer from.

So in general I'm kind of middling on this game. Don't love it, don't hate it. I can see some parts of it that are well made, and I appreciate at least some attempt to innovate in this genre, but it doesn't do enough for me, and still suffers from some of the issues that put me off its peers.

[Jon Cheetham]

Spoiler: show

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
2nd Mar - Florence
21st Mar - Hitman (2016)
21st Mar - Thief 2
22nd Mar - BioShock Remastered
25th Mar - Dishonored
3rd Apr - Resident Evil 2 Remake
4th Apr - Hitman 2
18th Apr - Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen
25th Apr - Monument Valley
1st May - Uncharted 4
6th May - The Last of Us
8th May - The Last of Us: Left Behind
9th May - Far Cry Primal
21st May - Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall & The Brigmore Witches
24th May - Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
31st May - The Banner Saga 1
8th June - The Banner Saga 2
17th June - God of War (2018)

27th June - The Last of Us Part II

Spoiler: show

Incredible. Working up to articulating my feelings on this. But it's my GOTY 2020 unless Bloodborne 2 surprise releases like a Beyonce album.

[FaceIKnow]

Jan - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Feb - Capcom Beat ’Em Up Bundle
March - What Remains of Edith Finch
March - The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
March - The Mark of Kri
April - Resident Evil 3 Remake
April - Super Metroid
April - Doom 64
May - Super Mario RPG

June - Power Stone
June - Power Stone 2

Took a little break from 'Days Gone' (still really enjoying it) and dipped back into these classics. Loved playing these games with friends during my teenage years, great trip down memory lane.

[Alex79]

Do you know where you're up to in Days Gone? I had to check just to see where I was in the end, seems like I'm about 75% through or so. It's easily been the best 'big' game I've played since RDR2.

[Flabyo]

Jan 10th - Spider-Man (PS4)
Jan 26th - Children of Morta (XBO)
Feb 10th - Indivisible (XBO)
April 6th - Monument Valley 2 (iOS)
April 18th - Yakuza 0 (XBO)
May 2nd - Streets of Rage 4 (XBO)
May 29th - Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath (PS4)
June 1st - Bastion (XBO)

June 28th - Observation (XBO)

I think this has been out on everything else for a while, but it’s turned up on xbox one via gamepass this week.

I do like a good ‘mystery in space’ story game. It’s hard to really talk about it much without spoiling it, but if you like your games heavy on environmental storytelling and narrative, then I’d say it’s worth a look.

[FaceIKnow]

Do you know where you're up to in Days Gone? I had to check just to see where I was in the end, seems like I'm about 75% through or so. It's easily been the best 'big' game I've played since RDR2.

Think I'm a little over half way through 'Iron Mike's Camp', got a lot of game to go!

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Jan - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (XOX)
Feb - The Last Of Us - Left Behind (PS4 Pro)
Feb - God Of War (PS4 Pro)
Mar - The Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening (Switch)
Apr - Panzer Dragoon (Switch)
Apr - Twin Breaker: A Sacred Symbols Adventure (Vita)
Apr - Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (XOX)
Apr - Moss (PSVR)

Jun - Shenmue 3 (PS4 Pro)

I'm really struggling to write anything coherent or useful about Shenmue 3. I’m getting so muddled up in my personal baggage with the series, that I’m honestly finding it hard to properly order my thoughts.

I am by turns delighted with it and a little disappointed by it. It does so much right, but some quite crucial things wrong, and I'm just not sure ultimately where I stand on the game at the moment.

Just to be clear - I love it. I can't help but love it. But then isn't it so often the things we love that hurt and disappoint us the most!

For now I think I'll just add it to my list and let it sink in for a while...

[DomsBeard]

Spoiler: show

A Normal Lost Phone

Another one from the itch bundle and was an interesting little puzzle narrative based around photo and number solving of clues. Annoyingly I had to look up a code as dates are entered in the (in my opinion) crackers American way of Month/Day!

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story

Played through this one too, I would say the story is better than above but the puzzles are way harder. Again a good narrative number puzzler. I had already bought this on Switch however you cannot play it with the pro controller so ended up playing it on Mac as part of the itch bundle.

Mortal Kombat Aftermath DLC Stadia

An absolute casserole of nonsense but very enjoyable. Think a 90's Saturday morning cartoon mixed with the violence of a 90's horror.

Slight slowdown in places on Stadia (which hasn't happened with the other two fighters Samurai Shodown or Power Rangers).

Well worth picking up if you enjoyed MK11. I would say £32.99 is a bit high for it as an add on if you have the original game, using the Stadia offer I paid £39.99 for the base game and all this which is a sizeable package.

Fujin and Sindel are great additions to the roster. The other two fighters added overall are a mixed bag, Robocop is far too stiff (which I mentioned before makes sense) and Sheeva is alright but not a stand out.

Looking forward to trying the towers with all the DLC characters I have not played as (Terminator, Spawn) and unlocking all the stuff in the Krypt. Plenty left to see and do.

Lot of talk about TLOU2's violence at the moment, this has some interesting shall we say scenes and fatalities as usual.

Finally a nod to Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung who is a moustache twirling delight throughout stealing most scenes he is in.

Bury Me My Love

Didn't really enjoy this to be honest, there were a couple of stand out sections which made me imagine how horrible the process must be but I felt like I spent the game with my wife ignoring my advice which I have plenty of in my real life . No checkpointing to go back means I'll never go back to it either.

Maybe I'm just cold hearted but I preferred the two lost phone games.