Games Completed 2020

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
SludgeWizard
Member
Posts: 115
Joined: February 25th, 2016, 1:33 am
Location: NYC

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by SludgeWizard »

Angry_Kurt wrote: June 9th, 2020, 9:33 am How did Doom Eternal compare to Doom 2016 for you SludgeWizard. I've only played 2016 but have Eternal ready to go, but it dropped down my priority list after reading some negative feedback on the game.
DOOM 2016 is my favorite shooter by anybody for any system, so I had unrealistic expectations for Eternal (I expected it to be better than the best, you know?).
I disliked DOOM Eternal almost immediately and it made me sad. The dark, moody space stations were replaced with bright, colorful environments. Instead of prying your shotgun out of a corpse's hands, it was a bright green spinning icon. The combat was still fast and brutal, but now eyeballs made a cartoonish "pop" when you pulled them out of a demon's skull.
I disliked DOOM Eternal so much I looked into how I could refunded (bought it digitally on PS4).

Then a month or so later I went back. Put my expectations aside and approached it like it was a brand new game, not a sequel to my favorite shooter. I ended up really liking it a lot. I played through it, almost all of it was great, and the combat is still an absolute joy. The boss encounters are 10x better than they are in DOOM 2016.
I never did click with the sillier, cartoon vibes it's giving out though.
User avatar
seansthomas
Member
Posts: 856
Joined: March 31st, 2015, 8:10 am

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by 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

Enjoyed this a fair bit, but was also glad it ended when it did. I adored the first 5-10 hours, doing everything the game threw at me and suspecting I may try to 100% it, but hit a wall nearer the end when more combat came into play and the platforming became a bit annoying, so ended up checking out with 70% or so done.

It's scratched a good itch that the void that is a new Metroid Prime game has left. Many of that series hallmarks are here; scanning, weird alien landscape, platforming, sci-fi themes.

The main difference between the games is probably that this game is occasionally genuinely funny and doesn't take itself seriously. As it didn't outstay it's welcome, the humour never got too tired - I did genuinely laugh out loud once or twice.

Plus the platforming is way more intricate, with good and bad results. Being more vertical is interesting and shows where Prime could go. But it also creates a lot of disorientation (not helped by there being no map) and a lot of annoying falls to your death.

I thought it was a pretty decent looking game on Switch too, though having looked at videos of the PS4 version I can see that some compromises were made on frame rate, atmospheric details, enemy animation far off into the draw distance and the depth of field is a bit flat, but it never bugged me whilst playing it.

The only thing I now hope is that Metroid Prime Trilogy DOESN'T now get rereleased for a while, as after 15 hours of platforming and hunting down power ups I probably need a break!

Definitely think a sequel which dialed down combat and embraced more of the exploration would be an instabuy for me.
User avatar
mikeleddy83
Member
Posts: 1432
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:32 pm
Location: Oxford
Contact:

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 Shodown (2019)
Feb - SAR: Search and Rescue
Mar - Dragon Age: Origins*
Mar - Double Dragon IV
Mar - FRAMED
Mar - Binary Domain*
Mar - 198X
Mar - Missed messages.
Mar - Final Fantasy Adventure
Apr - Kingdom Hearts Final Mix
Apr - The King of Fighters XIII
Apr - The King of Fighters XIV
Apr - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Apr - World of Horror
Apr - Streets of Rage 4
May - Death Stranding
May - The Dig
May - Secret of Mana (1993)
Jun - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019)
Jun - Battle Circuit
Jun - Doom (1993)*

*replayed
Jun - Doom II*
User avatar
Beck
Member
Posts: 653
Joined: September 4th, 2012, 3:50 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Beck »

Spoiler: show
March
Pokemon Shield
April
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Persona 5
May
Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
Ace Combat 7
Streets of Rage 4
Animal Crossing
Batman: The Telltale Series Season 2
June

Arkham Knight + DLC - I've been on a bit of a Batman binge since finishing Batman season 2 from Telltale. I've watched the Nolan films again, dug out some of my comics and now finished Arkham Knight again. This time I bought the DLC which adds a barrage of stuff but mostly skins and extra AR missions. The majority of the additional story content wasn't very good tbh but there are some parts worth doing. Any of the side missions with Batman are great but anything involving side characters just didn't deliver.

I'm undecided on my favourite in the Rocksteady trilogy. I really like Asylum for how contained it feels but there is something really endearing to zipping around Gotham with the gliding and driving mechanics. Arkham Knight flows between all the different types of gameplay sections far better than it's predecessors but there does feel to be a lot of bloat as well. I'm determined to get the platinum trophy but the riddler trophies are pushing my patience :twisted:
User avatar
Angry_Kurt
Member
Posts: 395
Joined: May 1st, 2020, 2:53 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Angry_Kurt »

Beck wrote: June 11th, 2020, 12:34 pm
Spoiler: show
March
Pokemon Shield
April
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Persona 5
May
Resident Evil 3 (Remake)
Ace Combat 7
Streets of Rage 4
Animal Crossing
Batman: The Telltale Series Season 2
June

Arkham Knight + DLC - I've been on a bit of a Batman binge since finishing Batman season 2 from Telltale. I've watched the Nolan films again, dug out some of my comics and now finished Arkham Knight again. This time I bought the DLC which adds a barrage of stuff but mostly skins and extra AR missions. The majority of the additional story content wasn't very good tbh but there are some parts worth doing. Any of the side missions with Batman are great but anything involving side characters just didn't deliver.

I'm undecided on my favourite in the Rocksteady trilogy. I really like Asylum for how contained it feels but there is something really endearing to zipping around Gotham with the gliding and driving mechanics. Arkham Knight flows between all the different types of gameplay sections far better than it's predecessors but there does feel to be a lot of bloat as well. I'm determined to get the platinum trophy but the riddler trophies are pushing my patience :twisted:
I ended up getting the platinum and found the ones for the combat stars to be the most challenging. There's a gold trophy for getting all the stars on the challenges in the main game, thankfully it counts any stars from the DLC challenges towards the total, so you can get 1 or 2 stars on a few of the main games challenges and make the difference up with stars from the DLC.
User avatar
Beck
Member
Posts: 653
Joined: September 4th, 2012, 3:50 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Beck »

Angry_Kurt wrote: June 11th, 2020, 2:47 pm I ended up getting the platinum and found the ones for the combat stars to be the most challenging. There's a gold trophy for getting all the stars on the challenges in the main game, thankfully it counts any stars from the DLC challenges towards the total, so you can get 1 or 2 stars on a few of the main games challenges and make the difference up with stars from the DLC.
I thankfully got that one. I chose the AR missions when trying to remember how to play haha. The one I struggled with the most was getting the 15 different moves in one combo. Platinum unlocked :)
User avatar
DomsBeard
Member
Posts: 3689
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:03 pm
Location: Doms Chin

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by DomsBeard »

A New Life

Played this through via the bundle for racial justice and equality on Mac.

I had already had it on my steam list to get around to at some point, it is on iOS and android too. It is a story about life and relationships (the fact that the couple in question are gay is not important). It reminded me a little of the One Night Stand game however this is a more mature game with an excellent art style and soundtrack. I'd say for less than a price of a cup of coffee it is an essential purchase if you have a spare 30 minutes.
User avatar
Michiel K
Moderator
Posts: 1295
Joined: October 13th, 2015, 9:37 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Michiel K »

13-6 Star Fox (SNES)

Today my NTSC copy of SNES Star Fox arrived in the mail and I tried it out switched to 60Hz on my modded PAL SNES. Worked like a charm and I proceeded to clear the A-route no death, immediately.

To be fair, the A-route is far from challenging, but I haven't played this game (or rather the 50Hz Starwing version) since '96 and was pleased with how much in tune I was with it, still.

The 60Hz experience helps too. And seeing something like this running on a SNES is impressive all over again.
User avatar
FaceIKnow
Member
Posts: 8
Joined: May 1st, 2020, 5:53 pm
Location: Mallusk, Northern Ireland
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by FaceIKnow »

Michiel K wrote: June 13th, 2020, 1:57 pm 13-6 Star Fox (SNES)

Today my NTSC copy of SNES Star Fox arrived in the mail and I tried it out switched to 60Hz on my modded PAL SNES. Worked like a charm and I proceeded to clear the A-route no death, immediately.

To be fair, the A-route is far from challenging, but I haven't played this game (or rather the 50Hz Starwing version) since '96 and was pleased with how much in tune I was with it, still.

The 60Hz experience helps too. And seeing something like this running on a SNES is impressive all over again.
One of my favourite games from the SNES. I frequently dive back into it and still have a good time.
User avatar
Michiel K
Moderator
Posts: 1295
Joined: October 13th, 2015, 9:37 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Michiel K »

^^^^Cool, really enjoyed it again, yeah.
User avatar
ReprobateGamer
Member
Posts: 290
Joined: February 11th, 2017, 12:35 pm
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Spoiler: show
Jan - Riverbond Crystal Caves DLC - Xbox One (100%)
May - Tacoma - Xbox One (100%)
13th June - Portal 2 - Xbox 360 (single player)

Yep - this is the first time I've completed this game. It holds up very well. It builds very well on what worked in the first game and provides some new challenges. The rail roading seems much more apparent but actually I didn't have much of an issue with it here - Valve were fleshing out the history and the characters.

It does mean there are less sections like in the first where it felt a little more free-form (though it wasn't) so what you don't get in Portal 2 are those sections where you need to make multiple shots whilst flying through the air - to be fair, those were the sections I had most issues with in the first game ...

It was only the final boss where things seemed a little finickety and I was a little disappointed that the final portal shot had been spoiled (though lets be fair, it has been a year or two since this game first came out ...)

Voice acting is top notch and I'm glad the soundtrack was allowed to be more forward than the more subtle tones of the first.

If you are like me and haven't tried this yet I do recommend it (though play the first one first!). Haven't yet tried any of the co-op levels so that's something still to try out as well which I am looking forward to.
User avatar
Scrustle
Member
Posts: 2426
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 6:02 pm

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
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

I liked this little game a whole lot. It was quite touching and atmospheric, and very innovative and unique, despite its humble presentation.

I already went over most of it here so I'll avoid repeating the basics. But right up until the end I found it really impressive at how it broke the barrier between the game and the player. It goes beyond even the things I mentioned before, more than just addressing the player directly and making you look at your computer files. I don't want to spoil what it ends up doing, because part of the fun it realising exactly what new trick the game is pulling and how it wants you to think outside the box, quite literally at times. Although thankfully, none of the puzzles are particularly hard.

These fourth-wall breaks actually result in the game world and its characters feeling more real and believable too, rather than it bringing attention to its artificiality. By giving you a direct dialogue with the character you control, and the game itself framing everything as being alternate realities, it pulls you in to the world by making it seem like you and Niko are just as real to each other.

Niko as a character is very endearing too. They have a wide-eyed childlike enthusiasm that is hard not to find adorable. It's a great contrast against the dark, sombre world. A youthful point of brightness and hope in a tired world that is slowly ebbing away. Something that is heavily symbolised in the game too, as Niko carries around a giant glowing lightbulb through the whole game, the McGuffin that is supposed to save the world by bringing back the sun.

So in all, this is a game that really impressed me. The mood and tone struck a chord with me, and I developed a strong fondness for the main character too. And the mechanics showed me something new that I've not seen in games before (although I've heard Undertale might do some similar things), re-framing the way it makes you think about how you interact with it, and what the relationship between the player, the characters and world of the game, and even the game itself as its own entity. Very highly recommended.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by dezm0nd »

Borderlands 3

Plays better than the previous two, actually feels like a competent FPS. Overall really enjoyed cooping it through with Suits and Sloth but I didnt foundvthe world(s) and therefore the characters didnt have an impact like with the previous numbered games. (Probably due to all the "Lego chat" and constant piss taking but hey ho)

Glad I played it though, its definitely worth a go
User avatar
Combine Hunter
Moderator
Posts: 892
Joined: August 27th, 2012, 4:40 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Combine Hunter »

Spoiler: show
03/01 - Disco Elysium (PC)
03/02 - DUSK (PC)
12/02 - Baba is You (PC)
13/02 - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PSP - via Castlevania: Dracula X)
21/03 - Dying Light (PC)
24/03 - Ori and The Will of the Wisps (PC)
04/04 - DOOM: Eternal (PC)
05/04 - Resident Evil 3 (PC)
10/04 - Tangle Tower (Switch)
13/05 - Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (PS Vita)
23/05 - Mega Man X2 (Switch)
14/06 - Shovel Knight: King of Cards (Switch)

Thoughts on the pod!
User avatar
hazeredmist
Member
Posts: 1709
Joined: June 25th, 2013, 12:45 pm
Location: The DMZ
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by hazeredmist »

Luigi's Mansion 3

Excellent game, inventive throughout, a decent and not too long campaign, great bosses (though some are a little frustrating) and graphics / animation to die for. Top tier, AAA Nintendo gaming for me. I'd like to put some time into the multiplayer some time, and I may go back and collect the missed gems if I get the itch.
Spoiler: show
I think the film set level was my favourite. What a wonderful set of puzzles before the Godzilla-style showdown
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by dezm0nd »

Project Warlock

An enjoyable take on a modern "doom clone" with Hexen vibes at first but ends up becoming its own thing. The game really needed to think about its balancing as I found the endgame of Easy to be a bit hectic and in some cases, unfair.

The elevators (from what I can tell) only have one button which means that when you press it and you back off in fear of an onslaught of enemies, you're left at the bottom of a raised elevator with no apparent way to get it back down.

The higher difficulties also introduce basically an Iron Man mode which results in a clean slate when you lose all your lives. There are lives almost everywhere in this game but hidden behind secret walls which are peppered throughout the levels ala doom but my problem isn't with the secrets as they're well sign posted but with the arbitrary wipe of progression should you accidentally bomb yourself or fall off a ledge into lava (the is very snappy)

By the end I found it to be just on the right side of chaotic and pays tribute to classic FPS games over the years but please, if your levels are going to be 20 minutes long by the end game please let me quick save mid-level, you know, like those games did back in the 90s.

Also the bosses were a bit pap.
User avatar
ColinAlonso
Member
Posts: 585
Joined: September 6th, 2016, 9:13 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by ColinAlonso »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Wonder Boy in Monster World (Sega Mega Drive Mini)
Jan 5 – FTL: Faster Than Light (PC) (Easy)
Jan 21 – God of War (PS4)
Feb 6 – Into The Breach (Switch) (Normal)
Feb 10 – Wargroove: Double Trouble (Switch)
Feb 15 - Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PS4)
Feb 16 - Ristar (Switch)
Apr 4 - Florence (Android)
Apr 8- Resident Evil 2 (2019) (PS4) (Leon - Standard)
Apr 13 - Spider-Man: Turf Wars DLC (PS4)
Apr 14 - Spider-Man: Silver Lining DLC (PS4)
May 12 - Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (PS4)
May 17- The Gardens Between (Switch)
May 28 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)
Jun 14 - Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4)
Deep down, this is a solid 7 or 8 out of 10 JRPG, but wow was I really in the right mood to play this, I absolutely raced through it.

The combat has improved from the first game. Its more in line with other action JRPGs. The characters have light and heavy melee attacks, ranged attacks, a block/dodge button and a number of spells/skills of which 4 can be set and accessed using a trigger and the face buttons. I really liked the interplay where successful melee attacks built up the magic meter, gave a nice ebb and flow to battles.

I played it on hard difficulty and this felt like it should be the default, there were some tricky battles but few game over screens.

The plot is pushes the game along but isn't interesting. Sidequests are a large part of the game, so its disappointing that they're all shallow. However, many of the sidequests result in people joining your kingdom.

Which leads to the castle building. There's nothing difficult here, recruit citizens from sidequests, get taxes from them, build preset buildings, get citizens to work in these buildings (research or resource gathering). But building something new and growing the kingdom does trigger a good feeling and the whole thing is enjoyable.

To summarise, Ni No Kuni II doesn't really do anything special, but it is quite competent at a lot of what it does. At other times I may have felt it drag but every time I played it, it just felt like a cozy, relaxing, familiar experience and that, apparently, is what I wanted.

A little aside rant: Level-5 threw a lot of bars to fill so to speak into the game and a bit of restraint would have helped especially with weapons/armour. I've listed some below, its not a spoiler but this post is long already.
Spoiler: show
Leveling your party
Leveling army skirmish units
Leveling citizens (Only 2 levels, but you have to manually select the level up when experience has been gained :x )
Leveling buildings
Leveling higgildies (battle helpers)
Creating higgildies
Crafting weapons/armour
Improving weapons/armour
Removing curses from weapons/armour
Unlocking hidden abilities from weapons/armour (most of the above rendered near useless by quite a high equipment drop rate)
Leveling magic spells
Researching (many things , including some of the above)
Jun 15 - WarioWare Gold (3DS)
Just a play through the story section. Definitely worth the €5 I paid for it.
User avatar
Michiel K
Moderator
Posts: 1295
Joined: October 13th, 2015, 9:37 pm

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by Michiel K »

14-6 Ninja Baseball Bat Man (ARC)

Credit fed through it with the kids:

User avatar
Scrustle
Member
Posts: 2426
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 6:02 pm

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
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+)

Turns out this game has more to explore, with a second shorter playthrough that starts from the same point but takes the story in a different direction. It's very Nier-esque. This second additional story gets even more meta than the first, digging deeper in to the sort of... metaphysics of games and their relationship with the player, creator, and characters. It has a darker and more tragic tone than the first run too, and in the end has a powerful emotional payoff. It's just brilliant. This is one of my new favourite indie games. Love it.
User avatar
duskvstweak
Member
Posts: 1123
Joined: August 23rd, 2017, 6:40 pm
Location: North Carolina
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2020

Post by duskvstweak »

I just finished Spider-Man 2 on the PS2. It's as fun as people have been saying it is for the best sixteen years. Most of the time. Sometimes, it's archaic and janky. But, I can forgive most of the faults for how much love seems to have gone into it. Not my favorite Spider-Man game, or even my favorite Spider-Man game on the PS2 (that goes to Ultimate Spider-Man). But, still, glad to have finally played it. Like the Punisher, I can't remember what stopped me from getting it? Maybe I was just feeling burnt out from movie games or something.
Post Reply