Games Completed 2021

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Combine Hunter
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Combine Hunter »

Spoiler: show
06/01 - Monster Hunter: Iceborne (PS4/PS5)
22/01 - Black Mesa (PC)
24/01 - HITMAN 3 (PC)
15/02 - The Pathless (PC)
06/03 - Homeworld: Remastered (PC)
07/03 - Demon's Souls [Remake] (PS5)
07/03 - Little Nightmares (PC)
05/04 - It Takes Two (PC)
11/05 - Resident Evil Village (PS5)
23/05 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS3)
17/06 - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
13/07 - Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)

After bouncing off of this a few times, it finally clicked. I don't think the game puts its best foot forward story wise, because the stuff with the different tribes was pretty dull and passionless, whereas the back story of the world is an imaginative twist on a familiar trope and they sell the drama of that extremely well.

The machine fights were a lot of fun once I understood the combat system, but I felt the combat with humans felt pedestrian by comparison.

There is a lot room to improve I think.

I will definitely check out Forbidden West when it comes out.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by ColinAlonso »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Slay the Spire (Switch)
Jan 10 - Streets of Rage 4 (PS4) (Cherry - Normal)
Jan 24 - Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch) (True Ending)
Feb 28 - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Switch)
Mar 28 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Vita)
Jun 13 - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4)
Jul 11 - What The Golf? (Switch)
Humourous and constantly inventive for the nearly 6 hours I took to finish it. Completed about 93% of the holes.

All just in time for the announcement of a sizeable expansion.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Spoiler: show
1. GRIS
2. My Friend Pedro
3. Doom Eternal
4. Donut County
5. What Remains of Edith Finch
6. Luigi's Mansion 3
7. Locomotive
8. Bowsers Fury
9. Mafia Definitive Edition
10. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
11. Halo: Combat Evolved (Anniversary Edition)
12. It Takes Two
13. Mario Golf Super Rush
Finished the adventure mode of this game and played a bit of the other standard golf modes and enjoyed it quite a lot. I do wish that the adventure mode didn't have the whole race aspect to it in between holes, I would've preferred just normal golf as I didn't really feel the racing between holes added much, I was expecting some kind of Mario Kart style aspect to it with weapons and such like to slow down your competitors. The boss battles were a cool addition but were largely similar. Despite these complaints though I found the core golfing mechanics to be really fun which made it a game it was a pleasure to just chill with in the evening whilst watching TV.
Having said all that I rented the game, if I had purchased it I would've been annoyed at the lack of content as really it was always my intention to just play the adventure mode and then return the game. Once more content is added via DLC though I would fully recommend the game to anyone. 7.5/10
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
05/01 - Brutal Legend
07/01 - Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
13/01 - Sludge Life
17/01 - AER: Memories of Old
19/01 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (Human - Nero/Dante)
05/03 - CrossCode: A New Home
14/03 - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
17/03 - Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (100cc)
02/04 - Drakengard (Endings A-D)
14/04 - Drakengard 2 (Ending A)
28/04 - Drakengard 3 (Endings A-D)
02/05 - Rain
10/05 - God of War: Chains of Olympus HD
15/05 - God of War: Ghost of Sparta HD
24/05 - NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139... (Endings A-E)
08/06 - Final Fantasy XV (NG+)
02/07 - God of War II HD
15/07 - Scarlet Nexus (Yuito)

So predictably just after I decide to stop waiting to finish this before talking about it, I end up finishing it the next day anyway. It's weird, I was basing that off the playtime numbers on howlongtobeat.com, which put it at about 30 hours for the "main + extra" category, which is usually what I'm closest to, and 50 hours for the completionist run. Or at least that's where it was when I looked at it before. 30 hours passed and it seemed like I was still far from finished, so I figured I'd be closer to the completionist time, but in the end it took me about 41 hours. That said, there does some to be some post-game content which I haven't done yet that I guess could push me up to 50.

As for the game, as I've said I really like it. It's a lot of fun to play. Stylish, snappy, with a great aesthetic and some interesting mechanics with how it combines telekinesis and other psychic powers in to the hack-and-slash framework. It's got a nice flow to it that stands out, although I wouldn't say it's super deep or anything. That said, there was enough to it that I never got close to being bored in the whole time I was playing it. So that probably puts it above plenty of other similar action RPGs. It also has some really satisfying finishing moves too, where you break an enemy's guard and can destroy their weak point with a short QTE. It has some Metal Gear Rising vibes about it that I appreciated. The balance of the bosses is a little odd though, closer to the start of the game at least. They are way harder than the usual enemies, and it's very easy to get completely stomped by them early on. That problem eventually went away as the game went on though.

I'm kind of in two minds about the story still. I don't dislike it at all, and I rather enjoyed my time with it, but by the end of it I'm left somewhat confused as all the threads it was juggling somewhat predictably failed to get tied together well. All the twists and intrigue are exciting, and the way things escalate is a lot of fun, but by the end of it I felt a little lost as to what the central plot thread was even supposed to be, and how the conclusion related to a lot of the stuff that came before. Saying much more gets in to spoilers so...
Spoiler: show
At first it starts off being sort of a sci-fi political thriller, as you uncover the nefarious plans of the government that you fight for. Planning to monitor every citizen's brain and force them in to military service. Then one of the major characters rebels against this regime and defects to another country in order to start a revolution and take over by force. This splits the main cast in two as a bunch of them follow this guy. Later it's revealed that this other government is also doing terrible things, harvesting people's brains and turning them in to monsters to use as weapons. The guy who leads this defection ends up being the main antagonist by the end, but for totally unrelated reasons.

Shortly after it's revealed how both sides are up to no good, the group of people you follow in this side of the story get branded as traitors so then flee to a third faction. A reclusive religious cult that live in the mountains. Once you reach them, things start getting a bit confusing as even more wild stuff is uncovered. It turns out this religious cult are descendants of a group of humans that live on the moon, and that every human that lives on Earth now are colonists from this moon society from 2000 years ago. And the moon people are trying to use time travel to erase this colonisation of Earth so that they can return to an unoccupied planet because the moon is overpopulated, or... something like that. It gets very hard to keep track of and I'm sure some of that is inaccurate. There's also a gravitational wormhole that can be used as a time travel portal, which is also growing over time and threatens to swallow the entire planet.

So because of this both sides of the main cast team up to try to unite both the feuding states to co-operate to stop these problems. But by the final chapter you're trying to chase down the guy who was the leader of the defectors to get his help in closing the wormhole, but he won't co-operate because he's trying to use time travel to bring his dead friend back to life, which he has repeatedly failed at before. All mention of the political conflict is gone. Once you beat some sense in to him, he agrees to help and seemingly realises that he needs to let go of the past and help build a better future instead. So while he helps close the wormhole, he also manages to bring his friend back after all in the process, by erasing himself from history somehow.

The moon society is never addressed. Their plan failed, but you never see them or confront them. In the epilogue the other main character talks about how they plan to do something about that in the future, but for as important as it is to this story, it feels like a pretty big omission here.
I mean, I wasn't expecting everything to be tied up neatly. At a certain point it was clear that wasn't going to happen, but it feels like it got way too carried away with itself and there was just too much to fully resolve. And I can give a story a lot of slack for not covering absolutely everything, as long as there's a satisfying emotional through-line where the main arc ends in a place that feels appropriate. But here I was just sort of confused as to how it ended up where it did, not understanding how everything fit together or how half the events in the latter third of the game lead from one to the next.

But at the same time, I can't really say it wasn't entertaining. The twists and turns as you hear about the next wild revelation was fun, and there are some great set pieces along the way. Especially when things did start to get a bit absurd in the last third, those moments when it's revealed just how far this story goes, it is a high point of the plot. Even if that is kind of the beginning of everything unravelling.

The game puts a lot of emphasis on your party members, and the relationships between them too. Again I'm sort of unsure how I feel about it, but relatively positive. The game has two protagonists and each has a different party to interact with. In Yuito's side at least, the characters aren't particularly well written. Everyone is extremely formal and polite, and has a habit of laboriously over-explaining their feelings rather than just expressing them in a natural way. But none of them are bad characters. Pretty tropey, but they are pleasant to interact with. Some of the side stories you get with them aren't bad, and I grew to like the cast despite how they were written. I suspect that playing as Kasane might have been a better experience though. It seems like that side of the cast are more interesting, and display their personalities in a more relaxed and believable way. Given how different it seems each protagonist's perspective is, I was planning on playing through this game again immediately to see that side of things. I still want to do that at some point, but I'm less eager to do it right now than I was before. As you get to the later parts of the game it makes it seem like most of the differences in the actual events you get to see are focused around the first half of the game, as things converge as they go on. Also now as I've realised how long this game actually is, that makes me less keen to start fresh right away. I still want to, just not right now.

Overall though, very fun experience. I didn't really expect to focus just on the story that much, but that was the stuff I had the most thoughts on that I hadn't talked about already. The thing that excites me most about the game is the slick presentation and fun combat. The way it mixes cool, neon soaked futuristic urban style with traditional Japanese touches, the impressive environment, and the imaginatively grotesque enemies. The fast-paced and frenetic combat where you're mixing attacks from your floating sword with throwing scenery objects at your foes, as well as juggling all the party members' skill in with things to extend your combos in really fun ways. And for as many flaws as it has from a narrative perfective, I do look back fondly on getting to know these characters, and the rollercoaster of intrigue and conspiracies that keeps finding new ways to surprise you. So it was a good time. It kind of came out of nowhere for me too. This is not a developer that I have much experience with, and on first impression I felt like this one could end up going either way. It was a fun thing to get to know.
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OneCreditBen
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by OneCreditBen »

Finally, FINALLY, completed all 5 Romsets of Haunted Castle No Death.

It's been quite the adventure but, as soon as I was able to get the infamous M ROM done, I knew I should be able to do it. I can see why certain ROMs got decirculated however, as even though they're more balanced than M, there's bits that really don't make any sense.

Last night I did the Japanese "N" Rom and on the second loop, I beat the third boss and when I started the fourth level it had downgraded me to the whip (Sword is top level, then morning star) so everything took forever to kill and I died, as you might imagine.

I'd say if you're looking to play a ROM to learn the game, I think the European ROM E, or the Japanese Rom P, are the two most balanced. If you want to get M down, just watch that video I put up here, as I go through a few bits which will likely save your skin, and sanity, a few times.

Cracking game all in all, I'll come back to it, and I like the idea of beating it 5 times in One Video on all the different Roms, all no death.
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seansthomas
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by seansthomas »

January 15th - Spiderman (PS4)
January 17th - Labo VR goggles and camera (Switch)
March 19th - Labo VR blaster (Switch)
March 19th - Bowser's Fury (Switch)
April 12th - Bloodborne + Old Hunters DLC (PS4)
April 18th - Star Wars: Battlefront 2 campaign (PS4)
April 19th - Journey (PS4)
May 24th - Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20th anniversary edition
June 23rd - Vanquish (PS4)

July 15th - Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4)

Always been keen to play this as a big fan of MGS3, a fairly big fan of 1 and someone who enjoyed parts of 2.

My issue with MGS is that, for all it's great looks and style, it's a mess to actually play and can't make up it's mind what it is; I don't mind the story being zany, that adds to the charm, but I do mind the gameplay being so schizophrenic. One minute it's super serious and realistic, the next utterly ridiculous. Sometimes you have to take ages to drug and hide a soldier, yet sometimes you can sneak around in a box and no one notices. The control to stand up AND hide is the same button. And the camera means the stealth in it isn't really very good.

On the whole, I very much enjoyed this super level demo. I loved figuring out ways to break in, scoping out paths through the site, working out places to do safe extraction, using the weather to my advantage and the overall look of it all. I even tried to tackle certain areas in differing ways. MGS is a massively stylish series.

I still find as a series that it's stuck between stealth and action though. When I have to get a gun out or go nuclear on enemies, it doesn't feel as great as The Last of Us or Tomb Raider. And when I have to sneak around and get a lie of the land, it doesn't quite nail it in the way that Deus Ex: Human Revolution or Splinter Cell does.

I felt halfway through the demo that I was 100% up for 40+ hours of MGSV straight away. But by the end, I'd been found twice despite seemingly doing nothing wrong and found myself wondering if I am just not supposed to ever play stealth games.

I start out every game of this ilk saying 'I won't get found once' and by the end I'm willing them to end.

So I'll park the full MGSV experience for now I think. But Ground Zeroes has enough to suggest that I'll like it more than I did some of the earlier MGS games, gameplay wise.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Alex79 »

FWIW, Metal Gear Solid V is easily the strongest in the series with regard to stealth and stuff. The tools, moves, and sheer variety of options make it highly enjoyable and easily playable. And when things go to shit, the shooting is pretty competent too.
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seansthomas
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by seansthomas »

Alex79uk wrote: July 17th, 2021, 2:35 pm FWIW, Metal Gear Solid V is easily the strongest in the series with regard to stealth and stuff. The tools, moves, and sheer variety of options make it highly enjoyable and easily playable. And when things go to shit, the shooting is pretty competent too.
That's good to know. I do intend to play it at some point. People seem so split on it that it's always fascinated me. Always preferred delving into a game that's loved or hated than playing a perfectly passable 8/10 title tbh!
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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Magical_Isopod »

#10 - Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

Been way too long since I actually finished a game... Combination of work being super busy, and having a hard time finding a game I enjoy enough to see through.

Really enjoyed this one though! I played Aria of Sorrow a few years ago on WiiU, and I like this one more. Dawn of Sorrow really showcases the best of the DS in a sense... It takes the horsepower of the console to deliver a really sharp-looking 2D pixel art style, with some unobtrusive 3D elements added in there too. It has touch controls, but only in a select few moments where they're smartly used.

I spent 10 hours on this one to get the true end, and 98ish% completion. But honestly, it flew by. It was nice to have a game I could just be excited to play.

What is this game? A pretty standard Metroidvania, more or less, but it and Aria have a great mechanic where enemies can drop "souls" that allow you to use some of their abilities. It gives all kinds of cool options for customizing your play style - although some souls are useless, while others are OP. Bloodstained has a similar mechanic, but that game just doesn't look or sound as good as real Castlevania games.

But yeah, overall, strongly recommend this one. I'd say it's better than Aria, but the story is a direct continuation so like... Just play both. You won't regret it.

&iso2021
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by ColinAlonso »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Slay the Spire (Switch)
Jan 10 - Streets of Rage 4 (PS4) (Cherry - Normal)
Jan 24 - Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch) (True Ending)
Feb 28 - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Switch)
Mar 28 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Vita)
Jun 13 - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4)
Jul 11 - What The Golf? (Switch)
Jul 17 - Everything (PS4)

At least, I think that's the end, it said 'Welcome to Everything' but I think that's more an invitation to continue playing along. It's narrative arc was done and I got a gold trophy.

Should make for an interesting podcast anyway. Fun to mess around with. Not sure how I feel about the philosophical angle (I'm pretty bad with that stuff).
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
05/01 - Brutal Legend
07/01 - Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
13/01 - Sludge Life
17/01 - AER: Memories of Old
19/01 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (Human - Nero/Dante)
05/03 - CrossCode: A New Home
14/03 - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
17/03 - Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (100cc)
02/04 - Drakengard (Endings A-D)
14/04 - Drakengard 2 (Ending A)
28/04 - Drakengard 3 (Endings A-D)
02/05 - Rain
10/05 - God of War: Chains of Olympus HD
15/05 - God of War: Ghost of Sparta HD
24/05 - NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139... (Endings A-E)
08/06 - Final Fantasy XV (NG+)
02/07 - God of War II HD
15/07 - Scarlet Nexus (Yuito)
20/07 - TRON: Evolution

I've always been somewhat curious about this game, as I rather like the film it's a tie-on for for its aesthetic and musical qualities. And I've always felt like this universe has a lot of potential for very cool games as well. This attempt however was a pretty bad miss. I went in being pretty aware of what this game is like though. I saw the negative response it got on release, and had some experience with it myself when it was given out as part of Games with Gold some years ago now, when I bounced off it quickly. But since I'm between games at the moment, and this was very short, I figured now would be as good a time as any to get it done.

The biggest problem is one that is ever present. It controls terribly. The game plays out as a very linear experience where you're doing Price of Persia/Uncharted style platforming and melee combat, interspersed with a few vehicle set pieces where you control either the Light Cycle or a Light Tank. All of them feel pretty awful to play. On foot, your character is really twitchy and is very hard to get going in the direction you actually want. You have a bunch of parkour moves to leap over obstacles, run along walls, etc., and it's really inconsistent whether it will do them as intended. Sometimes you'll be getting caught up on these things if you just accidentally brush too close to them, other times they just won't work at all unless you're absolutely perfectly lined up. The camera also makes this far worse, with the way it lurches around wildly, with its strange logic of sometimes being tied strictly to the direction you're going, and other times failing to keep up at all. And if you combine both these things together, it becomes really difficult to get a grip on making the game do the most simple things, and it leads to countless cheap deaths as a result.

The melee combat has similar problems. It seems like what it's trying to do is make the parkour and movement in general important to these mechanics, but it doesn't work. There's all the same problems of not being able to interact with objects you're supposed to climb and the camera, but it has incredibly lacking sound design too. Hits are very quiet and weak, with some hits not seeming to have any sound to them whatsoever. It's also impossible to properly target any enemy while you're trying to keep mobile, as it seems throwing your disc just sends it wherever it wants, and unless there's only one enemy on screen, you have no way of making it go towards the one you want. There is a manual lock-on mode, but that slows down your movement to a crawl, negating the whole concept of the parkour. You have a mix of long range disc throw attacks, and close range melee attacks, but the close range stuff is useless. It never seems to be able to hit anything, usually pointing your character in the completely wrong direction or just simply missing an enemy that is right in front of you. Enemy AI is pretty awful, with them sometimes seemingly unable to perform basic navigation, but they can cheaply hit you from off-screen with no warning. There are also some boss fights that are really bad, often very gimmicky and annoying, especially once you get near the end of the game.

At times the game fails to make it clear what the way forward is, even though that should be next to impossible in such an ultra-linear game. Even worse, the points when it does this all seems to line up with set pieces that can kill you instantly. Like one moment when I was trying to avoid falling rubble but couldn't see where it wanted me to run to, leading to many repeated deaths.

Vehicles are bad too. The Light Cycle lurches from side to side making it near uncontrollable. The sequences you drive it are full of loads explosions and obstacles that are hard to see until it's too late. There are also parts where you're riding through the city and there are multiple roads that you switch between on the linear route. But sometimes there might be a road that it looks like you're supposed to jump to, but you're actually not and you will explode if you land on them. I think you can tell the developers knew how bad these parts were, since they have checkpoints practically every 15 seconds. The Light Tank doesn't go straight, so you're constantly having to wiggle along to try to get it going forward. It also gets confused when you try to strafe sideways, not being able to make up its mind whether it wants to move forward or turn around for some reason.

The story is very dull. It barely exists. Despite it being short enough that I should easily be able to remember it all, I can barely recall it. It's an arbitrary sequence of events that just happen, where you play a nameless, faceless, voiceless character who is just making his way through these action scenes for some reason. I mean, characters from the movie show up, and it shows the events leading up to that, but it still feels more like reading a bullet point plot summary than seeing an actual story play out. TRON: Legacy may have been criticised for its shallow plot, but it's a masterpiece compared to this.

It's a real shame, because I feel like this could have been so much more. TRON is a world that seems ideal for making a cool game out of. You have an interesting setting, and a bunch of weapons, vehicles, and game modes already laid out. And when it comes to this version of the IP, you also have an great aesthetic and a banger of a soundtrack. The basic idea of this game sounds a lot more interesting and ambitious than the simple minigames that seem to be what we usually when it comes to TRON games. I even think the idea of making parkour-focused melee combat could actually work really well and fit this universe perfectly too. This missed the mark on pretty much everything though. They didn't even get the soundtrack right, as you only get short glimpses of Daft Punk's score, and instead for most of the game you just get bland stuff that doesn't stand out at all. At least it looks pretty. Although the performance wasn't great, as it was prone to awful stutters every so often... I guess I can give the developers the benefit of the doubt, that this game was rushed to release with the movie. It does feel rather undercooked.

This game also has online multiplayer for some reason. I mean, I guess it makes sense, with all those ready-made game modes. I didn't try them, but I can't expect they would be any good. With how awful it is to play just the single player story, the idea of taking that in to a competitive context sounds truly miserable. I expect if this game ever had a playerbase, it probably died out weeks after release too.
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ThirdDrawing
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by ThirdDrawing »

#17 - Mafia Definitive Edition. Good story, but more linear than I was expecting. Not as sandboxy as I was expecting and the world felt pretty empty.

#18 - Jedi Fallen Order. Replay for some trophies and because I like it.

#19 - The Call of Cthulhu. Good overall, a few irritating bits (the asylum felt like masive padding), but got the tone and atmosphere right.
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Simonsloth
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Simonsloth »

Spoiler: show
Jan 2021:
Get Even via PS Now
Last Story Wii
Warioware GBA
Resident Evil 3 Remake
Celeste
Doom Eternal
Demon's Souls

Feb:
Super Mario 64 (switch)
Duke 3D
Sea of Thieves (Tall Tales)
Super Mario World 2

March:
Hitman
Hitman 2
Black: The Fall
Bradwell Conspiracy
Fifa 18: The Journey
Donut County

April:
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Life is Strange 2
Trinity (Pc)
Gorogoa
Super Mario Sunshine
May-June:
Drakengard 2
Koudelka
Max Payne 3
Castlevania

July:
Alpha protocol
Persona 5
They breathe
Super mario galaxy
Battlefield 1
Yakuza dead souls

It’s been a while since I updated my completed list. Clearing my backlog really nicely.

Super mario galaxy 2 next!
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Sinclair Gregstrum
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Sinclair Gregstrum »

Sinclair Gregstrum wrote: April 26th, 2021, 5:47 pm Jan - Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)
Jan - Gears 5: Hivebusters (XSX)
Feb - Yakuza 0 (XSX)
Mar - Klonoa: Door To Phantomile (PS1 via Vita)
Mar - Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5)
Apr - Dishonored: Definitive Edition (XSX)
Not been on here for a while has life has been offensively busy and bollocks. I have had at least a bit of time to play some games though!

May - Outriders (XSX)
Liked it.

Jun - Psychonauts (XSX)
Liked it a lot.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Truk_Kurt »

ThirdDrawing wrote: July 21st, 2021, 9:47 am #17 - Mafia Definitive Edition. Good story, but more linear than I was expecting. Not as sandboxy as I was expecting and the world felt pretty empty.
I appreciated that about the game, you're right it was an empty open world, it felt like a set for the story but I was happy they chose that approach instead of them trying to copy GTA style games. It reminded me a little of LA Noire in that the open world was just a set dressing for the missions.
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
05/01 - Brutal Legend
07/01 - Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
13/01 - Sludge Life
17/01 - AER: Memories of Old
19/01 - Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (Human - Nero/Dante)
05/03 - CrossCode: A New Home
14/03 - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
17/03 - Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (100cc)
02/04 - Drakengard (Endings A-D)
14/04 - Drakengard 2 (Ending A)
28/04 - Drakengard 3 (Endings A-D)
02/05 - Rain
10/05 - God of War: Chains of Olympus HD
15/05 - God of War: Ghost of Sparta HD
24/05 - NieR Replicant ver. 1.22474487139... (Endings A-E)
08/06 - Final Fantasy XV (NG+)
02/07 - God of War II HD
15/07 - Scarlet Nexus (Yuito)
20/07 - TRON: Evolution
21/07 - Sky: Children of the Light

I've been curious, albeit highly sceptical of this game ever since it was announced, and then recently seeing Alex79uk mention it in another thread, that reminded me the Switch version was out and so I could finally give it a go.

It was fine. Mostly quite pleasant, with some very nice visuals every so often. The clouds looked very pretty, the characters are cute, and there was some nice music too. But it didn't really impress me, and it felt extremely derivative of Journey, without capturing what game that game so great. It felt like it was just going through the motions, with lots of levels and elements that were clearly recreations of stuff from Journey, but it didn't have any of the emotional impact. It didn't come close to creating the sort of emotive arc of that game. While elements of it were very well crafted, it came off as somewhat rote, like a factory reproduction of its inspiration. The ending is practically identical to Journey too.

Elements of it were rather confusing as well. The story wasn't really clear. It rushes through things very quickly at the start, without any of it having time to land. From what I gathered it did seem like it was yet another copy-paste of Journey though. Something about spirits and elders too. Journey managed to say much more with much less in that regard. Some of the mechanics are a bit confusing too. It obviously wants to draw your attention to certain things, but it's often not clear why or what that is.

I didn't find the monetisation to be a problem though, but I suspect that's because I didn't play it long enough. I played through the whole story, and once you do it puts you back at the beginning again, and makes a point to tell you that you're supposed to play it repeatedly. There's also a big emphasis on emotes and character customisation, as well as the social aspect of interacting and helping other players. It's a very busy game, often with a handful of people in a place at once. You can unlock most of those emotes and cosmetics just through playing and earning in-game currency. But you can also buy currency, and I didn't earn much naturally on a single run. So it seems like endgame is fashion, where tedium is used to push you to skip the grind. But I don't really see the appeal. I mean, I guess I can see why people like to show off their character to other players, but the idea of grinding runs of a game like this seems very unappealing. Surely it would ruin the emotional impact, especially if you're doing it for the purpose of unlocks. It's not like Journey where you might want to go back once in a blue moon to experience the story again, or help people out of pure altruism. That said I noticed someone on my friends list has already put 30 hours in to this game, so I guess it works for some people.

This little subgenre of games extremely inspired by Journey is an interesting topic too. Out of the ones I've played, honestly I think this one might be the worst. It has a similar problem to Abzu in that it's trying so clearly to make lightning strike twice by just doing the same thing again. But Abzu realised that the emotional journey was the appeal. Sky instead seems to think it was just aesthetic and multiplayer. AER: Memories of Old and Rime both do better I'd say, for not sticking exactly to the template. They had other influences too. This all reminds me of how much I want to try out The Pathless as well...
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by Alex79 »

I do wonder how Journey would review if it was released today. At the time it was, possibly alongside Braid and Limbo, one of the beacons of the emerging indie game era towards the latter stages of the 360 and PS3 generation, and it was applauded rightly so at the time. I've never been back though, and part of me is worried it'll spoil my memories of the game and I'll judge it against more contemporary titles which have dealt with isolation, exploration and wonder in a variety of interesting ways since.
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ironedflemming
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by ironedflemming »

19 - Mass Effect 3: Legendary Edition (PS5)

As my least played and least remembered of the trilogy found myself expecting to be disappointed but I actually had a great time playing through this again and it maybe my favourite of the series (or at least tied with two). Being years removed from all the ending controversy and playing through in one big package likely helped but i had no real issue with how this all wrapped up, I would have preferred some more smaller characters moments in this game versus some of the big galactic threat set pieces but on the whole a satisfying end to the trilogy both story and gameplay wise.
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ThirdDrawing
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by ThirdDrawing »

Truk_Kurt wrote: July 21st, 2021, 12:21 pm
I appreciated that about the game, you're right it was an empty open world, it felt like a set for the story but I was happy they chose that approach instead of them trying to copy GTA style games. It reminded me a little of LA Noire in that the open world was just a set dressing for the missions.
Yeah, it's funny you mention that because I was thinking about LA Noire as I played due to the emptiness. I don't want to be overwhelmed but I wish both had more to do.

Edit - Finish #20 - Syberia 2.

Not as good as the first game, but interesting nonetheless.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Games Completed 2021

Post by ColinAlonso »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Slay the Spire (Switch)
Jan 10 - Streets of Rage 4 (PS4) (Cherry - Normal)
Jan 24 - Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (Switch) (True Ending)
Feb 28 - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Switch)
Mar 28 - Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (Vita)
Jun 13 - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PS4)
Jul 11 - What The Golf? (Switch)
Jul 17 - Everything (PS4)
Well, after finishing Everything on Playstation 4 I decided it was time to move on. (Ba-dum, tish!)

Jul 24 - Astro's Playroom (PS5)
Well that's just delightful.

It's my first Astro game and they really play up cuteness don't they. Fun platforming and a good showcase for the controller and as someone who as played all of Sony's consoles, all the references and hardware collecting was fun too.

Soundtrack is great as well.
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