Games Completed 2018

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
Locked
User avatar
Dante Fireseed
Member
Posts: 356
Joined: September 5th, 2012, 1:26 pm
Location: Somewhere within the Multiverse

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Dante Fireseed »

4th January - X-Com 2 (PC)
6th January - Last Day of June (PC)
22nd January - What Remains of Edith Finch (PS4)
4th February - Final Fantasy XV (PS4)
10th February - Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PS4)
User avatar
ColinAlonso
Member
Posts: 585
Joined: September 6th, 2016, 9:13 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by ColinAlonso »

Spoiler: show
Jan 7 - Bleed (PC)
Jan 19 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Feb 11 - Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

I prefer the more level based design of a Galaxy but a fun well made adventure nonetheless. The different controls for each creature you can control is a lot of fun. Favourite level was New Donk City for being so vertical throughout which made exploring it very fun for me. Least favourite was the Luncheon Kingdom, while it may seem a trivial, I did not like that colour scheme one bit and was happy to leave.

I got 285 moons or so by the credits but I'll take a break before I come back for post game exploration.
User avatar
MajorGamer
Member
Posts: 135
Joined: October 14th, 2016, 6:33 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by MajorGamer »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Neon Chrome (PC)
Jan 2 - Dispersio (PC)
Jan 9 - Numbus (PC)
Jan 11 - Hero Siege (PC)
Jan 14 - Castle of no Escape 2 (PC)
Jan 20 - Toy Odyssey (PC)
Jan 23 - 20XX (PC)
Jan 25 - Battle Chef Brigade (Switch)
Jan 29 - Kamiko (Switch)
Feb 1 - Guild of Dungeoneering (PC)
Feb 3 - KByte (PC)
Feb 7 - Cat Quest (Switch)
Feb 11 - DYE (PC)

It's been awhile since I played a difficult platformer and this one has looked good for a long time. At this point, it is probably best known for crashing twice during AGDQ with the devs on the couch. Despite that, it is pretty good but not up to the levels of the likes of Super Meat Boy or, presumably, Celeste (haven't played it yet).

The character is named Hue and you must collect pigments in the levels to restore color to the world. Unfortunately, you need 50 of them to unlock the boss of each world with five in each level so the collectibles are mandatory. It makes things considerably harder especially since you only keep the ones from your best clear of a level (get two one level, replay it and get a different two? You still get two).

The levels are also a bit on the longer side, most being over a minute long but at least there are checkpoints unless you are playing on Hard which would make things maddening. Overall has solid mechanics and level design just wish the levels were shorter.
User avatar
AndrewBrown
Member
Posts: 357
Joined: November 21st, 2015, 8:37 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by AndrewBrown »

AndrewBrown wrote: February 8th, 2018, 10:31 am 02/01: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [SNES Classic]
04/01: Oxenfree [Switch]
13/01: Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition [Switch]
14/01: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Switch]
15/01: Super Mario World [SNES Classic]
20/01: BioShock Infinite [360]
23/01: The Fall [PSN]
26/01: Celeste [Switch]
31/01: Super One More Jump [Switch]
05/02: Night in the Woods [Switch]
08/02: Dandara [Switch]
14/02: Dragon Quest Builders [Switch]

One of my favorite games of 2016, I was thrilled when Dragon Quest Builders was announced to be getting a port and a sequel for Switch. I had avoided the voxel builder genre until this point partly through the bad press generated by certain people associated with Minecraft's development and ongoing community and partly through a bewilderment of what you were even supposed to do in it. I appreciate games which have structure and clearly defined goals, since the old adage applies especially to me: When given the opportunity to do "anything," I tend to do nothing—or in my case uninstall the game and play something else. Parenthetically, anyone who says a videogame lets you do "anything" doesn't understand what videogames are or what "anything" means.

Casting the player as the prophesied Builder in the world which was created following the original Dragon Quest's bad ending, players must rally the near-extinct humanity to rebuild civilization. Rather than developing the player character by defeating enemies, they grow in strength by increasing the value of their town. Buildings have specific identities based on what is placed inside them—bedrooms, kitchens, smithies, etc.—and their point total is increased depending on the size of the room and the quality of materials used to build it. The more point total in your town (which must occupy a pre-defined space), the more powerful the Builder becomes, allowing the player to travel farther and farther afield and taking on more and more powerful opponents, aided by the weapons and armors they craft with their town and the help of the local villagers. This takes place across four chapters, each with focus on a specific theme (food and medicine, engineering, etc.), as well as Terra Incognita, a full-on sandbox mode that most closely evokes the spirit of Minecraft.

The end result is a game that ends up being far more thoughtful and meditative on the nature of destiny and free will than one might expect—so much so, in fact, that it sometimes feels accidental. It also seems to accidentally suggest that civil infrastructure, and the ability to understand and maintain it, is essential to the furthering of human civilization, which is a message more people could probably understand in the world today.

My main complaint is the NPCs are very chatty, taking way too long to explain their next objective and repeating themselves constantly. The localization would have benefited strongly from a strenuous and critical editor. It's easy enough to click through these conversations quickly, but you may miss out on key details in the process. Ultimately, this impacted my enjoyment of Dragon Quest Builders little.

One of my recent favorites.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

AndrewBrown wrote: February 14th, 2018, 10:18 am When given the opportunity to do "anything," I tend to do nothing
Hit the nail right on the head with that statement! :)
User avatar
AndrewBrown
Member
Posts: 357
Joined: November 21st, 2015, 8:37 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by AndrewBrown »

Joshihatsumitsu wrote: February 14th, 2018, 9:54 pm
AndrewBrown wrote: February 14th, 2018, 10:18 am When given the opportunity to do "anything," I tend to do nothing
Hit the nail right on the head with that statement! :)
I wish I knew where it originated. It's often attributed to one of the Penny Arcade guys but I can never find a place where one of them has actually said it. Still, it perfectly describes my relationship with "pure sandbox" games like Minecraft. Having said that... I have now committed 110+ hours to Minecraft on Switch.
Todinho

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Todinho »

Monster Hunter World(PS4)- So by beaten I mean I finnished all of the story, defeated the final boss and unlocked all armor sets and weapons, because of course the game just opens up more stuff once you've beaten it. Now I dont wanna sound too hyperbolic and rash since I just finnished the game but I think MHW might be my favorite 3rd person action game that I ever played, yeah sounds crazy I know especially because it has a bunch of convoluted design decisions that rightfully turn people away but let me try and explain.

First off the weapons, now you can easilly point out and say: "Well the combos here are clearly more simple then you'd find in a game such as Bayonetta or even Nioh, so how can you say Monster Hunter World is better?" Ok so in those games the main thing you have to focus on is mastering the movesets of those weapons, Now in Monster Hunter while the complexity of each weapon is down compared to Bayo there are 14 weapons and most of them play very different from one another, I foucused on 3 weapons for my playthrough the Gunlance, LongSword and Insect Glaive(which ended up maining by the end) now each of those weapons have unique mechanics and playstyles, the Gunlance allows you to hunker down and block however you're easilly punishable if you dont time your attacks correctly more then that however the Gunlance has a reloading mechanic where you unleash shells for more damage and then has to reload, learning quick reloads, how to adapt your combos around the ammo you have, how to use your limited mobility not only to avoid enemy attacks but also reposition yourself so that you can land your own attacks. The longsword is way quicker and you can dodge enemy attacks easilly but you have to build up a meter to increase that damage of your attacks, in a way it's the oposite of the Gunlance where you start with maximum damage and then have to take steps to return to that state by reloading, so to get the longsword to it's best you have to constantly be hitting the enemy and at first you will only use to "soul" attacks to build your meter but as you get more familiar you can start incorporation those attacks into regular combos, canceling then into dodges,etc.
Last but not least the insect glaive, for you to use this weapon to the fullest you have to send an insect to attack certain body parts of the monster and then call it back for it to grant you a buff, the most important one is the attack buff that not only improves your damage but more importantly adds alot more moves to your combos, now in term of the complexity of the combos the insect glaive is the simplest weapon of the 3 I used it doesnt change much but the real complexity of the weapon is on everything else around it, now at first the insect mechanic might be more of a hassle then anything I mean you have to aim this bug to get to maximum power that just sounds annoying but when you learn how to use your insect how it can not only give buffs but also inflict debuffs on enemies. how the little amout of damage they do is complementary to yours and how you can customize that like you can make an insect that inflicts poison and deals contusion damage so you can keep your enemy poisoned and possibly knock the monster out by sending out your insect for one last hit as you get away from the monster, or you can make the insect inflict blast which builds up until it explodes dealing massive damage to the monster and deal cutting damage which is really usefull if you want to cut that monsters tail, the amount of times that the final blow for a tail to come off came from me sending my bug to attack are far too many to count. Now you not only that that layer of complexity of the bug but also you have the air combos you can do, now like I said the combos of the glaive are pretty simple and you stay pretty stationary while doing them so staying in the air is preferable since it gives a way to get out easier that's your key to both move,dodge and close the distance while in combat you have 2 air jumps you can do one which you can use to reset yourself and another to attack and if you land an attack it resets that allowing you to stay in the air for a really long time if you're good enough, then you realize the glaive made you fight just like an insect making you fly around the monster dealing small amount of damage at all times which easilly allows to mount the monster and then throwing then to the ground and then all of a sudden your stationary combo isnt so bad anymore and you can wail at the monster weak points with reckeless abandon

Yeah there's alot isnt there and Im sure I forgot to mention a few things for each weapon, now the best part of all this is that you pick up this as you play you dont have to know all that stuff about the glaive to start with but you will get it as you get more familiar with the weapon you will unlock it's complexities, I said before that each weapon felt like a fighting game character and yes that's true but a fighting game character whose base combos are easy to pull off so you can get to what makes each of them special and start to think about how to better use them much faster, in a way each weapon is easy to learn and hard to master, that can be applied to the chage blade which is by far the most complex weapon in the game and the sword and shield which is the simplest.
Oh yeah another thing this is the first 3rd person action game where the lack of a proper lock on not only didnt bother me but where I actually prefer it this way, that's for many reasons of course, first and foremost it's because the game is focused around fighting big monsters that jump around all over the place and not multiple enemies in a level but also because combat here is pretty slow compared to other 3rd person action games but not in a way that feels bad, every attack you make is a commitiment so the game ends up being alot more tatical then you'd think especially later on where monsters start doing alot more damage and get new moves.

Another thing is that much like the weapons the games other systems will also click in time, like the crafting, you can beat a monster with just you and your weapon but when you start to properly preparing before a fight you see how much easier it can go, remember when i praised the witcher for exactly that type of gameplay well Monster Hunter has that and alot more which brings me to the stars of the show, the monsters.
Now from an artistic point of view alone they are incredible: How they look, how they animate,sound,everthing is top notch. And then we get into how each of them fight, and each one not only has it's unique features and behavior but the fight with them are never the same, if if you fought an Anjanath 100 times you can still fight him again and find something different like him running into another monster and fighting or going into a different area where you can use the enviroment against him,etc. Speaking of which this is a game that is filled with "player stories" each fight is fertile ground for that like for example my epic showdown with an Odogaron(Aka the hell dog, aka the best monster in the game) one I hadnt planned or prepared but just kinda of happened as I wandered in the world, it was amazing we went all over the map and by the end he was limping and I had exausted all my resources it was me and him both on the brink ready for a final fight in his nest and then that piece of shit Bazelguese showed up out of nowhere and attacked both of us, I audibly screamed "NO!" at the television it was that anime thing of "How dares this monster interfere with our honorable battle!"

It might sound weird for me to come out liking the fights in this game so much given how I complained about bosses with huge health pools like Midir, but like I said here it doesnt feel like it, in fact there's a monster here that's pretty much Midir I mean his moveset is extremelly similar and his design isnt far off but while I felt Midir repetitive and frustrating I was having the time of my life fighting the monster here, and I dont even think that's necesserilly because the fight is better designed but rather it's the diference of how each allows you to play, for Midir I had to do that slow back and forth damaging his head, but in MHW I was flying through the air with the Insect Glaive, in fact I've seen people that didnt like that fight and they were using a weapon that makes you fight that boss more like dark souls.

Anyway I have to cut this short but I could go on about the amazing level design, the monsters and the usefull of palicos, also notice how I didnt mention once the "main appeal of the game" which is the grind for loot, and while the gear and weapons is cool it was never the main drive for me, what kept me going foward were these dynamic fights with the monsters and wanting to see what the next monster was gonna be and how it would behave, which is why I dont think will get much further into "end game" since the gear grind is pretty much all that's left because I already seen and fought all the monsters multiple times and to me it seems they just cranked the damage values of monsters to 11 with the "tempered monsters" I'll still play the game sure, especially when new monsters come out, but I dont think I want to go into min-max, still fantastic game and I dont think gameplay has got me this hooked since MGSV(which is of course funny given how much Peace Walker and MGSV take from Monster Hunter XD) and that's a hell of compliment in my book.
User avatar
Chopper
Member
Posts: 1405
Joined: April 16th, 2013, 6:35 pm
Location: Ireland

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Chopper »

Sounds like game of the year has been wrapped up already.

At least until Metal Gear Survive knocks it off its perch next week. :D
User avatar
mikeleddy83
Member
Posts: 1432
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:32 pm
Location: Oxford
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Spoiler: show
Jan - Mega man 3
Jan - Mega man 4
Jan - Mega man 5
Jan - Mega man 6
Jan - Mega man 7
Jan - Mega man 8
Jan - Mega man 9
Jan - Mega man 10
Jan - Horizon: Zero Dawn
Jan - Metal Slug XX
Jan - Dead Rising: Case Zero
Jan - Talespin
Jan - Darkwing Duck
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
Jan - DuckTales
Jan - DuckTales 2
Feb - Wild Guns Reloaded
Feb - Bound
Feb - Quantum Break
User avatar
seansthomas
Member
Posts: 856
Joined: March 31st, 2015, 8:10 am

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by seansthomas »

February 4th - DOOM (Switch)
February 7th - Oxenfree (Switch)

February 17th - Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch)

What a great 9 hours of gameplay this was. Didn't play the first but this had me hooked from start to finish. Often dread the word 'Metroidvania' when used to describe a game as it usually means it's not a patch on either of the games that term refers to, but this was great. Some very interesting ideas on how a 2D Metroid formula could evolve.

The sense of progression and power ups were spot on and I was always at the point in the game where my level seemed right. The digging felt brilliant too and the characters oozed charm.

Ending felt a tad rushed but otherwise, damn near faultless and probably the best indie I've played on Switch.
User avatar
Indiana747
Member
Posts: 1009
Joined: September 3rd, 2012, 5:17 pm

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Indiana747 »

(Jan) Life is Strange: Before the Storm - PS4.
(Jan) Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition - PS4.
(Jan) Watch Dogs II(platinum) - PS4.
(Feb) Marlow Briggs - Xbox 360.
User avatar
dezm0nd
Moderator
Posts: 4445
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:48 am
Location: Leighton Buzzard

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by dezm0nd »

Jan 1: Duke 3D + expansions (Xbox One)
Jan 2: 1080 Avalance
Jan 17: A Hat in Time
Jan: 1080 Snowboarding

Feb: Tenchu: Stealth Assasins
Feb 17: Shadow of the Colossus (2018)

Really loved SotC. Was my first time through and was surprised by how short it is but overall, it's an incredible experience. The thrill of battling them is immense.
User avatar
Hunter30
Member
Posts: 60
Joined: January 25th, 2015, 4:43 pm

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Hunter30 »

January - Jade Empire: Special Edition (PC)
February - Resident Evil HD Remaster, Jill playthrough (PC)
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Alex79 »

AndrewBrown wrote: February 14th, 2018, 10:12 pm
Joshihatsumitsu wrote: February 14th, 2018, 9:54 pm
AndrewBrown wrote: February 14th, 2018, 10:18 am When given the opportunity to do "anything," I tend to do nothing
Hit the nail right on the head with that statement! :)
I wish I knew where it originated. It's often attributed to one of the Penny Arcade guys but I can never find a place where one of them has actually said it. Still, it perfectly describes my relationship with "pure sandbox" games like Minecraft. Having said that... I have now committed 110+ hours to Minecraft on Switch.
I think that paralysis of choice is a pretty well known and widespread phenomenon. It's the same reason you sit and scroll through Netflix for an hour before realising you now don't have time to watch anything anyway.
User avatar
mikeleddy83
Member
Posts: 1432
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 5:32 pm
Location: Oxford
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by mikeleddy83 »

Spoiler: show
Jan - Mega man 3
Jan - Mega man 4
Jan - Mega man 5
Jan - Mega man 6
Jan - Mega man 7
Jan - Mega man 8
Jan - Mega man 9
Jan - Mega man 10
Jan - Horizon: Zero Dawn
Jan - Metal Slug XX
Jan - Dead Rising: Case Zero
Jan - Talespin
Jan - Darkwing Duck
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Jan - Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers 2
Jan - DuckTales
Jan - DuckTales 2
Feb - Wild Guns Reloaded
Feb - Bound
Feb - Quantum Break
Feb - Monster Hunter: World
User avatar
Dante Fireseed
Member
Posts: 356
Joined: September 5th, 2012, 1:26 pm
Location: Somewhere within the Multiverse

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Dante Fireseed »

4th January - X-Com 2 (PC)
6th January - Last Day of June (PC)
22nd January - What Remains of Edith Finch (PS4)
4th February - Final Fantasy XV (PS4)
10th February - Uncharted: Lost Legacy (PS4)
16th February - Rime (PS4)
User avatar
MajorGamer
Member
Posts: 135
Joined: October 14th, 2016, 6:33 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by MajorGamer »

Spoiler: show
Jan 1 - Neon Chrome (PC)
Jan 2 - Dispersio (PC)
Jan 9 - Numbus (PC)
Jan 11 - Hero Siege (PC)
Jan 14 - Castle of no Escape 2 (PC)
Jan 20 - Toy Odyssey (PC)
Jan 23 - 20XX (PC)
Jan 25 - Battle Chef Brigade (Switch)
Jan 29 - Kamiko (Switch)
Feb 1 - Guild of Dungeoneering (PC)
Feb 3 - KByte (PC)
Feb 7 - Cat Quest (Switch)
Feb 11 - DYE (PC)
Feb 16 - Ittle Dew 2+ (Switch)

This one came out of the blue. The first one I stumbled upon on Steam and it was great. Imagine a top down Zelda game where it is about 90% puzzles and it had some real thinkers, mostly in the master dungeon it had. The second follows this, mostly. The story of both are pretty irrelevant to things and is there to be goofy.

The puzzles themselves took a bit of a hit due to how this one is designed. Everything is solvable with what you start with and in the case of dungeons, what you find inside it. Most of the time you'll have more than that which makes many puzzles trivial. Things get challenging again when you hit the final dungeon and beyond where things are designed with all items in mind. The first did a similar thing where you could beat the game while skipping items and it pulled it off better.

The second also happens to have slightly more combat. I'd say more 80% puzzles and the combat of both games aren't the highlights. At least when bosses go puzzle mode they are good.

For the Switch specific version, there are five bonus dungeons that focus on each item you get in the main game (the last being all of them)and have the hardest and best puzzles of the game. This may be a shoe in to recommend this version but there is a caveat. Going in or out of any cave takes 5 seconds of loading (I timed it). That is really bad for a game like this; maybe poor optimization. It adds up over the ~10 hour. If you can stand the loading, this is certainly the version to get, though.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Flabyo »

Flabyo wrote: January 31st, 2018, 12:10 am 7th Jan - Mafia 3 (XBO)
29th Jan - Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (XBO)
31st Jan - The Room: Old Sins (iOS)
20th Feb - Celeste (XBO)

Ended up using the assist mode to finish Celeste. Wanted to see the ending, but that final section just had me beat. I can see the quality here, but it’s just not my thing in the end.

Did like the story quite a lot, and it had some fun moments where it played with video game conventions and expectations, including a genuinely creepy thing I can see a lot of games ‘borrowing’.
User avatar
Scrustle
Member
Posts: 2426
Joined: November 18th, 2012, 6:02 pm

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
04/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Normal)
05/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Jetstream Sam DLC (Normal)
06/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Blade Wolf DLC (Normal)
10/01 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Hard)
14/01 - Killer Is Dead (Hard)
18/01 - Q.U.B.E: Director's Cut
20/02 - Okamiden

Been kind of bad at finishing off games lately. Started this almost right after finishing Okami HD on the PS4. Despite it being a much shorter game, and having put way more time in to other games lately than it took me to play this entire game, only just finished it off now.

My feelings about it are more or less the same as they were when I first played it. Just a bit renewed now that it was so recent. It's a lesser game than the original, no doubt about that, but it manages to recreate a lot of what was good about it to a fairly impressive level considering the hardware. It's still a fun adventure through an intriguing world with that distinct Japanese mythological flair, full of amusing characters and interesting ways to interact with the environment through your celestial brush powers. Several of the new powers are pretty cool to use, and drawing them on the screen with the DS stylus is just a no-brainer as an appropriate way to use the mechanic. It's cool to see how the world has changed in the time since the original game too. Agata especially, and to a lesser extent Sei'an City. Seeing the Sunken Ship before it sank was pretty cool as well. Lots of interesting ties to the original game in general.

Some things do rub me the wrong way about it. Despite the world being a relatively faithful recreation of Nippon from the first game, there are a ton of obvious compromises everywhere. A lot less detail to the environments, low resolution textures, and larger areas split in to smaller zones. The low resolution screen can make it a pain to pick out details too sometimes. The controls aren't great either. They're kind of clunky, with somewhat sloppy character movement, on top of having to navigate a 3D world with a less than preferable D-pad. The pacing of the cutscenes tends to drag too. They go on a long time, and tend to labour on certain points far too long, especially when it comes to animations that go on for much longer than they need to. Most of the problems with the game can be put down to hardware limitations, not creative decisions. Which I think is a testament to how good the game is in general. As for the cutscenes though, I can't really tell. It might be somewhat hardware related, but it might also be that the game is meant for a younger audience, or simply that being on a handheld makes the slower parts feel more drawn-out in general. Doesn't really gel with that whole "pick up and play" mentality when you're waiting for characters to yap on about whatever for ages. There's one last problem as well, which you probably can put down entirely to creative decisions. That is the game has a load of permanent cut-off points for certain things. The game encourages you to explore and do side-content like the first game, except with the way the game is structured, there are loads of missable things. It's a pretty big pain when you can't go back for so many things when you're trying to get everything. Some of those missables can be pretty important too.

But despite that, I still like it. It's more or less as good a follow-up anyone could expect, considering the platform and the fact that it's not by Clover. Used to be that this game gave me the confidence that Capcom could still carry on the series and do it justice after they closed Clover, as much as it would have been fairer for them to just give the IP rights to Platinum/Kamiya. But Okamiden is so old now as well, who knows if half the dev team are even working at Capcom now either? Oh well. At least we're getting Bayonetta 3...
User avatar
AndrewBrown
Member
Posts: 357
Joined: November 21st, 2015, 8:37 am
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: Games Completed 2018

Post by AndrewBrown »

AndrewBrown wrote: February 14th, 2018, 10:18 am 02/01: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [SNES Classic]
04/01: Oxenfree [Switch]
13/01: Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition [Switch]
14/01: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [Switch]
15/01: Super Mario World [SNES Classic]
20/01: BioShock Infinite [360]
23/01: The Fall [PSN]
26/01: Celeste [Switch]
31/01: Super One More Jump [Switch]
05/02: Night in the Woods [Switch]
08/02: Dandara [Switch]
14/02: Dragon Quest Builders [Switch]
20/02: Bayonetta [Switch]

This is my second time playing through Bayonetta, and I find that a second experience of something is usually more definitive for me. My ideas about the piece are clarified, my feelings are more focused, and things I might have thought about the beginnings during the "honeymoon period" with the piece are challenged upon the review. I always enjoy re-reading a book or, especially, re-watching a movie or TV show. I only wish I had more time to play through a videogame more than once, which is why I always relish ports and remasters; it gives me a good excuse to play through it again without feeling like I'm giving my scarce time to something I've "already done before."

Playing through Bayonetta for a second time has definitely solidified my love for the combat and for the character. Bayonetta is such a powerful and confident character, it's a pleasure to play as her and dominate (in many meanings of the word) the Angels of Paradiso. Triggering Witch Time and unleashing a spectacular combo is deeply satisfying. I'm not sure it can ever get old. The Angel's designs are grotesque and otherworldly, beautiful and horrible at the same time. A great game can be built on the back of a single, brilliant mechanic. Bayonetta has that. Its combat is luscious, intricate, and mesmerizing. So then why do I feel so negatively towards Bayonetta when its core is so strong and appealing?

It's everything else. Almost literally, every other aspect of the videogame.

The controls are not optimized as well as they could be. Two core abilities—dodge and "run"—are mapped to the right trigger. A third ability is also activated by it if you choose to buy it. I'm a bit of a button masher, and that's my weakness, but the jaguar form or the "breakdance" ability activating when I'm trying to dodge because they're all mapped to the same button is an error in design, not an error in the user. There's also a lock-on feature that would be useful (the camera is a hindrance more than a help in several areas)... but you have to hold the button down the whole time you're locking onto something, as though the option to make it toggleable hasn't been a standard since the videogame that standardized camera lock-on. This is a game that was made in 2009 with a lock-on feature that feels like it was designed in 1996. Oh, and it's applied to the right shoulder button. When, again, dodge/run/breakdance is also applied to the right trigger. There's a lot going on in the top-right corner of the controller and almost nothing going on in the top-left. And none of the controls are remappable. What you get is what you get.

And the environments. The combat is wonderful. The hallways that connect the different combat sequences are drab, mostly desaturated of color, and barren. As though aware of this, Bayonetta will sometimes introduce a platforming sequence instead of an empty hallway. Bayonetta has been fine-tuned for fast-paced action sequences with fluid combat and fast, flowing movement. Not for platforming. Not to suggest that these sequences are hard, they're just not terribly interesting.

Most of the game takes place in a fictional European city called Vigrid. Why Vigrid is important and why Bayonetta is going there is something I never quite understood. Bayonetta has amnesia, you see. Ugh. Bayonetta spends a lot of time running around Vigrid, fighting armies of Angels (which is spectacular), but nothing really happens besides her running around fighting Angels (which confused me). There, she encounters two other human characters: Luka, a journalist who is never seen doing any journalism but does spend a lot of time stalking Bayonetta. He also has a grappling hook for some reason. And Cereza, a young girl convinced Bayonetta is her mother. Three-quarters of her dialog is saying "Mummy" in the most grating tone imaginable. And you know what a small, helpless child means, right? Yep! Escort quests!

Luka and Cereza contribute nothing to the plot. They could not exist and it wouldn't change anything. Well, that's not true. It would markedly improve Bayonetta's pacing. There are exactly two kinds of cutscenes in this game: Bayonetta doing something flashy and ridiculous, which is amusing in the opening cutscene but becomes grating after the dozenth cutscene of this. The other is a character (usually Luka) doing an exposition dump. But, and this is the most incredible thing about Bayonetta, is its exposition still manages to tell you nothing about what is going on. By the last sequence of chapters, I was just going numbly through the motions, no longer knowing or caring who any of the characters were, what any of them were saying, or what anything happening meant. I just wanted to dodge some Angels, go into Witch Time, and kick their butts. It was the only thing I cared about it anymore.

I struggled through Bayonetta with gritted teeth this time around. I remember being frustrated by it in my first playthrough, but not the sheer contempt I felt for it this time. I understand that Bayonetta 2 answers a lot of these criticisms—namely through much better pacing, less of the "Real Is Brown" aesthetic, and a better-considered control setup—and I'm really hoping it's true. I wanted to replay the first Bayonetta so I'd have better background for when I at last started the second one. I'm afraid all I might have done is sent myself into Bayonetta 2 with a giant chip on my shoulder.
Locked