Games Completed 2019
Re: Games Completed 2019
AC Unity is just... dull.
I didn’t like the main character, and the engine being new also means that a lot of the fancier traversal stuff you’re used to from the previous games is gone. Getting around in the game felt like hard work. It just felt like it was... there. Nothing about it is memorable, I couldn’t even tell you much about what happened in it.
It’s also designed around the idea that you’re going to play it in four player co-op, so feels a structurally weird played solo.
AC Syndicate is so much better, if only for the way more likeable Frye twins you play as. (But they also fixed the traversal, and gave it a more interesting plot)
As I say though, I much prefer the newer design direction since Origins.
I didn’t like the main character, and the engine being new also means that a lot of the fancier traversal stuff you’re used to from the previous games is gone. Getting around in the game felt like hard work. It just felt like it was... there. Nothing about it is memorable, I couldn’t even tell you much about what happened in it.
It’s also designed around the idea that you’re going to play it in four player co-op, so feels a structurally weird played solo.
AC Syndicate is so much better, if only for the way more likeable Frye twins you play as. (But they also fixed the traversal, and gave it a more interesting plot)
As I say though, I much prefer the newer design direction since Origins.
- Simonsloth
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Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
DJ Hero 2
Completed Empire mode. I like it but don’t love it. The only thing that kept me going was trying to beat Colin’s scores when I was doing each mix.
- ColinAlonso
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Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
Got all 325 stars in the end. Even had a couple of Simon's scores to go up against right at the end.
There's a few gameplay differences between this and the first game but they're pretty inconsequential. Prefer the tracks in the first game so therefore I prefer that one.
- MajorGamer
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Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
A tactics RPG that is fine. There are no spare recruits and the people you get in your party is set. Due to how the leveling curve works, you can only keep up with it on your main 6 and any others would require grinding to keep up. It can be tricky to decide who to use because each character learns different skills even if they start off as the same class as another character. The last couple missions are also a big difficulty spike from everything else. It does do a fairly neat thing where some choices you make during the game affects what map you go to next. There is even one in the middle of the game that completely changes where the story goes and the maps you do from that point on. Nothing outstanding but still a fun playthough.
Sep 4 - The Surge (PC)
I was very hesitant to play this because their previous game, Lords of the Fallen, was not good. This one, though is good. In a nutshell, it is sci-fi Dark Souls. It does some cool things to set it apart. Instead of just targeting enemies, you can target specific parts of most enemies (head, body, arms, legs). These bits can also be armored or unarmored. The unarmored bits take more damage but if you focus the armored ones, your finisher will severe that part and you can collect it, gaining you parts for that armor for you to upgrade your own as well as the schematic for the one the enemy was wearing if you didn't already have it. Plus cutting off their weapon arm will cause their weapon to drop. No grinding needed to get what you want!
There is a bit of a lack of enemy variety though. It is almost entirely humans and there are only 3 or so movesets you'll run into most of the game. It also takes place entirely in a building so environment variety is also lacking. The story is worth paying attention to, at least. Still, there is room for improvement and I'll be interested to see where The Surge 2 goes.
Sep 6 - Rise & Shine (PC)
This sure was a game. A basic run n gun shooter (I use the word "run" lightly as you need to stop to shoot) that is heavily reliant on trial and error to get through. There are also some basic puzzles. Really isn't anything else to say here.
Re: Games Completed 2019
SEP - Batman: The Telltale Series (PS4)Alex79uk wrote: ↑January 20th, 2019, 5:10 pmJAN - Super Mario Land (Nintendo Gameboy)
JAN - Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Megadrive on PS4)
FEB - Professor Layton & The Curious Village (Android)
FEB - Donkey Kong '94 (Nintendo Gameboy)
FEB - Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
FEB - Chuchel (Android)
FEB - Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4)
MAR - Spider-Man (PS4)
MAR - Florence (Android)
MAR - Where On Google Earth Is Carmen Sandiego (Browser)
MAR - Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered (PS4)
MAR - Final Fantasy X (PS Vita)
MAY - Söldner-X 2 (PS Vita)
MAY - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
MAY - The Punisher (Arcade on PS Vita)
JUN - Super Mario Bros. (NES on Switch)
JUN - Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (PS4)
JUL - Windjammers (Arcade Mode) (PS Vita)
JUL - Detroit: Become Human (PS4)
JUL - Super Mario Odyssey: Credits Roll (Switch)
AUG - Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES on Switch) SEP - Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4)
SEP - Yakuza Kiwami 2: The Majima Saga (PS4)
SEP - Assassin's Creed: Revelations (PS4)
Pretty good. Not much more to say! Performed terribly on my console, but the story was ok and the detective bits fairly cool.
Re: Games Completed 2019
@MajorGamer - agreed on The Surge. I also found the last level or two to be very confusingly laid out. I have actually been at the last boss for a couple of years now, I must reinstall and finish him off one of these days.
Re: tactics RPGs....have you considered getting Battle Brothers? It is very good, though damned hard.
Re: tactics RPGs....have you considered getting Battle Brothers? It is very good, though damned hard.
Re: Games Completed 2019
A run or gun game, if you like.MajorGamer wrote: ↑September 7th, 2019, 5:02 am Sep 6 - Rise & Shine (PC)
This sure was a game. A basic run n gun shooter (I use the word "run" lightly as you need to stop to shoot)
I'm here all week.
- Combine Hunter
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Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
I really, really enjoyed this game. There are sections of it that are amongst my favourite in the survival horror genre. Unfortunately there is a twist 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through, that kind of pushes the game in an aesthetic and level design direction closer to the first game and I guess it was meant to be nostalgic, but I have WAY more affection for the original design ideas that this game was demonstrating earlier. It manages to end on a high note though, which makes that dip into dullness forgivable. Recommended, but a few tweaks away from being as great as something like the RE2 Remake.
- Pitwar
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Re: Games Completed 2019
27th Jan - Captain Toad Treasure Tracker (Switch)
1st Feb - New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe (Switch)
9th Mar - Crackdown 3 (Xbox One X)
6th May - Mortal Kombat 11: Story Mode (PS4 Pro)
12th May - God Of War '18 (PS4 Pro)
19th May - Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4 Pro)
23rd May - Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4 Pro)
26th May - Devil May Cry 5 (PS4 Pro)
1st Jun - Days Gone (PS4 Pro)
8th Jun - Blood & Truth (PS4 Pro)
8th Aug - Resident Evil 2 (PS4 Pro)
6th Sep - Man of Medan (PS4 Pro)
A very short game, but the fact it was released at a budget price means that's easier to swallow.
Man of Medan is always going to be compared to Until Dawn and while it's not as good as that, it's still fun and has plenty of the magic experienced in that game.
Definitely worth your time if you like games of this ilk.
1st Feb - New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe (Switch)
9th Mar - Crackdown 3 (Xbox One X)
6th May - Mortal Kombat 11: Story Mode (PS4 Pro)
12th May - God Of War '18 (PS4 Pro)
19th May - Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4 Pro)
23rd May - Shadow of the Tomb Raider (PS4 Pro)
26th May - Devil May Cry 5 (PS4 Pro)
1st Jun - Days Gone (PS4 Pro)
8th Jun - Blood & Truth (PS4 Pro)
8th Aug - Resident Evil 2 (PS4 Pro)
6th Sep - Man of Medan (PS4 Pro)
A very short game, but the fact it was released at a budget price means that's easier to swallow.
Man of Medan is always going to be compared to Until Dawn and while it's not as good as that, it's still fun and has plenty of the magic experienced in that game.
Definitely worth your time if you like games of this ilk.
- ColinAlonso
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Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
An impulse buy yesterday morning and pretty much the only game I've played this weekend. I played the second game (We Love Katamari) way back and was really happy to be able to play the first in a nice remastered package. I had a big grin on my face for most of it, just rolling up everything.. The soundtrack is great (knew that already) and I prefer it to We Love Katamari's. I think We Love is better but only because the devs were building from the experience of this.
- mikeleddy83
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Re: Games Completed 2019
10-9 - Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (SNES)
I had this on the Wii VC, but with my recent love for flipping the 60hz switch on SNES and MD carts (and my enduring love for experiencing vintage games on my cherished CRT TVs), I decided to nab a cheap U.S. cart version... which I'll still have to run through the region bypass converter, like so:
And you know what, I don't think I ever ran through the arcade mode of SNES SSFII. I had the PAL version sitting on the Wii for multiplayer fun, mainly.
The CPU is definitely more challenging than that of either The World Warrior or Turbo. You even catch them doing player discovered combos from previous incarnations of the game, kind of like what the CPU does in the later versions of Street Fighter IV.
So I picked ol' boring but comfy ass Ryu, for his adaptability and versatility, so that I didn't have to stick to the game plan of characters I typically find more interesting to play.
Some notes:
- I think this was the first time I ever perfected the barrel breaking bonus game.
- Sagat was a real pain and made me continue 5 times, but I beasted Bison in two very quick rounds, without taking a loss.
I had this on the Wii VC, but with my recent love for flipping the 60hz switch on SNES and MD carts (and my enduring love for experiencing vintage games on my cherished CRT TVs), I decided to nab a cheap U.S. cart version... which I'll still have to run through the region bypass converter, like so:
And you know what, I don't think I ever ran through the arcade mode of SNES SSFII. I had the PAL version sitting on the Wii for multiplayer fun, mainly.
The CPU is definitely more challenging than that of either The World Warrior or Turbo. You even catch them doing player discovered combos from previous incarnations of the game, kind of like what the CPU does in the later versions of Street Fighter IV.
So I picked ol' boring but comfy ass Ryu, for his adaptability and versatility, so that I didn't have to stick to the game plan of characters I typically find more interesting to play.
Some notes:
- I think this was the first time I ever perfected the barrel breaking bonus game.
- Sagat was a real pain and made me continue 5 times, but I beasted Bison in two very quick rounds, without taking a loss.
Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
Well, what a weird, strange beast of a game this is. Something that is certainly far from perfect, with many ups and downs, but is also really fantastic and unique when it shines.
It took me a really long time to warm up to this game. It wasn't until pretty much halfway through that it finally clicked. I've read this rough start is a common problem with most people who play it, but it was very extreme for me. Especially considering how I'm usually on board with Platinum's games. Although, that said, I do tend to not get on as well with their more experimental games, which I would say this is one of. In that context, this is the one I've gelled with the most.
But this is probably the biggest of the many problems the game has. It's hard to get to grips with, and I don't think it was done in the best way. While it makes sense they would want to ease you in to this very unusual combat style, it takes far too long to really get there, and they hold back the most important parts of the puzzle for too long. Before you get to that point, the game is pretty overwhelming and hard to parse, as enemies are very aggressive and often appear in large groups that can result in the visuals becoming very chaotic.
But when it clicks, it becomes something really special. While it has the same kind of polish and cadence that Platinum are known for, it still feels unlike anything else out there. Some similarities could be drawn to how V plays in DMC5, but even then it's very different from that. It requires quite a bit shift from the usual mentality one approaches these games with. More based around managing positioning, and being in sync with another entity, but while still working as a single unit. It's very rhythmic, and rewards setting up situations to exploit, and has a big focus on crowd control. You really need to keep on top of things, but when you do, it's so incredibly rewarding and you feel like a champion. It feels much more involved than how V felt to play, with much more direct control over your familiars, with a much better connection to them, and with far more depth to what you can do. For all the problems this game has, and for all the times combat can be frustrating and confusing as you're thrown around like a ragdoll, the good parts make up for it and more. It's not just that it's really good, but genuinely unique and fresh.
Other parts of the game however are extremely hit-and-miss. On the more positive side, the aesthetic stylings are great. The futuristic cityscape of The Ark is a very pleasing setting to inhabit and explore. It may not be the most original thing in the world, but it nails the atmosphere well and has a lot of really impressive sights. The cyberspace alternate reality Astral Plane areas you venture in to are also great. Probably the most visually imposing areas of the game, that manage to to always impress despite basically made out of red and black cubes. Many screenshots taken there which would work well as a wallpaper background, if the resolution of the game wasn't so low anyway. In the same vein, the soundtrack is also really good. It's an eclectic amalgam of so many different genres, that bring to mind so many other similar pieces of media. A chimera of different influences one might say. It's got hints of Nier, Ghost in the Shell, Metal Gear Rising, Bayonetta, Deus Ex, with a bit of djent-like prog metal thrown in there too. Before I got to grips with the combat, the soundtrack was probably the thing I was most impressed with in the whole game.
But then there are all the things that felt like missteps that threatened to drag the rest of the experience down. Not only is the combat very unique in this game, the level structure is very different for this subgenre too. Levels usually start with a section that is more open and sprawling, where you get to explore around and do sidequests before you head in to more linear sections toward the end of the levels that are more familiar to what one might expect with this sort of game. While I liked existing in the world and having a bit more freedom, the sidequests themselves were usually pretty dull or simply bad. They feel like filler, with uninteresting objectives. Occasionally they contribute to your overall ranking for the level too, so they can drag down your score pretty heavily because you couldn't wrestle with the awful gyro controls trying to carry boxes, or whatever it is it asks of you. It's not really fair, as the skillset has nothing to do with the combat systems, the scoring seems to be rather harsh, and it makes the prospect of replaying for a better rank unappealing.
The story and characters are also quite underwhelming. The plot is very predictable and basically a long string of sci-fi anime tropes and cliches. While those things may be common to many similar games, it's usually not a problem because they focus more on bombastic and entertaining characters. You get invested in the simplistic plots, where you can pretty much always tell where it's going, because you want to see the characters get there and see their personalities clash. Or just soak in the campy melodrama along the way. But here almost all the characters are bland and lack personality. Again, very cliched and uninteresting. The only exception being one or two comedy relief minor secondary characters. The protagonist is mute, which comes across very as awkward and silly. Presumably this is all because there's a character creator, but I can't really see why there is one. There's clearly a canon appearance to your character, and nothing about the game facilitates the idea that you can shape who they are in any way.
As for smaller issues, the controls are pretty fiddly and unnecessarily complicated. While part of that is just having to get used to them, in other ways there are simply certain things that don't need to be the way they are, and just make things harder than they should be. The issue of unfitting objectives sometimes shows up in combat, asking you to beat a fight with some certain one-time qualifier that doesn't work well. The technical performance of the game is pretty bad, aiming for but often failing to hit 30fps, which can make things even harder to keep on top of than usual. Every so often you will come across simply odd design decisions that aggravate and get in the way of the fun, that seem to have no point to them, like a level where the floor is covered in goo that trips you up, and most of the enemies are boring tentacles.
So even though this game has a lot going for it, there's a lot of room for improvement too. While the combat is top notch and really interesting, and the atmosphere and style are really well done too, this game is in dire need of some streamlining, and is overall rather inelegant. But in a way, that also adds to its charm. You don't get many games like this these days. While I certainly don't want to excuse the issues, as they do impact the experience, they do play a part in giving this game a curious and quirky personality, that feels genuinely experimental and ambitious. It's so rare these days to get a game that feels like it's from a (relatively) big studio at the top of their game, going all-out on trying something new, just letting their imagination go wild, throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. A lot of it of course won't work perfectly, but in the process you get something unlike anything else, and that is truly noteworthy.
- KSubzero1000
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Re: Games Completed 2019
I've stayed away from reviews for this game, but the above quoted somehow makes me more interested in it than all the 10/10s in the world. I've heard some great things about its combat system from separate sources, too. Looking forward to this one!Scrustle wrote: ↑September 11th, 2019, 11:13 pm But when it clicks, it becomes something really special. While it has the same kind of polish and cadence that Platinum are known for, it still feels unlike anything else out there. Some similarities could be drawn to how V plays in DMC5, but even then it's very different from that. It requires quite a bit shift from the usual mentality one approaches these games with. More based around managing positioning, and being in sync with another entity, but while still working as a single unit. It's very rhythmic, and rewards setting up situations to exploit, and has a big focus on crowd control. You really need to keep on top of things, but when you do, it's so incredibly rewarding and you feel like a champion. It feels much more involved than how V felt to play, with much more direct control over your familiars, with a much better connection to them, and with far more depth to what you can do. For all the problems this game has, and for all the times combat can be frustrating and confusing as you're thrown around like a ragdoll, the good parts make up for it and more. It's not just that it's really good, but genuinely unique and fresh.
Re: Games Completed 2019
Very interesting to read that breakdown. As an aside, and it's not news to anyone here, but the flawed gem is sometimes far more interesting than the polished masterpiece - I find the 'what could have been' feeling to be akin to nostalgia, in a way, in that it colours and adds to your investment in the game.
- Indiana747
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Re: Games Completed 2019
(Jan) Starlink :Battle for Atlas - PS4.
(Jan) Far Cry 5 - PS4.
(Jan) Resident Evil 2(2019) - PS4.
(Jan) Shadow of the Tomb Raider - XB1X.
(Feb) Metro Exodus - XB1X.
(Mar) Marvel's Spiderman - PS4.
(Apr) The Division 2 - XB1X.
(Apr) Dead Rising 3 - XB1X.
(Apr) World War Z - XB1X.
(Apr) Earthfall: Invasion - XB1X.
(May) RYSE: Son of Rome - XB1X.
(May) Tacoma - XB1X.
(May) Abzu - XB1X.
(May) Mortal Kombat X - XB1X.
(May) The Walking Dead:A New Frontier - XB1X.
(May) The Gardens Between - XB1X.
(June) Crackdown 3: Campaign -XB1X.
(June) Days Gone(platinum) - PS4.
(Aug) Wolfenstein: Youngblood - XB1X.
(Aug) Detroit: Become Human - PS4.
(Aug) Devil May Cry 5 - XB1X.
(Sept) Gears 5 - XB1X.
(Jan) Far Cry 5 - PS4.
(Jan) Resident Evil 2(2019) - PS4.
(Jan) Shadow of the Tomb Raider - XB1X.
(Feb) Metro Exodus - XB1X.
(Mar) Marvel's Spiderman - PS4.
(Apr) The Division 2 - XB1X.
(Apr) Dead Rising 3 - XB1X.
(Apr) World War Z - XB1X.
(Apr) Earthfall: Invasion - XB1X.
(May) RYSE: Son of Rome - XB1X.
(May) Tacoma - XB1X.
(May) Abzu - XB1X.
(May) Mortal Kombat X - XB1X.
(May) The Walking Dead:A New Frontier - XB1X.
(May) The Gardens Between - XB1X.
(June) Crackdown 3: Campaign -XB1X.
(June) Days Gone(platinum) - PS4.
(Aug) Wolfenstein: Youngblood - XB1X.
(Aug) Detroit: Become Human - PS4.
(Aug) Devil May Cry 5 - XB1X.
(Sept) Gears 5 - XB1X.
Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
This is a cute little adventure game where you play as a clumsy robot making its way through space trying to find out the mysteries of their past, and trying to save humanity in the process. But more frequently you'll be accidentally destroying them as you flop around with procedurally generated walking animations, apologising as you go. So you hop from planet to randomly generated planet, discovering new body parts for your robot, and defeating funny looking kaiju monsters every so often with a short QTE, which lets you jump to the next system and progress the story. The story gets reveals through coded ciphers you have to work out each time you beat one as well.
It's a really amusing little experience, with a very striking visual style that renders the colourful cosmos in a comic-like cel shaded aesthetic. It also has a very chill spacey synth soundtrack that creates a nice mood. And watching your silly robot bumble around awkwardly on these little planetoids while shrugging off the attempts of humanity to fight back to little effect gives it a fun comedic tone too.
- mikeleddy83
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Re: Games Completed 2019
- Spoiler: show
- KSubzero1000
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- Location: Germany
Re: Games Completed 2019
I just played through Gorogoa in a single session.
Innovative indie puzzle / adventure game with a very distinct art style and unique gameplay hook based on combining elements of different pictures in order to manipulate in-game events and lead to certain outcomes. The in-game logic can be a bit unintuitive from time to time as is usually the case with a lot of adventure games, but I would say this game handles it better than most. I never felt the need to resort to a guide, if that's any indication.
Story is rather opaque too, but also cute and inoffensive.
It's difficult to do this game justice by simply writing about it, I think. I've heard comparisons to The Witness and while I wouldn't quite go that far, this one definitely belongs to the upper echelon of puzzle games. Very impressed overall. Heartfelt recommendation for anyone who enjoys artsy puzzle games and somehow hasn't played this yet. Go in blind, thank me later.
Innovative indie puzzle / adventure game with a very distinct art style and unique gameplay hook based on combining elements of different pictures in order to manipulate in-game events and lead to certain outcomes. The in-game logic can be a bit unintuitive from time to time as is usually the case with a lot of adventure games, but I would say this game handles it better than most. I never felt the need to resort to a guide, if that's any indication.
Story is rather opaque too, but also cute and inoffensive.
It's difficult to do this game justice by simply writing about it, I think. I've heard comparisons to The Witness and while I wouldn't quite go that far, this one definitely belongs to the upper echelon of puzzle games. Very impressed overall. Heartfelt recommendation for anyone who enjoys artsy puzzle games and somehow hasn't played this yet. Go in blind, thank me later.
Re: Games Completed 2019
Yeah it's a good game, and one I always pull out when people say there are no good games available on phones. I played it on Android and don't think the experience was any lesser than playing it on console or PC. Actually the tactile nature of the puzzles really leant itself to touchscreen.