Games Completed 2021

[ThirdDrawing]

#31 - Last Window: The Secret of Cape West.

I think I actually liked this more than Hotel Dusk. It's a shame it didn't get a North American release.

Unless you're a filthy pirate like me.

Yarr harr fiddle dee dee.

I actually imported mine.

[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
01/08 - Scarlet Nexus (Kasane, NG+)
12/08 - Forza Horizon
18/08 - A Plague Tale: Innocence
21/08 - Contrast
31/08 - Forza Motorsport 7
04/09 - No More Heroes III
13/09 - Metal Gear Solid
23/09 - Metal Gear Solid 2 HD
09/10 - Psychonauts 2
15/10 - Unsighted
17/10 - Sable
18/10 - Halo: Reach (Master Chief Collection)
23/10 - Split/Second

29/10 - Darq

This was a pleasant little surprise. This was the latest Epic store freebie. Usually I claim these and don't play them, and the ones I do play I most often bounce off of. But this one was a fun little experience. A short and sweet puzzle platformer with a great aesthetic and sound design, and some neat perspective shifting puzzles too. It's presented as a 2D game, but you can rotate and move the world in various ways, so you can move in and out of the screen, or change the axis you walk on. You can also walk up walls and ceilings, and pull levers that shift rooms around too, so there's a lot of cool puzzles based around navigating space like that. It also has some light point-and-click style puzzles that were pretty interesting. They have a sense of humour about them too, which is a curious contrast to the very dark and foreboding mood the game goes for generally. But it made for some amusing little surprises when it came to puzzle solutions.

It does unfortunately end with a chase sequence set piece that relied heavily on trial-and-error that I didn't care for much. Also the length of it did make it feel like it didn't fully capitalise on its potential. More could be explored with these puzzle ideas, and a lot of aspects of the visual design imply some form of symbolism or narrative going on, but it doesn't amount to anything. But these things are only minor nitpicks, as the game as it is was still very fun. This version came with the DLC too, which I've yet to get around to. That might help flesh the game out a bit more, but it seems like it's not particularly long either, so I'm not expecting them to completely solve that issue.

[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)
July 24th - Alba: a wildlife adventure (Switch)
October 9th - Hitman 2 (PS4)

October 31st - Metroid Dread (Switch)

Just beat the final boss with 100% of items in 16 hours (though sure with retries its tons more); I love that feeling of each boss (and particularly the final encounter) seeming impossible at first but eventually ending with you doing it with most of your health left. It's what makes Metroid games so good.

All in all, Dread was way, way better than I could have ever hoped.

Sure, the music is a bit crap. And some of the EMMI stuff is a bit jarring if the encounter doesn't go the way it's designed to. But the bosses, secrets, new items, new abilities, feel, movement, story and sheer bad assery of Samus Aran here is up there with the series peak.

What a wonderful game.

[stvnorman]

6 October: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch)
10 October: Gleylancer (Switch)
15 October: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch)
17 October: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch)
17 October: Monument Valley 2 - The Lost Forest Expansion (iOS)
20 October: Kung-Fu Master (Game Boy)
29 October: Cotton 100% (Switch)
31 October: Super Castlevania IV (SNES Classic Mini)

That Castlevania Advance Collection is fantastic - I think Harmony of Dissonance just about won out as my favourite, but all four games are a treat, and the art gallery and the music player that gives you their awesome soundtracks is the icing on the sumptuous gothic cake! Otherwise, just some old favourites, but special mention to Cotton 100%, officially released here for the first time, and some of finest graphics ever to come out of a SNES.

[Quiet Paul]

Spoiler: show

Games 100% achievements for:

Xbox 100% achievements:

• Condemned
• Little nightmares
• Little Nightmares II
• Banjo-Kazooie
• Your Toy
• Outlast
• Outlast 2
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Oblivion
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Call of Duty: MW2 Remastered
• Turok
• Modern Warfare 2
• CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered
• SOMA
• Firewatch
• Blackwood Crossing
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
• The Invisible Hours
• Life is Strange: Before the Storm Ep1
• Life is Strange
• Black Mirror
• Gone Home: Console Edition
• The Station
• NORTH
• Bully Scholarship Edition
• Portal: Still Alive
• Dead Space
• Assassin’s Creed II
• Saw
• Silent Hill Homecoming
• DR2: Case Zero
• TigerWoodsPGATour 09
• Sherlock Holmes
• A Kingdom for Keflings
• Terminator Salvation
• TMNT
• Avatar: TLA: TBE
• XMen Origins Wolverine
• Hitman: Blood Money
• Doom Eternal
• Doom 64
• Alan Wake
• Castlevania Anniversary Collection
• Donut County
• Wheel of Fortune
• Twelve Minutes
• Death’s Door
• Murder House

PlayStation Platinum & 100% Completions:

• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Metal Gear Solid (PS1 & Twin Snakes)
• Metal Gear Solid 2 (PS2)
• Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS2)
• Silent Hill (PS1)
• Silent Hill 2 (PS2)
• Silent Hill 3 (PS2)
• Silent Hill 4 (PS2)
• Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly (PS2)
• GTA III (PS2)


Other:

• Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon (N64)
• Shadow Man (N64)
• The Legend of Zelda (3DS)
• TLoZ II: The Adventure of Link (3DS)
• TLoZ: A Link to the Past (SNES & Switch)
• TLoZ: Ocarina of Time (N64)
• TLoZ: Majora’s Mask (N64)

+ Murder House (XSX). The game I ended up playing and completing on Halloween. Nice little throwback to an 80’s slasher flick in the style of a PS1 game. Would recommend to those that can enjoy an original RE style survival horror set in one small house with puzzles to solve and a creepy easter bunny mascot hunting you down. Easy achievements too!

[ThirdDrawing]

#32 - Saints Row The Third Remastered (PS4) - Picked this up for $20. I had fun with it, and there's a lot of ridiculous over the top stuff that you don't see in a lot of games. Worth a playthrough.

[Alex79]

JAN - 80 Days (Android)
JAN - What Remains Of Edith Finch (PS4)
JAN - Judgment (PS4)
JAN - Donut County (Android)
FEB - Gorogoa (Android)
FEB - Horace (Switch)
FEB - Castlevania (NES on Switch)
FEB - Akumajō Dracula (Famicom on Switch)
MAR - Pinball FX3: Back To The Future (Switch)
MAR - Pinball FX3: E.T. (Switch)
APR - Fantasy Zone (1cc) (Arcade on Switch)
APR - Assassin's Creed: Unity (PS4)
APR - There Is No Game: Game Jam Edition (Android)
MAY - Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Switch)
JUN - Super Mario 64 (Switch)
JUL - Silent Bomber JP (PS1 on Vita)
AUG - OutRun 2 (PSP on Vita)
AUG - OutRun 2 SP (PSP on Vita)
AUG - Ashen (Switch)
AUG - Papers, Please (Vita)
AUG - Scramble (1cc) (Arcade on Switch)
AUG - Bayonetta 2 (Switch)
AUG - Pinball FX3: Family Guy (Switch)
AUG - Shovel Knight: Shovel Of Hope (Switch)
SEP - FAR: Lone Sails (Android)
SEP - The Artful Escape (Xbox)
SEP - Pinball FX3: Portal (Switch)
SEP - Pinball FX3: Aliens vs Predator (Switch)
SEP - EA UFC 4 (Xbox)
OCT - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Xbox)
OCT - Pinball FX3: Aliens (Switch)
OCT - Pinball FX3: Alien Isolation (Switch)
OCT - Pinball FX3: Attack From Mars (Switch)
OCT - Superliminal (Xbox)
OCT - Haunted Castle (Arcade on Switch)
OCT - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES on Switch)
OCT - Gears Of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox)
OCT - Castle Of Illusion (SMS on Vita)
OCT - Land Of Illusion (SMS on Vita)
OCT - Akumajō Densetsu (Famicom on Switch)
OCT - Castlevania: The Adventure (Gameboy on Switch)
OCT - Super Castlevania IV (SNES on Switch)
OCT - The Red Strings Club (Switch)
OCT - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Xbox)

NOV - Guacamelee: STC Edition (Switch)

I really enjoyed this game when I played it back on Vita when it first came out, and now the best part of a decade later, it's still fantastic to play. Great combat and platforming, nice visuals and music, and a real shining example of a MetroidVania style game.

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Call of the Sea - Series X.
(Jan) Remember Me - PS3.
(Jan) Ghostbusters Remastered - Series X
(Feb) Disney Infinity 2.0 - PS4 Pro.
(Feb) Batman: Arkham Knight - PS4 Pro.
(Feb) Sacred 3 - PS3.
(Feb) The Darkness II - PS3.
(Feb) The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - PS3.
(Mar) Gears 5: Hivebusters - Series X.
(Mar) Silent Hill: Downpour - PS3.
(Mar) The Medium - Series X.
(Mar) Donut County - Series X.
(Mar) Astro's Playroom - PS5.
(Apr) Outriders - Series X.
(May) Lego City Undercover - Wii U.
(May) Ghost of Tsushima - PS5.
(May) Resident Evil Village - PS5.
(May) Dantes Inferno - Series X(BC).
(May) Streets of Rage 4 - Series X.
(May) Dead Space - Series X(BC).
(June) Matterfall - PS5.
(June) Battlefield 4 - Series X.
(Aug) Metro Exodus + DLCs - Series X.
(Aug) Mass Effect 1 Legendary Edition - Series X.
(Aug) Maneater(1000GS) - Series X.
(Sept) Dead Rising 4 - Series X.
(Sept) Limbo - Series X.
(Sept) Raji: An Ancient Epic - Series X.
(Sept) The Ascent - Series X.
(Sept) The Artful Escape - Series X.
(Oct) Mighty Goose - Series X.
(Oct) Alan Wake Remastered - Series X.
(Nov) The Evil Within 2 - Series X.

[ThirdDrawing]

#33 - Saints Row IV. Had some neat ideas, and the superpowers were fun to use, but I think SR3 is the better game. I didn't care for how some of the sidequest activities were changed and I didn't like being graded on them.

[ThirdDrawing]

#34 - The Last Guardian.

I am maybe halfway through, and I am done. I give up. The controls are complete and utter dogshit. This game is UNplayable and I cannot continue to torture myself with this utter garbage anymore.

Horrible.

[Alex79]

JAN - 80 Days (Android)
JAN - What Remains Of Edith Finch (PS4)
JAN - Judgment (PS4)
JAN - Donut County (Android)
FEB - Gorogoa (Android)
FEB - Horace (Switch)
FEB - Castlevania (NES on Switch)
FEB - Akumajō Dracula (Famicom on Switch)
MAR - Pinball FX3: Back To The Future (Switch)
MAR - Pinball FX3: E.T. (Switch)
APR - Fantasy Zone (1cc) (Arcade on Switch)
APR - Assassin's Creed: Unity (PS4)
APR - There Is No Game: Game Jam Edition (Android)
MAY - Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (Switch)
JUN - Super Mario 64 (Switch)
JUL - Silent Bomber JP (PS1 on Vita)
AUG - OutRun 2 (PSP on Vita)
AUG - OutRun 2 SP (PSP on Vita)
AUG - Ashen (Switch)
AUG - Papers, Please (Vita)
AUG - Scramble (1cc) (Arcade on Switch)
AUG - Bayonetta 2 (Switch)
AUG - Pinball FX3: Family Guy (Switch)
AUG - Shovel Knight: Shovel Of Hope (Switch)
SEP - FAR: Lone Sails (Android)
SEP - The Artful Escape (Xbox)
SEP - Pinball FX3: Portal (Switch)
SEP - Pinball FX3: Aliens vs Predator (Switch)
SEP - EA UFC 4 (Xbox)
OCT - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Xbox)
OCT - Pinball FX3: Aliens (Switch)
OCT - Pinball FX3: Alien Isolation (Switch)
OCT - Pinball FX3: Attack From Mars (Switch)
OCT - Superliminal (Xbox)
OCT - Haunted Castle (Arcade on Switch)
OCT - Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES on Switch)
OCT - Gears Of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox)
OCT - Castle Of Illusion (SMS on Vita)
OCT - Land Of Illusion (SMS on Vita)
OCT - Akumajō Densetsu (Famicom on Switch)
OCT - Castlevania: The Adventure (Gameboy on Switch)
OCT - Super Castlevania IV (SNES on Switch)
OCT - The Red Strings Club (Switch)
OCT - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Xbox)
NOV - Guacamelee: STC Edition (Switch)

NOV - Bastion (Switch)

I first completed this game years back on the Vita, and actually at the time didn't really enjoy it. I appreciated a lot of it - the looks, the music, the voice acting, but just didn't particularly like actually playing it.

I've tried a few of Supergiant's games over the years, but despite loving the style and atmosphere of them, they never really clicked. That is, until Hades. So, after really enjoying the hell-based rogue-like, dungeon crawler, I thought I'd go back and see if I was wrong about Bastion.

And you know what.... I wasn't!

I still think that despite it looking utterly incredible for a ten year old game (I mean really, it's still one of the best looking games I've ever played), and despite everything surrounding the game being really great, I still think it's just boring to play. Most of the weapons aren't really usable against swarms of enemies, and I used the hammer and bow for 80% of the game, only switching to the flame bellows towards the end of my playthough (and incidentally, are those things totally OP or what?)

So yeah, still not a game I like. But it only cost me a couple of quid to find out. I've had Transistor for years as well, both on PlayStation and Switch, and I know I liked the look and music of that game even more, so keen to give that one another try too since I never got more than an hour or so in.

[Simonsloth]

#34 - The Last Guardian.

I am maybe halfway through, and I am done. I give up. The controls are complete and utter dogshit. This game is UNplayable and I cannot continue to torture myself with this utter garbage anymore.

Horrible.

That’s a shame as the game really grew on me as it progressed and I think of it fondly. The controls definitely stood out as the more dated part of the package but didn’t seem too bad after the initially steep learning curve.

Have you played ico or shadow of the colossus on the ps2 as they are similar. It’s definitely a game that shows it’s protracted development time.

[ThirdDrawing]

That’s a shame as the game really grew on me as it progressed and I think of it fondly. The controls definitely stood out as the more dated part of the package but didn’t seem too bad after the initially steep learning curve.

Have you played ico or shadow of the colossus on the ps2 as they are similar. It’s definitely a game that shows it’s protracted development time.

I've played both, I own both on PS2 and the remastered collection on PS3. And I own the PS4 remake of SOTC. And the horse could be frustrating, but I never found it as frustrating as this. I really wanted to like this game because I like the other two so much. It's definitely a case of ambition outstripping ability with this game I think. And I don't mean it to be derogatory, just that it was an aim and a miss.

I think the difference between this game and Ico is in Ico, you're mostly dragging the girl to where you want to go and there are very simply mechanics to get her to do things like jump to you. I just think they tried to do too much with LG.

[seansthomas]

#34 - The Last Guardian.

I am maybe halfway through, and I am done. I give up. The controls are complete and utter dogshit. This game is UNplayable and I cannot continue to torture myself with this utter garbage anymore.

Horrible.

This video helped me tons and after I watched it, I didn't have any more issues. Definitely better when you do one single input and wait a while. Trico gets confused easily. Worth a visit in case you've got it in you to have one last go.



It's a tremendous finale!

[Simonsloth]

The finale is definitely worth the journey.

I wish I had watched that video when I played it. Trico refused to do anything I wanted until I realised less is more. I was too impatient and spent most of the beginning of the game shouting at them and frustrated when nothing happened.

[stvnorman]

6 October: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch)
10 October: Gleylancer (Switch)
15 October: Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch)
17 October: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - Castlevania Advance Collection (Switch)
17 October: Monument Valley 2 - The Lost Forest Expansion (iOS)
20 October: Kung-Fu Master (Game Boy)
29 October: Cotton 100% (Switch)
31 October: Super Castlevania IV (SNES Classic Mini)

That Castlevania Advance Collection is fantastic - I think Harmony of Dissonance just about won out as my favourite, but all four games are a treat, and the art gallery and the music player that gives you their awesome soundtracks is the icing on the sumptuous gothic cake! Otherwise, just some old favourites, but special mention to Cotton 100%, officially released here for the first time, and some of finest graphics ever to come out of a SNES.

[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)
21/08 - Hypnospace Outlaw (PC)
27/08 - Death's Door (PC)
07/09 - Psychonauts 2 (PC)
11/09 - Metro: Exodus (PC)
20/09 - Quake (PC)
25/09 - Castlevania (Switch - Via the Collection)
12/10 - Metroid Dread (Switch)
24/10 - Outer Wilds: Echo of the Eye (PC)

07/11 - Inscryption (PC)

Great, but the rest of the game never quite lives up to the brillance of the first act.

[Indiana747]

(Jan) Call of the Sea - Series X.
(Jan) Remember Me - PS3.
(Jan) Ghostbusters Remastered - Series X
(Feb) Disney Infinity 2.0 - PS4 Pro.
(Feb) Batman: Arkham Knight - PS4 Pro.
(Feb) Sacred 3 - PS3.
(Feb) The Darkness II - PS3.
(Feb) The Bureau: XCOM Declassified - PS3.
(Mar) Gears 5: Hivebusters - Series X.
(Mar) Silent Hill: Downpour - PS3.
(Mar) The Medium - Series X.
(Mar) Donut County - Series X.
(Mar) Astro's Playroom - PS5.
(Apr) Outriders - Series X.
(May) Lego City Undercover - Wii U.
(May) Ghost of Tsushima - PS5.
(May) Resident Evil Village - PS5.
(May) Dantes Inferno - Series X(BC).
(May) Streets of Rage 4 - Series X.
(May) Dead Space - Series X(BC).
(June) Matterfall - PS5.
(June) Battlefield 4 - Series X.
(Aug) Metro Exodus + DLCs - Series X.
(Aug) Mass Effect 1 Legendary Edition - Series X.
(Aug) Maneater(1000GS) - Series X.
(Sept) Dead Rising 4 - Series X.
(Sept) Limbo - Series X.
(Sept) Raji: An Ancient Epic - Series X.
(Sept) The Ascent - Series X.
(Sept) The Artful Escape - Series X.
(Oct) Mighty Goose - Series X.
(Oct) Alan Wake Remastered - Series X.
(Nov) The Evil Within 2 - Series X.
(Nov) Minecraft Dungeons - Series X.

[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)
Jul 24 - Astro's Playroom (PS5)
Aug 2 - The Darkside Detective (Switch)
Aug 5 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)
Sep 4 - Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (PS5)
Sep 10 - Ori and the Will of the Wisps (Switch)
Sep 26 - Blaster Master Zero (Switch)
Sep 29 - Flipping Death (Switch)
Oct 11 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PS5)
Oct 25 - Hotshot Racing (Switch)

Nov 6 - Neo: The World Ends With You (PS5)

Bright, colourful, brash and noisy. TWEWY's Shibuya really survived the transition to 3D. The graphics may be relatively simple, but that just seems to make it pop more. The music is a lot of vocal tracks and some are hit and miss but it works in the setting.

The combat could be described as mashy but I enjoyed it. Each character can be equipped with a pin which has an assigned button (Square,Triangle,L1,L2,R1,R2) depending on the type of attack it does (there are more than 6 types of attack, but each pin of a type of attack has the same button, e.g. thrown bombs and rising spike attacks both use R1). Each pin has a condition (finish the slashing combo, launch the enemy, etc) that if you then swap to another character's attack builds up the combo meter for a special attack and that's a really satisfying way to build up the special attacks and also to manage a busy combat system. I was surprised how so many of the game's systems actually stuck to or were strongly influenced by the original despite the move to 3D.

The plot is solid but that is a step down from the original. The characters are a likeable bunch (Nagi's dating sim phone game obsession gets annoying) but I don't think the game earned some of the character development it attempted in the late game.

I'll dabble around with it for a while longer and there's a bonus chapter to play too. It may not get close the original, but that is one of my favourite JRPGs, and this was still a lot of fun and a good sequel.

[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
01/08 - Scarlet Nexus (Kasane, NG+)
12/08 - Forza Horizon
18/08 - A Plague Tale: Innocence
21/08 - Contrast
31/08 - Forza Motorsport 7
04/09 - No More Heroes III
13/09 - Metal Gear Solid
23/09 - Metal Gear Solid 2 HD
09/10 - Psychonauts 2
15/10 - Unsighted
17/10 - Sable
18/10 - Halo: Reach (Master Chief Collection)
23/10 - Split/Second
29/10 - Darq

11/11 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut

It took me a while to properly get in to this run, but I had more fun with it the longer I went on. I was somewhat hesitant to replay the section that was originally DLC, as I wasn’t particularly fond of it before. But this time I enjoyed it. Usually I don’t appreciate when games like this do the thing of stripping you back to zero and taking away all your unlocked abilities for a certain section. I didn’t mind it so much this time. Playing NG+ has kind of made me a bit overpowered, so it was fun to go back to having to be a bit more resourceful for that section. Also I think knowing the layout of the area from beforehand helped make it feel like less of a daunting slog. At the same time, it is sort of a pace breaker for that late period in the game. It’s quite a bit longer than I was expecting.

Being a NG+ run, I was able to completely unlock every augmentation. But that wasn’t necessarily a good thing to do. Being overpowered wasn’t really the issue, as that just gives you more room to explore your options. But I think there are certain augmentations that are just not very good and make the experience worse. The social enhancer one in particular. I always avoided it before because I found it confusing, and like it was sort of undermining the conversation system that is one of the highlights of the game. Trying it this time, I also discovered that the UI for it is terribly placed, as it completely obscures NPC’s faces in certain camera angles. Another one I didn’t like was also for UI problems, the mark and track upgrade. It’s pretty unnecessary if you have even a slightly upgraded minimap and the augment that highlights important things. On top of that it’s clunky to use, and leaves an intrusive icon for it on-screen constantly regardless if you actually use it or not. Luckily I unlocked both of those before doing the DLC section, and when that gives you back your equipment at the end, it does it through fresh Praxis points. So you can use that moment like a character respec. Not ideal that it’s the only point in the game where you can do that, but I was glad to stumble on that anyway and get rid of those bad upgrades.

As for all that talk I had about play style, I did end up falling back in to my usual habits, but I think that did help me enjoy the game more again. Although I did make a point to go out of my way to get a laser rifle and fully upgrade it. I didn’t end up using it much, but it was fun to use in the moments I did. It does a ton of damage and can even shoot through walls, so it made short work of the late game bosses. Even the final boss, where you can just shoot through that glass barrier and have the fight over in seconds, it’s pretty amusing how you can just circumvent that whole thing.

As I got later in the game I also managed to fine tune the technical issues down to being negligible. It definitely helped me get in to the game more, not being distracted by immersion breaking hiccups. As well as that I also played this with a mod that restores the gold filter from the original version of the game, and even lets you choose whether you want the bloom and lighting from either version independently. I appreciated that a lot. I do like the original art design of this game, and it definitely lost something with this updated version. But at the same time, the new lighting is better in some ways, so it was nice to be able to mix and match and get the game looking exactly how one might want it. It’s a great and very elegant fix.

Playing through this again has naturally got me thinking about Mankind Divided as well. Although I’m finding myself more drawn to the idea of revisiting just the DLC for it more than the main game. I never did complete that one set in a prison the first time either. I’m not going to jump straight in to it yet (I decided I want to get back to the MGS series next) but when I do I’ll make that a priority.