Games Completed 2022

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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Alex79 »

No, only X-Com 2 is on Switch. Yeah I've got Mario + Rabbids, I've always enjoyed it when I've played it but never managed to see it through. I will check out Gears Tactics at some point though.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Alex79 »

Alex79 wrote: February 16th, 2022, 7:37 pmJAN - Universal Paperclips (Android)
JAN - Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox)
JAN - Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons (Switch)
JAN - Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (Xbox)
JAN - Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox)
JAN - Halo Infinite (Xbox)
JAN - Hitman (Xbox)
FEB - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Nintendo DS)
FEB - Max Payne 2 (Xbox)
FEB - The Walking Dead: 400 Days (Xbox)
FEB - Hyper Sentinel (Switch)
FEB - It Takes Two (Xbox)
FEB - Overboard! (Android)
APR - Hollow Knight (Switch)
APR - Sagebrush (Switch)
APR - Saints Row IV (Switch)
APR - Sonic The Hedgehog (Genesis on Switch)
APR - Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox)
APR - WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch)
MAY - Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (Arcade on Xbox)
MAY - Super Mario 3D World (Switch)
MAY - You Must Build A Boat (Android)
MAY - Untitled Goose Game (Switch)
JUN - The Secret Of Monkey Island (PC-CD on Android)
JUN - Street Fighter (Switch)
JUN - Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (Switch)
JUN - Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (Switch)
JUN - Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting (Switch)
JUN - Super Street Fighter II (Switch)
JUN - Street Fighter Alpha (Switch)
JUN - Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Switch)
JUN - Disco Elysium (Switch)
JUL - Portal (Switch)
JUL - Poinpy (Android)
JUL - Dishonored: Definitive Edition (Xbox)
JUL - Portal: Still Alive (Switch)
AUG - X-Com 2 (Switch)
SEP - Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge (PC on Android)
SEP - Grid Legends: Story Mode (Xbox)
SEP - Batman: Arkham Knight (Xbox)
OCT - X-Com 2: War Of The Chosen (Switch)
OCT - Curse Of Monkey Island (PC on Android)

I love this game, I think it's as good as the first two, and it still looks amazing now. Endlessly charming, nice puzzles, and I only had to look up a few. There's a really good resource online called Universal Hint System. It gives incremental hints for adventure games, and it's much preferable to using an actual walkthrough. I've not played COMI in many years, and was pleased to see it's held up as a really good example of the point and clicker. Easily playable on modern devices via SCUMMVM, I'd recommend it to anyone who might have enjoyed the recent new Monkey Island games but never played the old ones.
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Jobobonobo
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Jobobonobo »

Spoiler: show
Jan 23: Yakuza 3
Feb 12: Wonderful 101 Remastered
Mar 25: Freedom Planet
May 22: Psychonauts 2
July 24: Yakuza 4
Aug 13: A Hat in Time
Aug 14: Dragon Quest VIII
Sep 24: Moon RPG Remix Adventure
Oct 8: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

Finished the main game and did nearly all the side content. Going onto the New Game + now. Will give full thoughts for the Cane and Rinse Episode later this year. Enjoyed it a lot though.
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markfm007
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by markfm007 »

Jan 7th - Little Nightmares 2
Jan 15th - Final Fantasy IX
Feb 3rd - Deathloop
April 29th - Last of Us Remastered
June 1st - Marvel's Spider-Man
June 30th - Elden Ring
July 15th - Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
July 30th - What Remains of Edith Finch
August 7th - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
August 21st - God of War HD
September 9th - God of War 2 HD
September 27th - God of War 3 Remastered
October 9th - Super Mario Galaxy HD

I’ve been playing this off and on for a fair while now. Finished up the last few tricky purple coins and the trial stars last night for 120 stars. It’s been a long time since I played the original, but I thought the port was great. The HD upgrade looks really good, and the joy cons were easy to use. The motion control movement for the rolly ball stages was very sensitive, but not impossible. I quite enjoy those stages despite them being a bit maddening. It was great playing Galaxy again, such a timeless game. I wish the second game was on the All Stars collection as I’ve never played it. A friend has said he can lend me 3D World and/or Odyssey though so I might start one of those next.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Alex79 »

I was playing Mario Galaxy on Switch but just got pissed off they still insisted on making it motion control despite the change of system - the very thing that made me give up on it back on the Wii. The fact the game is impossible to complete with a Hori Split Pad Pro really annoyed me. Nintendo can be so dumb sometimes. Just make it an option...

Definitely give Odyssey a go if you've not played it. The best 3D Mario game by a clear mile, in my opinion.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by ratsoalbion »

Alex79 wrote: October 10th, 2022, 8:44 pm Definitely give Odyssey a go if you've not played it. The best 3D Mario game by a clear mile, in my opinion.
Except that it's nowhere near as good as Galaxy, in mine.
:D
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seansthomas
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by seansthomas »

23rd Jan - God of War (PS4)
10th Feb - Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Series S)
11th Feb - Starfox 64 (Nintendo Switch)
14th Feb - Sunset Overdrive (Xbox Series S)
16th Feb - Superliminal (Xbox Series S)
12th Jun - Elden Ring (Xbox Series S)
23rd June - TMNT: Shredder's Revenge (Xbox Series S)
11th July - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Xbox Series S)
9th Sept - Hitman 3 + DLC (Xbox Series S)
21st Sept - Immortality (Xbox Series S)

10th October - Neon White (Nintendo Switch)

So at the halfway point, I thought this may have been vying for my game of the year. I was ADORING it. Incredible movement, chaining together weapon combos feels amazing and I love the whole slightly janky Suda 51 visual vibe. I was so invested in it that I was getting an ace medal on every level, finding the package and attempting to get on a few global leaderboards.

It plays something like a cross between Mirrors Edge, a racing game and DOOM (2016). And it's so nice.

I did find I began to tire of it though in the second half. I bailed on the story completely, skipping it entirely until the final level. The music started grating. I stopped doing the side missions and eventually decided to merely beat the game, without mastering a bunch of the final levels, as they began to feel less like ingenious levels to find devious short cuts on, and rather linear routes to learn through constant death. I think I finished up acing 61 of the 99 levels.

Perhaps my recent lack of an attention span was to blame but the final power up or two just didn't float my boat in the same way the earlier ones did, some of which genuinely made my heart miss a beat as I scrambled to make jumps mid air. The later ones slowed things down and became more like hookshots.

There are a couple of SPECTACULAR boss fights near the end though. One is up there with Mario Galaxy / Splatoon for me.

All in all, I really loved Neon White and it'll be in my top 3 games of the year I'd imagine, it's just maybe a couple of Chapters too long; and I think, little by little, I will go back to some of those levels to try and get the Ace medals.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Indiana747 »

(Jan) Terminator Resistance(platinum) - PS5.
(Jan) Call of Duty: Cold War - Series X.
(Jan) Dishonored 2 - PS5.
(Jan) Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Series X.
(May) State of Decay 2 - Series X.
(June) Chorus - Series X.
(June) Shadow Warrior 3 - PS5.
(June) TMNT: Shredders Revenge - Series X.
(July) TMCC: Halo Reach - Series X.
(July) The Dark Pictures: Little Hope - PS5.
(July) Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - Series X.
(July) Far Cry 6 - Series X.
(July) Road 96 - Series X.
(July) Trek to Yomi - Series X.
(July) Stray - PS5.
(July) Toy Soldiers: Cold War - Xbox 360.
(Aug) Avicii Invector - PS5.
(Sept) GRID Legends - Series X.
(Sept) Crossfire X - Series X.
(Sept) Metal Hellsinger - Series X.
(Oct) Bayonetta Remaster - Series X.
(Oct) Prodeus - Series X.
(Oct) Battle Islands - Series X.
(Oct) Tinykin - Series X.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Truk_Kurt »

ratsoalbion wrote: October 10th, 2022, 8:55 pm
Alex79 wrote: October 10th, 2022, 8:44 pm Definitely give Odyssey a go if you've not played it. The best 3D Mario game by a clear mile, in my opinion.
Except that it's nowhere near as good as Galaxy, in mine.
:D
Or mine. Same for 3D World. I would class 3D World and both Galaxy games above Odyssey. I think I just generally prefer the more linear 3D Mario games as opposed to the more open levels of Odyssey and Sunshine.
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Rhaegyr
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Rhaegyr »

I've got your back Alex!

Odyssey just pips Galaxy for me but they're both absolute knockouts.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Alex79 »

I can see an argument for Galaxy - it really is only the forced motion controls I hate, but 3D World? Crazy talk. :lol:

Joking aside, I did enjoy 3D World, although it felt weirdly more like a 2D Mario to me.
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markfm007
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by markfm007 »

I'll have to play Odyssey and break the tie 8-) I do love Galaxy, never had an issue with the motion controls. But yeah it's a bit odd to port the game and not consider all configurations.
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
03/01 - Halo 3: ODST (Master Chief Collection)
06/01 - Halo 3 (Master Chief Collection)
09/01 - Hotshot Racing
25/01 - Halo 4 (Master Chief Collection)
29/01 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
03/02 - Heavenly Sword
05/02 - Need for Speed: Carbon (Battle Royale)
09/02 - Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
20/02 - ICO
24/02 - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
25/02 - Halo 5: Guardians
05/03 - Asura's Wrath
09/03 - Shadow of the Colossus HD (Normal mode)
30/03 - Shadow of the Colossus HD (Hard mode)
30/03 - Forza Motorsport 3 (100%)
01/04 - Muramasa: The Demon Blade
11/04 - Forza Horizon 2 (100%)
17/04 - The Darkness
20/04 - The Darkness II
25/04 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Normal)
29/04 - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
29/04 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (X360)
06/05 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Hard)
07/05 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
10/05 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS2)
18/05 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Very Hard)
21/05 - Umurangi Generation Special Edition
27/05 - GRID Autosport
29/05 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Revengeance)
02/06 - Lost in Random
03/06 - Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
12/06 - Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix
13/06 - God Hand
25/06 - Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
28/06 - Gungrave
30/06 - Zone of the Enders HD
01/07 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
06/07 - Gungrave: Overdose
07/07 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
15/07 - Bunjingai: The Forsaken City
23/07 - Leaving Lyndow
01/08 - Genji: Dawn of the Samurai
01/08 - Eastshade
17/08 - The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Dark Athena version)
26/08 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
30/08 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Knights of the Nine
04/09 - Submerged: Hidden Depths
05/09 - Killer is Dead (Very Hard)
23/09 - Ghost Rider
11/10 – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Finally got this one off my pile of shame. It was probably the biggest one on there. I first played this game way back when it was the newest Elder Scrolls. Not immediately at release, but a good time before Oblivion was announced. I gave it many attempts through the years, but never managed to make it past the early hours. It was always way too punishing to a new player, and way too obtuse in many of its systems, and hard to find my way around with the absurdly low draw distance of the original version, especially on console. But it was always in the back of my mind. Always intriguing, drawing me back to it. I think I could always see what was compelling about it, and why others liked it, but just couldn’t tap in to it myself until now. Don’t know what made it different this time. Nothing in particular comes to mind. Although I suppose the knowledge I have gained about the game through the years helped.

I played through the main quest, the House Redoran quest line, and some of the Fighter’s Guild too. With how sprawling this game is, and how it doesn’t have any credits or definitive “ending”, it is kind of hard to say what counts as complete, but I think at least the main quest counts. This game has always held a sense of mystique about it, as I never had a full grasp on the content. And even though now I know it pretty well and have seen it through to the end, that feeling hasn’t gone away. There’s still so much I haven’t seen, and other ways I could have taken this. I also haven’t done the expansion content yet, which I do plan to do. Going back and doing other quest lines however, I’m pretty doubtful on, for reasons I’ll get to later.

The most enjoyable thing about this game is the worldbuilding. How it creates a really believable and intricate world that is thought out in a lot of ways, and is full of the messy details and multitude of different viewpoints and agendas. I’ll just paste what I said in an earlier post about it, since I don’t think I could do a better job going over it again.
One thing that has stood out to me is how the game really makes you feel like you're involved in something that is very historically and culturally important to this world. It's a feeling that I've always liked about this series, but haven't felt in a very long time as I've become more familiar with these specific games. Skyrim struggled to evoke it even on the first run. And it's not even necessarily because I'm new to this game. I'm fairly familiar with a lot of the plot points and concepts, having played it before and watched many videos about the game. But it's different when you're actually experiencing it yourself. And the way the world building is done here is much more intricate and interesting compared to later games. How there are many different perspectives on the same events that might give conflicting accounts, how there are many different factions with different motives that might overlap or oppose each other in different ways. It's really intriguing, and it's actually got me enthusiastically reading a lot of the lore books. I can't even remember the last time any game motivated me to do that, let alone had me enjoy it.
It brings up a lot of interesting topics involving politics and religion. Issues of tradition and self-determination, who has the right to claim they have authority over certain things, what response is justified to the big problems that exist, etc. It’s good stuff.

But it is unfortunately not something that keeps up throughout the entire game. In the second half of the main quest it feels like it drops the ball on this pretty hard. While the first half basically amounts to doing a lot of homework and learning about this world, and meeting people in it, the second half is far less involving. In this part you spend most of it going around trying to gain the blessing of the great houses and nomadic tribes in order to prove you fulfil the prophesy of being the Nerevarine. It should be a cool sequence, putting what you have learned in to practice, and actually getting involved in the issues of the world. But instead it feels like doing fairly unimaginative busywork for most of it. Often times in the form of simply killing anyone who gets in your way. You don’t get a great sense of really connecting with these factions.

It does pick up near the end though. When you get to meet Vivec that feels like a special moment where you’re being let in to something very secretive and exclusive, and has some really great dialogue as you get to have an extended conversation with a god and pick their brain about all the things that you have questions about. And then the final sequence when you finally venture beyond the Ghostfence in to the hostile territory of Red Mountain, a place that dominates the region but always felt too dangerous to approach before. And then finally getting to meet Dagoth Ur and discuss things with yet another god. One with a whole different view on things.

Most of what I experienced with the non-mainline faction quests was pretty similar to the low points of the main story however. A lot of busywork that didn’t feel like it had much context, where your actual tasks are usually very basic. The Redoran quest line had a few moments that went slightly above that, as there are several different noble families in the house that have disputes with each other. You don’t get to explore that especially deeply however. I dropped off the Fighter’s Guild quests completely since they didn’t seem to have anything compelling going on. Every quest was some isolated thing that just boiled down to killing some bandits or something like that. Maybe it gets more interesting towards the end, I wouldn’t know. I think if I ever do start a fresh playthrough of this game, I’ll go for the Morag Tong stuff instead. I can see them being potentially interesting, but not right for the character I was playing this time.

But back to the more positive side of things, I do quite like the visual style of this game. It has a surreal, alien vibe to it that I like a lot. I think its old, low detail graphics actually help it too. I did have some very minor mods in this area, but I wanted to keep it close to the original look, but with a few helpful enhancements. Improving the draw distance, higher resolution, ambient occlusion, and a few small lighting tweaks. But no change to the actual graphical assets in any way. The barren look of the landscape, with smooth hills and rock formations actually works in its favour. It fits the strange otherworldly volcanic setting. It feels like a harsh place where little vegetation is able to grow, and where the earth itself it formed by some logic removed from what we know in the real world. All the weird flora and fauna add to that feeling, and even the human characters as well, thanks to their strange, blocky appearance and odd, stiff way of animating. As if this world is so separate from our own, that even the basics of human body language are completely alien. Not to mention the architecture as well. The weird looking buildings that have a variety of very distinct styles that denote what faction built them also adds to the depth of the worldbuilding and the sense of otherness of this setting. You can see it in the designs for equipment and clothing too. It gives off this sense that these things were all designed according to the tastes and capabilities of a specific culture that is removed from our own, and thus isn’t following aesthetic design that is supposed to be what an audience would think of as “cool”. That’s another thing I’ve always liked about the Elder Scrolls games that other RPGs miss. It’s also something that I’m worried the series will lose as it goes forward, in an attempt to “improve” its visuals. Skyrim already showed hints of going in that direction.

I still don’t like a lot about this game mechanically though. But not necessarily for the reasons that get brought up a lot. The combat isn’t great, but it’s totally functional if you just make sure to pick the right weapon for your skill. And if things really come to the worst, the difficulty slider is an extremely powerful modifier if you need it. Your slow run speed at the start if the game can be mitigated with character creation too, so that’s not so bad. But the game is still very harsh on low level characters. You can hardly carry anything, and getting stuck down the wrong path or catching some debilitation can destroy your entire playthrough if you don’t have a good save to revert back to. The directions NPCs give to objectives are often really overcomplicated and confusing, and sometimes just wrong. I do like the idea of the limited fast travel in concept, but in practice it gets a bit tedious. I think the problem is more to do with how the game has you running back and forth to traders to sell loot so frequently though. Levelling is very hard early on too, and it’s very easy to create a bad build and only work that out much later on. There are several skills that are basically useless or take forever to level up. I reached a point where I was getting most of my levelling out of training rather than practical use later on. I can see why the devs decided to streamline a lot of this in later games. It desperately needed it. Although I don’t think they did so in a good way. There’s cutting the fat and making things work better, and then there’s removing features that give a game personality. I could have really used some for of respec in this game, or some change to the logic of how certain skills worked. The existence of stuff like spellcrafting or levitation wasn’t the issue.

But despite my problems with the game, I ended up liking it a lot. Actually I suppose I always did like it, but now I finally fulfilled a promise to myself. I finally got to appreciate this game properly, rather than from afar. So much praise gets heaped on this game, and I can say now that I’m right there with that. But at the same time, I can’t hold it up on a pedestal as being way superior to the rest of the series like some people do. It’s true that it definitely has a lot of things that later games lack. And I even appreciate some of its aged jank as giving the game a sense of charm and identity. But it is far from flawless. Still, a classic either way.

30/08 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Knights of the Nine

Also while I’m on the topic of this series, I did actually play a good chunk of Oblivion not long ago. Shortly after finishing Eastshade again I felt like returning to that game to keep that experience going, seeing as how they share a lot of the same appeal. I was never intending on playing the main game though, instead focusing on sidequests and expansion content. Going back to it was fun, and I enjoyed experiencing some stuff I haven’t seen in forever, or even at all in some cases. But comparing it to Eastshade, I think that game actually does a better job when it comes to the thing I went back to this game for. The sense of peaceful exploration through idyllic scenery is kind of dampened in Oblivion with all the random enemies that attack you all the time. I did play through all of the Knights of the Nine quest line, and I was thinking about mentioning it in this thread at the time, but I lost the urge as I was unsure if it really counted. At one point I had a lot to say built up, but I decided it wasn’t worth all that effort, so I skipped it. But I figured I might as well acknowledge it now. I did spend a pretty hefty chunk of time with the game, and that quest line is a substantial story arc in itself, so it’s good enough for this thread. Not totally sure the date for it is accurate. I just went with the date on my most recent save, but it’ll do.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Indiana747 »

(Jan) Terminator Resistance(platinum) - PS5.
(Jan) Call of Duty: Cold War - Series X.
(Jan) Dishonored 2 - PS5.
(Jan) Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Series X.
(May) State of Decay 2 - Series X.
(June) Chorus - Series X.
(June) Shadow Warrior 3 - PS5.
(June) TMNT: Shredders Revenge - Series X.
(July) TMCC: Halo Reach - Series X.
(July) The Dark Pictures: Little Hope - PS5.
(July) Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - Series X.
(July) Far Cry 6 - Series X.
(July) Road 96 - Series X.
(July) Trek to Yomi - Series X.
(July) Stray - PS5.
(July) Toy Soldiers: Cold War - Xbox 360.
(Aug) Avicii Invector - PS5.
(Sept) GRID Legends - Series X.
(Sept) Crossfire X - Series X.
(Sept) Metal Hellsinger - Series X.
(Oct) Bayonetta Remaster - Series X.
(Oct) Prodeus - Series X.
(Oct) Battle Islands - Series X.
(Oct) Tinykin - Series X.
(Oct) New Super Lucky's Tale - Series X.
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joyun
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by joyun »

I didn't play much this year, but I played some good games. Here is the list I ended up with - Forza Horizon 5, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Halo Infinite, Dishonored: Definitive Edition, Batman: Arkham Knight.
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show
03/01 - Halo 3: ODST (Master Chief Collection)
06/01 - Halo 3 (Master Chief Collection)
09/01 - Hotshot Racing
25/01 - Halo 4 (Master Chief Collection)
29/01 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
03/02 - Heavenly Sword
05/02 - Need for Speed: Carbon (Battle Royale)
09/02 - Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
20/02 - ICO
24/02 - Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
25/02 - Halo 5: Guardians
05/03 - Asura's Wrath
09/03 - Shadow of the Colossus HD (Normal mode)
30/03 - Shadow of the Colossus HD (Hard mode)
30/03 - Forza Motorsport 3 (100%)
01/04 - Muramasa: The Demon Blade
11/04 - Forza Horizon 2 (100%)
17/04 - The Darkness
20/04 - The Darkness II
25/04 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Normal)
29/04 - Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
29/04 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (X360)
06/05 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Hard)
07/05 - Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
10/05 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS2)
18/05 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Very Hard)
21/05 - Umurangi Generation Special Edition
27/05 - GRID Autosport
29/05 - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Revengeance)
02/06 - Lost in Random
03/06 - Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
12/06 - Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix
13/06 - God Hand
25/06 - Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
28/06 - Gungrave
30/06 - Zone of the Enders HD
01/07 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
06/07 - Gungrave: Overdose
07/07 - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
15/07 - Bunjingai: The Forsaken City
23/07 - Leaving Lyndow
01/08 - Genji: Dawn of the Samurai
01/08 - Eastshade
17/08 - The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (Dark Athena version)
26/08 - Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
30/08 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Knights of the Nine
04/09 - Submerged: Hidden Depths
05/09 - Killer is Dead (Very Hard)
23/09 - Ghost Rider
11/10 – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
15/10 - Toren

As I was idly scrolling through my Steam library this one caught my eye for some reason, so I figured why not give it another go. Less than two hours long, so it's hardly a commitments at all. It's a pretty nice little game, but one that feels pretty janky. It's very clearly inspired by the likes of Ico, being that sort of minimalist adventure game with an emphasis on mood and aesthetic. It does look nice, and has some really strong imagery in some spots, but it feels like it would benefit a lot from some much needed polish. It tends to overdo it quite a bit with some of the post-processing effects, and models and animations are a bit rough. It has a nice little story though. It has a kind of fable-esque feel to it.
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ThirdDrawing
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by ThirdDrawing »

#10 for me (very slow year) - Live A Live.

I loved the individual chapters with each character. The last chapter was a pain in the ass because you basically needed to consult a guide to finish it. Fun game overall though.
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seansthomas
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by seansthomas »

23rd Jan - God of War (PS4)
10th Feb - Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox Series S)
11th Feb - Starfox 64 (Nintendo Switch)
14th Feb - Sunset Overdrive (Xbox Series S)
16th Feb - Superliminal (Xbox Series S)
12th Jun - Elden Ring (Xbox Series S)
23rd June - TMNT: Shredder's Revenge (Xbox Series S)
11th July - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Xbox Series S)
9th Sept - Hitman 3 + DLC (Xbox Series S)
21st Sept - Immortality (Xbox Series S)
10th October - Neon White (Nintendo Switch)

17th October - Return to Monkey Island (Nintendo Switch)

Like putting on a pair of comfy slippers, it's lovely to slip back into the cosy world of Guybrush Threepwood. There's nothing revelatory here and if you have never played a point and click game from the 90s before, I can't imagine this is a vital purchase. But if you're after a trip down memory lane, then it's a lovely way to spend a few hours.

The quality of life improvements that Gilbert smartly made in Thimbleweed Park are present here also, streamlined even further. Clicking on objects and using them requires little interpretation of verbs like the classic examples of the genre, and the hint system is smartly done (and one I used readily when I knew roughly what to do, but couldn't figure out which little quirk I had missed to activate the puzzle).

I like the updated art style and the writing all seems on point, as you'd expect. The story is possibly going to disappoint those who put Monkey Island 2's ending on a pedestal, as it builds on it but doesn't provide any new revelations.

And that's the crux of the Return to Monkey Island experience for me. Comfortable. Cosy. Nice.

Which is something the game is all too aware of. It knows that it can't shock or wow in the way the series did when it first emerged 25+ years ago. The characters you want to see are all present and now have so much history that they seem like a big bunch of mates. Locations you once loved have fallen into disrepair through the passing of time. The humour that was borderline insubordinate and edgy now seems quaint. The puzzles largely logical for those of us who have played these things to death for 30 years.

It's not going to knock any Lucasarts classics off their perch. It's not the leap that Thimbleweed Park's structured gameplay was. It's not really necessary or unnecessary. It feels like when Shooting Stars came back or New Order reformed; everything that made their past work so revelatory and amazing was all present and correct, but it was simply more of the comforting same to those who pined for more rather than the start of a new dawn.

But I think that's the point? And what the game is trying to say.

And I'm personally very glad that this crew got to take one more sail together. I hope there'll be a few more adventures yet.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Truk_Kurt »

9. God of War (PS5)
I played this a few years ago but only got up to the first troll fight and put it down as the combat wasn't really clicking with me. Something compelled me to give it another try a few weeks ago and I'm so glad I did as it has cemented itself as my second favourite PS4 exclusive after TLOU2. The combat is great fun, the story and characters are great and easy to follow, the set pieces are up there with the best in gaming and it looks gorgeous, especially on PS5 with the boosted frame rate. I find it hard to find anything to criticise about it but if I had to I would say that towards the end the enemies become a bit repetitive, and the map is pretty awful. Ragnorok is definitely on my radar now. Onto to listen to the Cane & Rinse episode. 9/10.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games Completed 2022

Post by Indiana747 »

(Jan) Terminator Resistance(platinum) - PS5.
(Jan) Call of Duty: Cold War - Series X.
(Jan) Dishonored 2 - PS5.
(Jan) Aliens: Fireteam Elite - Series X.
(May) State of Decay 2 - Series X.
(June) Chorus - Series X.
(June) Shadow Warrior 3 - PS5.
(June) TMNT: Shredders Revenge - Series X.
(July) TMCC: Halo Reach - Series X.
(July) The Dark Pictures: Little Hope - PS5.
(July) Tiny Tina's Wonderlands - Series X.
(July) Far Cry 6 - Series X.
(July) Road 96 - Series X.
(July) Trek to Yomi - Series X.
(July) Stray - PS5.
(July) Toy Soldiers: Cold War - Xbox 360.
(Aug) Avicii Invector - PS5.
(Sept) GRID Legends - Series X.
(Sept) Crossfire X - Series X.
(Sept) Metal Hellsinger - Series X.
(Oct) Bayonetta Remaster - Series X.
(Oct) Prodeus - Series X.
(Oct) Battle Islands - Series X.
(Oct) Tinykin - Series X.
(Oct) New Super Lucky's Tale - Series X.
(Oct) Dead Space 2 - Xbox 360.
(Oct) Scorn - Series X.
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