Games Completed 2023

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Magical_Isopod
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Magical_Isopod »

#4 - Guardian Heroes (1996, 360 - via XB1)

Treasure games are very hit and miss for me. I loved Gunstar Heroes, but that was also the first Treasure game I played, back when it launched on the PS3. Since then, I've really enjoyed the likes of Astro Boy: The Omega Factor and Dynamite Headdy, but bounced on the beloved Ikaruga and Mischief Makers. I had this game on XBLA, and I genuinely have no memory of ever buying it.

Guardian Heroes though... This was a great time. It starts as a pretty rote beat em up, and can be played that way if you choose... But this game's a bit of an iceberg. While I did finish the game (Stage 30, for those familiar with it), I really only experienced something like 10-25% of the game. I first noticed something was off when the game was "skipping" levels... I went from Level 3 to Level 9, and I thought, "Oh, was that last level multiple levels in one?" Well... No. Depending on your choices at the end of certain levels, you will jump around to different story paths. Think Darius, but with dialogue options replacing snapshots of the next level.

That level of hidden depth applies to the core gameplay too. Simply looking at the button mapping, you would think there's a simple light and heavy attack, plus a magic spell button. And I played probably 75% through a run before I realized, this game actually has fighting-game button combos for unique moves. Not only that, but each character plays very differently. The swordfighter is a very traditional beat em up style brawler, but the magician needs to brawl to build magic meter, then gain distance to have enough wind-up time to successfully select a spell and cast it.

In addition to the 4 characters available at the start, you can unlock 30(!) additional characters. Which is insane to me.

I LOVE the 90s anime aesthetic of this game, and I am head over heals for the early-CD sample based soundtrack. Something about that specific type of synthesized music hits me hard. It could be nostalgia, but I think the "light and tinny" sound hits my brain in a comfy way too.

As far as I can tell, the online servers for this game are still up too. I played solo, but I bet it would be an absolute ball playing co-op. It's also back compat on XB1 and XBSX. If you haven't checked this one out, it's definitely worth picking up on XBLA while it's still available. I will keep this one in my back pocket when I'm in need of a co-op experience!

&iso2023
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by ratsoalbion »

45 characters in total, in fact.

No servers for this game, as with the vast majority of XBLA releases I'm sure the online runs peer-to-peer.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Alex79 »

Picked that up for Xbox when I listened to the Saturn Console Special CaR show, still haven't got round to playing it through.
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seansthomas
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by seansthomas »

Jan 13th - Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)
Feb 7th - Hi-fi Rush (Xbox Series S)
Feb 10th - Goldeneye (Xbox Series S / Switch)

Feb 20th - Halo: Combat Evolved / The Master Chief Collection (Xbox Series S)

Other than Infinites campaign I've never properly played a Halo game before (bar some misspent multiplayer youth on the dodgy Mac port). So it's interesting to see how much Infinite simply recycles and resurrects of this original game.

The first half of Combat Evolved really holds up well. You can see why people were blown away back in 2001 by the opening outdoors levels; the way soldiers can jump on your vehicles, the enemy flanking you, dropships swooping overhead... it really has a sense of scale and mania that must have been incredible over 20 years back. Bar the variety of weapons, enemies and the inability to run, it still feels good to play.

The weird tone of it all feels very much of its time too. I don't think you get games made like this so much now but it feels like several teams working on different projects, smashing the results together. The music is choral choirs one minute, awful guitars another. The enemies behave comically at times, but the cut scenes go all out horror in places. The final run of levels feels like ending upon ending upon ending layered up; I must have set off about 4 self destruct sequences and nabbed about 3 vehicles to escape by the end.

To that point, it reminds me of Half-Life, in that the first half feels original and great; but then the second half... dear God. The wave after wave of mutated tree enemies grate. The indoors sections feel hollow and on rails. The checkpoints are irritating. Repetition is rife (there is one section where you scale 4 identical floors, blow something up, come down again and then repeat it). Tonally it felt like a different, far less successful game to me.

It improves just before the end (though why anyone decided on that final escape to put columns everywhere to block your Warthogs exit, I have no idea) but yeah... it's a game of two halves, for sure.

Much like Infinite to be honest, which shares so much of its DNA.

Outdoors, fun, sandbox Halo = great.
Indoors, corridor shooting Halo = shite.

I can see myself playing through the other games little by little though, just to see where the series goes...
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Jobobonobo
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Jobobonobo »

Spoiler: show
Jan 8: Densetsu no Stafy
Jan 10: Parodius 2: Fantastic Journey
Jan 26: Parodius: Non-Sense Fantasy
Jan 28: Jikkyō Oshaberi Parodius
Feb 19: Metroid Zero Mission
Have more to say on the podcast thread for this but overall, really great title that captures what makes the "metroidvania" style gameplay so compelling when done right. Also having the original unlocked after you finish the main game is not only nice extra content but also shows how much of an improvement this game is on the original. No offense to the fans of the original Metroid but man, I just do not have the patience to deal with a piddly little beam that disappears after two pixels, no map and not even starting with full health! I did not grow up with the NES and I just find it real hard to go back to the punishing little design quirks that plagued games of that generation. I just wish a lot more NES classics got the remake treatment that Metroid got. But yeah, Zero Mission is really good and showcases the best elements oft the Franchise in one portable piece.

Feb 21: Kirby’s Dreamland
This was my first time going back to Kirby’s roots and for a Gameboy title the presentation is incredible. The animated vignettes before each level are very charming and they got the music of the series down pat from the very start. It is definitely very easy though and not having the ability to absorb your enemies powers makes things a tad too basic. Even though it is very short the Extra mode does bring up more challenge and if you finish that, you get small bonuses such as a Sound test which, again, surprised me by being a part of the series from the very beginning. This is a pleasant and relaxing ttile and I am glad Nintendo stuck with the little blob as he only gets better from this point on.
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Indiana747
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Indiana747 »

(Jan) Death's Door - Series X.
(Jan) Warhammer: Chaosbane SE - Series X.
(Feb) Evil West - Series X.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Indiana747 wrote: February 22nd, 2023, 1:06 am (Jan) Death's Door - Series X.
(Jan) Warhammer: Chaosbane SE - Series X.
(Feb) Evil West - Series X.
How did you find Evil West? It was one of my favourite games last year. I just found the combat so much fun.
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Truk_Kurt
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Indiana747 wrote: February 22nd, 2023, 1:06 am (Jan) Death's Door - Series X.
(Jan) Warhammer: Chaosbane SE - Series X.
(Feb) Evil West - Series X.
How did you find Evil West? It was one of my favourite games last year. I just found the combat so much fun.
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Jon Cheetham »

Spoiler: show
Weird West (Series X, Game Pass) - 8th January
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Series X) - 5th February
Resident Evil: Revelations (Switch) - 12th February
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (Switch) - 25th February

I think this is even better than the first instalment. All the absurd one liners, glowing weak spots and filthy dark corridors a Resident Evil fan craves. Barry Burton and his estranged daughter Moira are the standout characters in this suitably bonkers story.

It also runs extremely well on Switch. And it looks terrific. Water reflections and all, it’s crisp across the board. None of the mushy blurriness at the edge of the screens many of these big boy console ports suffer from. Clearly Japanese devs are just godlike when it comes to optimisation because I could barely believe the visual quality and performance.

I haven’t even tried this one’s version of Raid Mode yet, which apparently could be its own game for how much it offers as an experience.
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Alex79
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Re: Games Completed 2023

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Alex79 wrote: January 14th, 2023, 12:34 amJAN - Red Dead Redemption 2: Arthur's Story (Xbox)
JAN - The Witcher 2 (Xbox)
JAN - Ori And The Blind Forest (Switch)
JAN - Shinobi III (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - Sonic Spinball (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - Super Fantasy Zone - 1cc (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - Death's Door (Switch)
JAN - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES on Switch)
JAN - Final Fight (Arcade on Switch)
JAN - The King Of Dragons (Arcade on Switch)
JAN - Yakuza 3 (Xbox)
FEB - Goldeneye 007 (N64 on Switch)
FEB - Starfox (SNES on Switch)
FEB - Mafia 2: Remastered (Xbox)
FEB - As Dusk Falls (Xbox)

I played almost all of this game via the cloud on my tablet using touch controls, and it's really well adapted for that, seemed like the ideal way to play it. As for the game itself, it was really interesting. I liked the story, and there really did seem to be quite significant changes to the story depending on what road you went down with the decisions you make. On The Computer Game Show podcast Dave has mentioned a couple of times that the ending was a bit soured for him due to one line of dialogue a character spoke in the closing moments, but I can't imagine which that would be. I thought it ended well, and left us with some big questions around what Jim was hiding from his family (not a spoiler, it's clear he has a secret from very early in the game). I'd like to see these devs make another game along the same lines, whether it's set in this same world again or not, but I think they made a great interactive story here with far more skill than David Cage has ever done. I'd even say it was more effective than the Telltale games. I liked the graphic style too, very distinct.
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NoMoreSpearows
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by NoMoreSpearows »

Thanks to the addition of Game Boy games on Nintendo Switch Online, I finally played Metroid II: Return of Samus.

I can definitely see why it's such a fan favorite. It's not the best in terms of raw gameplay, but it more than makes up for it in terms of atmosphere. It feels, for all the world, like a proper horror game: the tension that comes from encountering a new type of Metroid, the lack of a map and an easily accessible means of restocking your health and ammunition, and that ambient music! Forget your Dead Spaces and your Callisto Protocols, this is more than enough for you to get that shiver down your spine and sweat on your brow.

It's not a perfect game, of course. At least one of the Metroids is hidden almost too well (if there was a means of determining you could go through the husks, I missed it), it's far too easy to not have sufficient health and ammo before the final gauntlet, and I only found out how to beat the final boss after a bit of sheer luck. I also feel like I inadvertently sequence broke since I never got the Hi-Jump Boots, but that's par for the course for the series at this point.

I have no intention of playing the 3DS version, with its updated combat and superfluous final-final boss, since I feel like the atmosphere and tension would be completely lost as a result. Maybe another remake could maintain it while still allowing for some quality-of-life changes, but for now I'm much happier playing a few games that won't make me feel like every mistake could be deadly.
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seansthomas
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by seansthomas »

Jan 13th - Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)
Feb 7th - Hi-fi Rush (Xbox Series S)
Feb 10th - Goldeneye (Xbox Series S / Switch)
Feb 20th - Halo: Combat Evolved / The Master Chief Collection (Xbox Series S)

Feb 25th - Bayonetta 3 (Switch)

I really hope there's a Cane and Rinse episode on this one next year as by GOD this would be a great game to hear a range of views on.

I'm honestly not sure at all what I thought of this game. I liked the original a ton, adored the sequel and have no idea where I'd place this one. The 9/10 rave reviews baffle me somewhat; but equally I've not heard it discussed on any of the gaming podcasts I listen to, and that seems a disservice too.

It's all over the shop. Sometimes the game is gorgeous; stunning art direction, gorgeous cut scenes, imagination ozzing out of crazy locations everywhere... sometimes it looks like a ropey Xbox 360 game and slightly barren.

Sometimes the new, gigantic monster summons segueway into the combat seamlessly and take the series to new epic heights. Sometimes they slow everything down, ruin your combo and leave you wishing they'd go away.

Sometimes the humour, colour, breathless action, variety of setting, boss battles and sheer inventiveness of the thinking on display is mesmerising. The multiverse concept allows Platinum to have a ridiculous amount of fun with alternate takes on Bayonetta, her respective weaponry and demon pals; there is a run of levels in the midgame which are enormous fun.

Equally at times, it feels like the designers and artists weren't aware of the script, so whilst they're off being creative and generally brilliant, the writers were slowing things down to a halt with the most laboured, serious and drawn out cut scenes in the series, when you just want to press on. The tone feels a bit off and different too...

The biggest issue for me was the new playable character, Viola. Firstly, her levels seem so much worse than Bayonettas; bad mid level tasks (one where you have to find water is maddening) and parrying timing that's so jarring to Bayonettas that it becomes very hard to complete a level. She feels and plays like a less interesting Dante from DMC. Secondly, she's a bit annoying. Like the kid from 2, her character doesn't really develop or get better narratively nor mechanically. And she plays a big role in the game.

I'm left though utterly fascinated by this game. I wonder if, on repeat playthroughs where you can skip cut scenes and try out the alternate weapon sets, the game goes to another level. Because when it clicks, it REALLY clicks. And there is certainly plenty to do post credits to encourage that.

Also the ending is really interesting. I can see multiple reasons why it's upset and perplexed different groups of long term fans for varying reasons, but equally it's really brave. No matter what you can criticise about Bayonetta 3, being more of the same is not one such qualm.

It tries a new summons system, introduces new characters, changes how weapons work, raises the stakes, moves the story on and sets the series up to go in a new direction. I'm not sure it's 100% successful or personally as good as the leaner focus of 1 and 2, but I'm glad that it exists and that Platinum tried to do something different.

I think it'll be a cult classic and one of those games that in a few years time, people will likely reassess; some fondly, some viciously. But the world's a better place for developers trying stuff like this in my eyes than just repeating themselves, even if the results are mixed.
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show

03/01 - The Last Campfire
05/01 - Splatoon 3
17/01 - Wolfenstein (2009)
22/01 - Fragments of Euclid
02/02 - Postmouse
08/02 - Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (Kung Lao)
26/02 - F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

I had my eye on this game for a while, but I found it to be surprisingly impressive actually playing the full thing. I remember playing a demo some time before it came out, and thinking it was interesting but rather janky. It looks like over time they've cleared up most of the issues and it's turned out to be a thoroughly good time.

It's a Metroidvania which takes place in an industrial "dieselpunk" city inhabited by a bunch of anthropomorphic animals, oppressed by an army of robots. It's got a really nice look to it. Very highly detailed but with a distinct character and colour palette that really sets the mood. Being a Chinese game, there's also a little bit of influence from that in the environments, which adds a nice unique touch to it.

But the thing that really stands out the most is the excellent combat system. You have a robotic arm that you end up getting three different forms for, and they all have their own variety of combo strings that are very versatile and can flow together really well too. The first two you get have more going on that the last one, but even then the stuff you can do with juggling enemies and linking stuff together is pretty extensive. There's even a training mode that you can practice in which has a number of combo trials that teach you what kind of things you can pull off. The enemies are well designed for the most part as well. Many with interesting, stylish, but still nicely readable attacks, which can also frequently be pretty challenging too. The game makes you keep on your toes, or else you can get destroyed pretty easily by even mid level enemies. Bosses are also generally very good. They're often pretty difficult, but at that level where you feel like you can do it if you just try a bit harder. They can be really aggressive, and not leave much room to breath, but are so satisfying because of it.

Sometimes a couple of the bosses feel a bit too aggressive and overwhelming though, especially when the game decides to throw in a bunch of lesser enemies and projectiles at the same time. There are a couple of occasions where you go up against large groups of normal enemies that suffer from the same problems, where the camera also zooms out so far it can be hard to see where you even are on screen. It also takes until pretty late in the game before you unlock a dash that has i-frames and can move through enemies. I feel like a lot of annoying encounters could have been eased if that wasn't held back so long. But for the most part, it's a fantastic combat system that both allows and encourages you to go the extra mile.

The game itself is pretty large as well. The world ended up being quite a bit bigger than I initially assumed it would be. While I wasn't trying to 100% the game, I did try to explore as much as I could, as far as I felt like it. I only missed a small number of things, and it took me close to 20 hours. It was fun to explore as well. You get quite a few good movement abilities, and the levels are designed to make use of them well. There's some pretty tough platforming challenges in there too, which I'm not as keen on since that type of gameplay doesn't interest me as much as the combat. But it still had that quality of being tough, but making you feel like you could do it.

Overall a really good game. One that kind of flew under the radar recently, but I think is more than worth checking out if you're in to this type of game. There's so many indie Metroidvanias out there now, that when a new one shows up it often feels like simply "another one". It makes it hard to get excited about what are likely perfectly decent games at times. But this is one that shouldn't be slept on.
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ColinAlonso
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by ColinAlonso »

Spoiler: show
Jan 22 - Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (Switch)
Feb 8 - Live A Live (Switch)
Feb 22 - Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (Steam Deck) (Feb 23 - Best Ending)
I originally played the standard version of this on Vita way back and I got far on (I was either going to the Temple of War or maybe even to the Sierra) and then got distracted by something else even though I was really enjoying it. So it was nice to give this a go again and finish it. Good fun Metroidvania/brawler, probably filled with too many early 2010s references now ;) , looking forward to the podcast.

Looked up a guide for the orbs for the true ending because I'm not the biggest fan of wandering around aimlessly.
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RinseWashRepeat
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by RinseWashRepeat »

I finally finished Dangonronpa. I'm not too sure how I feel about the ending...

Has anyone else played the sequels? Do they pay-off what gets setup in the first game?
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NoMoreSpearows
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by NoMoreSpearows »

RinseWashRepeat wrote: February 27th, 2023, 2:21 pm I finally finished Dangonronpa. I'm not too sure how I feel about the ending...

Has anyone else played the sequels? Do they pay-off what gets setup in the first game?
Danganronpa 2 sort of does. Ultra Despair Girls doesn't. The anime Danganronpa 3 attempts to fill in some gaps from the first two mainline games.

V3 is a game you rush through the main story for just so you can get to the really good postgame mini-game where everyone gets to hang out and be friends.
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Michiel K
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Michiel K »

Hey, I've started to complete some games again, whaddyaknow?

February 9th: Haunting Ground (PS2)
February 25th: Dragon's Crown (PS3)

Dragon's Crown I played for the Cane and Rinse podcast of course, so my full thoughts will be "aired" soon. Haunting Ground I was playing through with an old friend over the course of maybe 1 and a half years (we moved house in between), whenever we were able to meet up. So it was kind of hilarious how we had to spend at least one hour per evening session (which could have 2 months between them) just to get our bearings and figure out where we were and what we had to do next. We played on his U.S. PS2, on his U.S. copy of the game, which has become worth a small fortune.

I have to say I come away impressed, in the end, finally having finished it over a lengthy period of time. It's a super high quality PS2 horror adventure game very similar in dynamics to the Clock Tower series of games and it delves into some truly disturbing and unsavoury subject matter... of course intended to very much disturb the player.
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Alex79 »

Alex79 wrote: January 14th, 2023, 12:34 amJAN - Red Dead Redemption 2: Arthur's Story (Xbox)
JAN - The Witcher 2 (Xbox)
JAN - Ori And The Blind Forest (Switch)
JAN - Shinobi III (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - Sonic Spinball (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - Super Fantasy Zone - 1cc (Megadrive on Switch)
JAN - Death's Door (Switch)
JAN - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES on Switch)
JAN - Final Fight (Arcade on Switch)
JAN - The King Of Dragons (Arcade on Switch)
JAN - Yakuza 3 (Xbox)
FEB - Goldeneye 007 (N64 on Switch)
FEB - Starfox (SNES on Switch)
FEB - Mafia 2: Remastered (Xbox)
FEB - As Dusk Falls (Xbox)
MAR - Grand Theft Auto 3: Definitive Edition (Switch)

Whilst I was a little surprised at how much this has dated, playing it again after 20 years, I actually ended up having an absolute blast with this. Much shorter, and more arcadey than I remember, but it was still so much fun belting around Liberty City causing mayhem. When I play GTA V and to a slightly lesser extent, GTA IV, I tend to try to drive 'properly', as in sticking to the roads and generally trying to avoid running over pedestrians, but in this game I was all over the place: jumping off bridges, skidding across pavements, moving down innocent commuters left, right and centre. I think it's just because it's so much more gameified than later releases, but either way, this was still a lot of fun to play. I also realised as I was doing the final mission that I don't think I completed this legit before - sure I spawned a tank for the final mission when I played it on PC at release. I would have done this time too if I could have got the cheats to work on Switch :lol: Very frustrating last couple of missions that I managed to do in the end after many, many tries. I was also surprised how short the game was, all done in under 15 hours!
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Jon Cheetham
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Jon Cheetham »

Spoiler: show
Weird West (Series X, Game Pass) - 8th January
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Series X) - 5th February
Resident Evil: Revelations (Switch) - 12th February
Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (Switch) - 25th February
Resident Evil 3 Remake (Xbox Series X) - 6th March

It’s well and truly Resi season!

This was in a bundle with RE2R for S$20 on the X, so I took the flimsy excuse for a double dip and blasted through RE3R for the third time. Still so, so great. With hindsight I do prefer this to Village - it keeps up the excitement and fun the whole way through and is just such a slick B-movie ride of a game. Aside from OG Resi 4, the best “action Resi” they’ve done. With even higher highs than that game for the grins the action packed intro and final boss fights give me. Plus, Carlos’ hair.

And leads nicely into RE4R dropping later this month, which I’m extremely hyped for.
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Scrustle
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Re: Games Completed 2023

Post by Scrustle »

Spoiler: show

03/01 - The Last Campfire
05/01 - Splatoon 3
17/01 - Wolfenstein (2009)
22/01 - Fragments of Euclid
02/02 - Postmouse
08/02 - Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (Kung Lao)
26/02 - F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch
06/03 – Omensight: The Definitive Edition

Felt like replaying this one. I remember liking it a fair bit, and this time through I did have fun with it again. But there are some things it doesn’t nail particularly well. It’s a story based action game where you play through the last day of a war-torn fantasy world on the eve of the apocalypse. You play the role of a supernatural being who can travel back in time and alter events by making different choices and influencing characters by sharing knowledge you have gained from previous cycles, in the hopes of stopping the end of the world. It’s a neat premise, and the story itself is pretty good. You get to see each side of the war and different sides of each character involved in it based on how you decide to interact with them. There’s a conspiracy to uncover, and it’s fun to gradually get new breadcrumbs of that along the way, and seeing how each character factors in to it. Visually it’s really nice too, with great use of colour that makes the backgrounds look like they came right out of some concept art.

The gameplay that ties all this together leaves something to be desired though. It’s a fairly simple action game that has you doing Arkham-like combat through linear levels. There are a bunch of special moves and upgrades, but it’s not exactly a deep or varied experience. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing if done well, and it’s definitely not a terrible time here. It’s fun enough, but it doesn’t feel that polished. Animations don’t have reliable timing to them, which is a problem in a game where last second dodges are a big deal. They’re not very readable either. Your own controls have a sort of bouncy and floaty feel to them as well, with inconsistent response time to them. The game also has a habit of drawing your attacks towards a different enemy from the one you intend, even if they’re standing right in front of you and you’re pointing the stick at them. It can feel good from time to time, when you manage to string a bunch of cool stuff together and you get lucky with incoming attacks. And it’s not like it’s completely broken or overly punishing, but it’s not a system I trust very much.

Since I last played this it got a big update, which added a new ending along with some other minor features. It also lets you turn off narrative hints telling you what thread to follow in order to progress, and adds a post-game phase where you can go back to previous cycles to let you make different choices and see stuff you missed before. In fact it’s necessary to do that to unlock the final ending. I decided to keep hints on, despite not needing them, since that would cut out a lot of dialogue from a certain character, and that felt like missing out to me. It’s not like the hints are really ever that essential anyway, as the game it pretty clear on what you need to do next regardless. The post-game phase is a nice addition though. Originally you couldn’t go back to see other possibilities once you had moved on to the next act of the story, so it’s cool to be able to see everything now.

The new ending is a bit anticlimactic though, for all the extra steps they make you go through for it. The original ending always felt a bit unfulfilling, but in the context of this new ending that comes across as intentional. Giving every character a tragic conclusion, their problems not fully solved. The new ending instead gives everyone a happy ending, but it feels a bit abrupt, and the final boss is the same. It feels like it has about the same dramatic weight as the original ending, but just with a lighter tone. It’s not exactly a bad ending or anything, but it doesn’t feel like the true climax it was set up as.

These new additions seem like they were done to address flaws of this game in comparison to its predecessor, Stories: Path of Destinies, made by the same developer. That game was also a time loop action adventure with isometric Arkham style combat. While Omensight is better mechanically and arguably aesthetically as well, it felt more directed and restrictive than Stories. It made the conceit of replaying the same scenario and exploring different choices feel a bit less interesting, as you were more on rails. It cut down on unnecessary repetition, but meant Omensight was less of a unique and novel experience, limiting its own potential compared to Stories. I think this new content does improve things in that regard, especially the post-game section. But it’s hard to come to a judgement about turning off hints though. Since I already knew the story, I was never going to be able to recapture that feeling of working out a mystery from scratch no matter what I decided. I would be interested to see what someone’s first time experience of this game would be like with that stuff turned off.
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