Lurker > Simoun

Memento Mori 2 (PC)

I can't believe I played the first one just early this year, because I could not remember anything about it. I had to look it up again and remember that the first one ended in this fantastic twist regarding the Angel of Death. Well guess what, they use the exact same twist in this version too. Dumb. I guess.

On the plus side, they added a bit more detail into the investigative aspect. At times it felt like I was playing CSI. I would say it's at least better than Still Life 1 in that it isn't so stilted. But it was still rather mediocre. It's like there was so much potential and for a game that came out in 2013 it should've done more with it, but it felt like it was afraid to. For god's sake there was even 1 "puzzle" where you had to fix a jammed printer. As in, remove cover, unpin ink thingie, remove paper jam, screw everything back up. What the fuck.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

MO: Astray (PC)

aka Ori and the Blind Space Station

Went into this completely blind, was amazed. The puzzles and difficulty was sufficiently paced, as I only started dying alot around the half way point. But despite that, it had this engaging and quick design that didn't make me throw the keyboard in frustration. Perhaps the Celeste fans will say its too easy with the peppering of checkpoints and regenerating health but this one is mostly played for its story of which are contained in fragments hidden around the world.

The immediate thing I like about this is the music. The tone is immediately apparent in its Zen-style presentation despite the premise being of the Dead Space variety. The man behind everything is also not on this station in the end. His escape is implied and left ambiguous as his deeds are what brought upon the chaos of the whole game which is...frustrating but I think the point of the game was not to be as implied in the good ending.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order (Switch)

Finished this with my bro yesterday as well as the first DLC with Punisher, Moon Knight, Blade, and Morpheus. I have mixed feelings. I feel like the game was rushed and too tainted by the MCU. It's funny in the first game, I didn't even know who Winter Soldier was until we fought him and all he did was give a one liner. But in this game, he's a good guy and we're all expected to know who he is without context. How the times have changed.

Our final team ended up becoming Captain Marvel and Cyclops for him, and Ms. Marvel and Elsa Bloodstone for me. The latter of which is a very interesting choice. What compelled Marvel I wonder. Is there a revival comic I haven't heard about? Is Nextwave a thing again? Either way, she's very awesome and I welcome her.

That said, the game itself could stand to be a bit longer. Plot wise, it's taking less of a risk than it ever did before with the plot and making it cookie cutter MCU. At times it just felt like a grand tour of the MCU than the game, with Thanos barely making an appearance so that when he did appear it felt like nothing was at stake and he was just another guy to beat up. The worst enemy in this game though is the camera. What we're they thinking removing the ability to move it around in local multiplayer?? That caused our deaths most of the time.

Coming from the makers behind Dynasty Warriors, I like the influences. The combat is now pretty damn good and the engine is able to handle hordes and hordes of mooks to beat up. The way combat works also encourages dodging which can make the game less boring at times especially in boss fights.

The story cutscenes could stand to be less cheesy but its DW so what was I expecting. The bosses are actually challenging now, albeit, challenging in a way that invites grinding at times and this is where my fanaticism for DW stops. I'm not too keen on the Infinity stuff. It's busy work, and the challenges are repetitive with nothing but cosmetic changes as rewards. It's got that stink of microtransactions but not exactly written all over it. I would have also liked a little more customization with moves and powers, and the first 2 games did this with loads of chars so it's not like it wasn't possible.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Little Briar Rose (Android)

Beautiful looking game using a church glass stained window art style. Too bad it's terribly executed wrought by reflex-based mini games, and puzzles that are either too straightforward, rely on conversational triggers, or are too simplistic.

One of the puzzles literally expected you to fail the first time because it wanted you to press a button behind an unskippable dialog box. It required you to know when that part is coming so you can press it before the dialog box appeared and judging from the NPCs reaction, this was intentional.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Stranger Things the Game (Android)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PC)

Oh man oh man. Iga did us good. Hooked from beginning to end.

The game isn't without its flaws though. There appears to be some trouble concerning difficulty curves. There are moments where a boss will just halt your progress by being too hard when the next couple after that will be easy. I didn't like the way the game handled this issue, which was to give you an equally cheese powerset which relied on grinding for shards. I would have appreciated just that, but to require extra crafting for extra power in itself felt like busywork at times. Although, it was fun busywork at least. At least until the endgame where you were way too powerful.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

The Surge 2 (PC)

The 3rd game I was waiting for this year and I'm not disappointed. Though they improved the combat, the maps, and made the UI in general alot easier to handle, I did not much care for the structure and the story. I understand that the sequel has to escalate the threat, but I much preferred how in-the-dark you were in the first game as you slowly unraveled things that were happening to the facility. The plot also tries to ape Borderlands 2 in my opinion, all for some hidden twist that feels meh as it doesn't impact anything. It is nice though that they made the survival of Warren---the Surge 1 protagonist, canon because that guy was badass and deserved everything that was happening to him. You even help him in a prolonged sidequest of sorts.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Chip N Dale: Rescue Rangers (NES)

Still a classic
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Sylvio: Remastered (PC)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

My Memory of Us (PC)

Oh the feels. Basically its Valiant Hearts, but set in WWII on the Polish side.

Intertwining childish whimsy and steampunk with the atrocities of the nazi empire is a bold choice. The puzzles while easy, were very inventive and were varied enough that I didn't mind the abstraction. While the early parts were onset by a clear separation from reality, by the time the heartstrings get pulled the game is almost over. But I don't think the point of the game was to tug at them so closely. Rather, it did very well in bringing awareness to an often overlooked part of the conflict as well as the people involved, as you find the easy to acquire collectibles.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Sorcery 4: The Crown of Kings! (PC)

Ugh fuck this final chapter. I do appreciate the twist of making the rewind mechanic into an in-story device, which basically just disabled it in the 2nd half of this game to the whole thing was just an exercise in trial and error and you could not fucking die.

I still prefer the 2nd one, but it was very satisfying killing the Archmage after 3 books of abuse.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nancy Drew 11: Curse of Blackmoor Manor (PC)

Okay, so I finally got this one working so I had to go back and finish it. And I can see why alot of people recommend it. It has the traditional beats of every other story with a hidden treasure with a scary thing trying to scare you, but unlike those games, this one just fit in so well. I think this is the first time I was so engrossed with the mystery itself. And the whole theme of how the family in the manor over 4 centuries came up with puzzles to protect a secret treasure. It reminds me of Sly Cooper and their vault.

Definitely one of my top 10
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Sorcery 3: The Seven Serpents (Android)

This took awhile. If I had known the 2nd half of the saga was gonna be like this, I might not have decided to take on this sadistic interactive novel. But here I am with 200 gold and 20 rations. And I hear the the last one's even more of a doozy.

The 2nd game had so much going for it even though it was a bit linear in terms of progression. But the 3rd throws this out the window by introducing an open world, backtracking aspect which just dilutes the experience with annoying repeats not to mention that annoying day night cycle where you have to eat food at least once a day or starve to death.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia (PC)

Backlog from last year. Took quite awhile to finish. I'm frankly amazed this one turned out to be Actually Challenging. It's almost as if the dev team took the most time with this one, being the last one in the trilogy. Like, if it just took its time instead of splitting into 3 episodes they could've made a decent main game instead of a butchered spin-off. The end was very frustrating but very satisfying and was frankly harder than any AC final boss battle. It's a shame that even well-polished, it misses out on just a little more detail to make it worth my while. Also, still better than Origins and Odyssey.

One more thing I like about this one is the subtle use of Ezio's theme, but in a darker more solemn context that doesn't overpower the current mood and doesn't outstay its welcome.

And with that, I think I'm done with the AC franchise. The only ones I haven't touched are certain DLCs (like the madness of George Washington) and that one spinoff Freedom Cry which I might visit one day.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Spyro Reignited: Spyro 3 Year of the Dragon (PC)

Oof this one took awhile to 100% I also never realized that I never actually beat this game all those years ago, as I do not recognize some of the late levels. Overall, it was a nice way to cap off Insomniac's original trilogy and I can finally put my childhood game to rest.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nancy Drew 25: Alibi in Ashes (PC)

The first ND game I'm playing in this marathon that I've already played in the past. It stands particularly well, and I still hold it up as one of my top ten. I love this one specifically because it's one of the few ND games to have procedural investigation not unlike a crime show. The vendetta is also personal, and not as goofy or unrealistic. And finally, there aren't alot of puzzles that artificially kept the game at roadblocks.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Sorcery! 2: Khare, Cityport of Traps (Android)

This is peak interactive fiction. I hope I did it right for the third one.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

undertale
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Steve Jackson's Sorcery 1 (Android)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Spyro Reignited: Spyro 2 Ripto's Rage (PC)

2nd one down. I can finally put this to rest. Now I really know the mouselook trivializes everything, including the minigames. I'm not ashamed to admit it but if I couldn't do it 20 years ago on a console, then I probably can't ever do those sharp speedboost turns or the dorky flying missions.

I'm also starting to see Insomniac's inspirations for what would be Ratchet and Clank later down the line. Playing this kind of makes me want to go back to that trilogy as well. Well, maybe not the first game that was bullshit hard.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

The Boogie Man (PC)

Another good game.

The 3rd in Uri's Strange Men series. And I mean, I was expecting of course a return to horror. But I wasn't expecting a thrilling mystery that not only manages to tie the first and second (which is such a stretch if you've played that) game together somehow, but do it in such a way that made everything tense despite the lack of a supernatural element. There were times when the voice acting was weird but those talking bits were the strongest parts matched by the complete lack of any music used in the game. It's so refreshing to see a game that doesn't artificially dictate the mood based on how it sounds. I'd put this game as one of my def faves this year. Only thing though is the ridiculously specific set of actions you need for the best ending.

And with this, there's only 1 game left in the series. I hope its just as good.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Spyro Reignited: Spyro 1 (PC)

I can finally finish this game (and its sequels soon). 100% all gems. I couldn't beat Gnorc all those years ago, but thanks to the magic of mouselook, I finally got my closure on the first try. I know mouselook trivializes most of the first game but I don't care. I expect the next 2 games will be hard still especially those fucking minigames. Also, the flying levels are still tough and took the most of my time in this playthrough.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Stasis (PC)

Wow.

I haven't been this shaken since Spec Ops: The Line. This game is basically what would happen if Dead Space 2 dropped the action and just went straight up depraved. Both games already have similar elements: a Self-Surgery minigame, an infection concerning monsters and mass growth, betrayal, dead babies and children---and this game goes one step further by having a child die before the protagonist's eyes...his daugher.

And you know that part at the end of Dead Space 2 where Isaac is saved on the last minute? I always thought that was a cop-out. Without going into spoilers, let's just say this game's ending did it justice and played the whole thing straight. I've only ever seen a similar premise pushed in SOMA, but even that game had its fun moments. Stasis was a stab in the gut, and the rest of the way it was just twisting all the way inside.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

RHEM I SE: The Mysterious Land

Holy shit that stressed me out. It's even more intricate than Myst. When I went into this, I didn't know about the special extra puzzle. Apparently, the extra reward is an item that's gonna be used in the 5th game. The ambition on this developer is uncanny!

He updates his first game 15 years after the fact, puts it on Steam, then also reworks his other 3 games so they could all have the medallion pieces for his eventual 5th game. Masterpiece.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy

Didn't know this was made by the people who made Return to the Mysterious Island until the familiar interface showed up. The game was ambitious, and intriguing, but half of it was blatantly chores and the final part was suddenly timed and that ending. It's like the game didn't know what it wanted to be: a Myst clone? A fun adventure? A serious murder mystery? So this game decided it was gonna be all of that, which made the tone weird.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nancy Drew 24: The Captive Curse (PC)

Keeps getting better and better. Better animations, better environments, better music. The finale was kind of chilling to me--its the petty crimes that seem the most psychotic.

I am now approaching the first Nancy Drew game I have already played in the past. I thought about this long and hard and have decided I will traverse them again. It's been so long anyway I think it deserves a revisit.

Oh and random trivia, this is actually the earliest Nancy Drew game that is still available as a physical copy.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Traps N' Gemstones (Android)

100% all secrets and gems and for what, a No Ending? I should've just stopped when I beat the main content. It was a nice distraction metroidvania though, better than most. And so rare its on the mobiles to boot.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

The Room: Old Sins (Android)

Would've finished this ages ago but my phone broke last year.

I like the return to form to the first game but it was a little annoying by the middle part.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

I Became A Dog 2 (Android)

When I played this game a last year or was it the year before that, I wasn't expecting such a dark tale in the guise of a rather easy adventure puzzle game. But here we are again and while the plot is just as twisted, it is rife with the same grindy mechanics that plagued the previous part. The first time it was clever, now it' s just annoying. Using ads to increase game longevity. The developer should have more faith in his work that people will want to replay his game for the other endings without having to grind or watch ads.

I don't care if its free. That's just bad design. But it's still a better implementation than Photographs.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

The Librarian (PC)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nine Survive (PC)

Hilarious game version of Glengarry Glenn Ross
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Strange Telephone (PC)

A nice short distraction played in the vein of Yume Nikki without all the backtracking. I got all the "effects" and the endings.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches (PC)

Mercifully the recent update allowed for fast travel, which trivialized backtracking for the most part. I would call this game sort of like a sillier more domestic version of Myst. It was mainly a scavenger hunt where you could substitute a crib with a picture of one, or a starling with a weathervane. There was this whole ghost story on top of it but the supernatural elements were severely downplayed. Unlike most pt-clicks, I do appreciate the mechanic of not having to pick something up unless you required it because it made sense in this game as a clueless house sitter. I would imagine though how annoying it would have been before because of the lack of a fast travel.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nancy Drew 23: Shadow at the Waters Edge (PC)

Ohh fuck this game, but in a good way. Sudoku and Picross puzzles. Actually scary shit happening. And not so annoying minigames. The story was intriguing all the way until the end, and I can forgive some of the annoying stuff like one particular character, the scary ass music that went on short loops, and that one unskippable chore minigame you had to do thrice.

I was really dreading this one since I started the series. Glad its over.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Kairo (PC)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

imo hot garbage is when calling something garbage is still too good
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

sUPERHOT (PC)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Hidden Paws Mystery (PC)

All cats. All yarn. I don't know why I played this but I'm a sucker for look and finds.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nancy Drew 22: Trail of the Twister (PC)

Chores: The game. I mean every game has basically been chores, but this one was just so systematic and obvious. This is yet another one of those rare ND games that didn't have any kind of treasure hunt involved and was straight up drama and secrets. I was actually kind of into the setup up until they dared to reuse a puzzle FOUR times. I didn't even mind the driving mechanic much as this time you no longer had to pay for gas. A far cry about 10+ games ago.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

The Sandman (PC)

Been taking an interest in vgperson's collection lately. Even the non-horror titles. Might swoop em all up.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

The Crooked Man (PC)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Nancy Drew 21: Warnings at Waverly Academy (PC)

Literally nothing could be worse than the last one. And this is a classic private school mystery so obviously it gets top marks. There was a snack making minigame but fortunately it wasn't as obnoxious as Icicle Creek. This one gets tops. I expected 80% of the game to be a treasure hunt, but its actually schoolgirl intrigue which though annoying is a nice change of pace.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

KCF0107 posted...

Prey (2017) (XB1)

19:30
7 humans rescued
0 humans killed

A disappointing but still sort of good game. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve (BioShock, System Shock, Deus Ex, Dishonored), but doesn't come close to incorporating the elements it borrows as well as those games did.

You should play Prey Moonshot which is a completely different experience. I've yet to beat it because it requires absolute planning and timing
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Agent B0rk (PC)
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Photographs (Android)

You Must Build A Boat's foray into experimental narrative-driven gaming, is unfortunately fraught with annoying puzzles and a nonsensical overarching plot. I get that its a tragedy simulator, but it could've done without the puzzles. Like, the puzzles exist to lengthen and draw out said tragedy. Nice touch though to only be able to save one of the five in the end. An even nicer touch is that not all 5 have truly good endings. But having the player go through the WHOLE thing again just to unlock each ending? Rubbish. I think that part could've used more tweaking. I could've taken adding more difficult puzzles to repetition.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

A Short Hike (PC)

Adorable.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (PC)

Appreciate the throwback. Tightly designed and a bit on the easy side.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Amid Evil (PC)

Got my eye on this game since the start of the year. I am not disappointed, however I would've liked something a little more difficult in terms of scaling. There are 7 episodes, but the game doesn't truly pick up until Episode 5 in terms of enemy variety and level design. You do have a Soul Mode which gives you a power boost but I often found myself saving those. It felt too easy when I used it and too hard when I didn't. Endgame levels were just basically exercises in BFG conservation. And Hard Mode itself is just making enemies hit harder so while it may have solved the episode 1 foibles, I felt that the solution was like a stopgap instead of having proper balance.

This game along with Dusk and Project Warlock would've rounded out my retro FPS collection for this year, but now I'm looking forward to Ion Maiden Fury coming soon.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.

Aer: Memories of Old (PC)

Wonderful worldbuilding. Puzzles and mechanics were forgettable but that wasn't the point of this. I love how the flying mechanics exist to just give you that exhilarating feeling of flying like a bird. It may not have the same meat as Rime, but it has heart.
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It's not so cliche anymore when it's happening to you.