Board 8 > Post Each Time You Beat a Game: 2020 Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
It is pretty much more of Galaxy. I like the home ship that keeps accumulating NPCs as you clear stuff. But Wiimote controls still grate on my nerves. Everyone says these games are easy but I struggle with them about as much as Megaman and Castlevania.

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The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Vita)

With the 4th game in this series already announced I figure I should get a move on eventually - I definitely won't be catching up any time soon, but I definitely enjoyed this one and I am looking forward to continuing the series.

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paperwarior posted...

Everyone says these games are easy but I struggle with them about as much as Megaman and Castlevania.

Galaxy 2 is fairly challenging. Definitely one of the harder Mario games.

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Nancy Drew 30: The Shattered Medallion (PC)

Might as well be a treasure hunt game like Ransom of the Seven Ships. But at least this one didn't have an annoying driving game. I don't really mind these Non-Mystery Mysteries much because I'm all about that puzzle solving goodness so this was decent. Also, the game's about Reality Shows so its kinda funny this game hasn't aged well.

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The Spiral Scouts (PC)

This is a weird game, and I don't mean in its oddness. If you look at the game's screenshots, you'll find it pretty innocuous. And it is in fact innocuous. It's primarily a puzzle game with a cute art style. It's got a catchy soundtrack too.

However. The writing is atrociously vulgar. Toilet Humor. Juvenile MTV Jackass stuff---no actually age it a bit down because it's more of the stuff you hear a gradeschooler would say. It's as if they lost all the dialogue in the game on the last minute and decided to hire some 12 year old who made a few abridged anime videos to just fill in the blanks.

The crude tone is really a hit or miss. It just tackles everything and isn't afraid to cross the line: Crack and Ecstasy, Satanic sacrifices, Stalking a Married Woman, Orgies. In one sidequest, you even help a horny receptionist get her rocks off with a massive censored vibrator. And it fascinates me that all this is played straight without any subversion or twist in the end. There is a super secret endgame that will test your puzzling skills, but the reveal is just as crude as the rest of the game.

All in all, you'll either love it or hate it. It's a hard game to recommend but if you can get past the juvenile attempt at humor, its a great game.

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over the last couple days

Detroit

Suffers from some of the usual quantic dream flaws but overall I really enjoyed the ride on this one.

Uncharted 4

I was kind of skeptical coming into it given the introduction of a never before mentioned sibling, but Sam and Nathan had great chemistry. The wider, more open and lengthy sections were a mixed bag imo. I do think it was a great capstone to the mainline Uncharted games and really enjoyed the ending.

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BioShock (360)

Playing this game in 2020, I think the subversive aspects of the story don't blow my mind as much as they would have when the game was released, because so many other games have gone in the same direction since then. It's still a very cool premise/setting though.

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

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Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)

What a weird game. On one hand, there's half-baked combat, jankiness all around, and poor world-building that leads into a nonsensical story with uninteresting filler. On the other, I loved just fucking around using gravity powers outside of the missions, and despite the minimal variety, I enjoyed the challenges.
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God of War III (PS3)

2 > 3 > 1 > CoO > GoS

Chrono Cross (PS1)
The final dungeon tried our patience and left us very confused about the plot. And then standing in front of the final boss were 3 NPCs who dropped ALL the exposition. This is not ideal.

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KCF0107 posted...

Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)

What a weird game. On one hand, there's half-baked combat, jankiness all around, and poor world-building that leads into a nonsensical story with uninteresting filler. On the other, I loved just fucking around using gravity powers outside of the missions, and despite the minimal variety, I enjoyed the challenges.

I've always wanted to try the Gravity Rush games.

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch)

Went blue lions on hard/classic. Liked it a lot, started skipping support conversations half way through. Lots of tedious stuff to do in this game but the battles were a lot of fun. Not my favorite fire emblem but pretty good!

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Persona 5 Royal (PS4)

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Assassin's Creed: Rogue
Overall I preferred Black Flag. This one was a lot shorter, and the story wasn't as interesting in my opinion. It was neat to see things from templars point of view and there were a lot of QoL things. The economy thing was a cool addition, and I liked the added weapons. Ship Combat seemed more difficult since there were more tight spaces. Seemed to be less sneak and follow missions, which I appreciated.

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Goat Simulator (PS4)

This was free with PS+ so I decided to play it since the reviews weren't bad and I figured it would be easy trophies. Aside from the Flappy Goat trophy it was pretty easy, but I honestly wasn't too impressed with the game. Wasn't that fun or ridiculous, plus it was kinda glitchy.

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Deiland (PS4)

Frequently buggy (minor inconveniences at worst), but I like chill games with plenty of variety and content. It isn't the most memorable game, but I enjoyed my time with it.
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Resident Evil 3: Remake

I really enjoyed this. Jill looked a lot more normal than Leon and Claire from the previous game. I really liked the addition of the dodge button, and the knife not being breakable. Nemesis felt a ton more threatening than Tyrant as well. The set pieces were really cool and had a fair amount of variety. The boss fights were neat, and felt tough. Had to take two tries on most.

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paperwarior posted...

Chrono Cross (PS1)
The final dungeon tried our patience and left us very confused about the plot. And then standing in front of the final boss were 3 NPCs who dropped ALL the exposition. This is not ideal.

i so envy you. CC is one of my longest backlogged games. throughout my life, every single time Ive tried to beat this game something always happens. the cd breaks. the PSP breaks. This time I'm turning to emulation.

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FF7R (PS4)

I found parts of the ending contrived and fucking stupid, but holy shit

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I just finished the first God of War on God Mode difficulty. It's doable, but the fight against Kratos clones is a pain in the ass. So damn frustrating on these settings. Now I'm working on the 1st Half Life

Dragon's Dogma (360)

Killed the Dragon, killed the Ur-Dragon, killed the Seneschal. I like this game, but it's really slow with enemies having tons of HP and no real fast travel (but quests that require a lot of running around). I'm conflicted on the world-building too. Everything about pawns and the Arisen and the dragon is really cool, but it's shackled to a bog standard medieval fantasy setting.

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Arkham Knight (PS4)

Felt quite similar to the previous Arkham games, which isn't necessarily bad. I enjoyed playing through this one but I thought the Batmobile sections were kinda tedious and frustrating.

I normally try to platinum all my games but after getting all the Riddler Trophies in Asylum I couldn't bring myself to do that all again in any of the subsequent games. I could see myself going back to this every once and a while to do some trophy cleanup though.

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I liked the Riddler trophies in Asylum, but I didn't bother doing it in City with the addition of physical challenges. I wasn't the best at those. Does Knight continue the trend of City or does it go back to its Asylum roots?
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I didn't do that many but it seemed like a bit of both.

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Creepy Brawlers (Switch)

This game is pretty much Punch-Out!! Halloween Edition.

You play as an unnamed boxer who is also a movie goer that likes to watch horror movies and he gets transported on the silver screen to fight various monsters in boxing matches. That's what can be made out of the story.

It controls very much like Punch-Out. Hooks, Jabs, Dodges and you can do a Power Punch similar to the Star Punch when you dodge certain punches to perform a powerful counter punch. That's the only time you are able to do a Power Punch.

You box against many horror themed enemies like a Zombie, Wolfman and Frankenstein to name a few.

It's a fun little game if you're looking for another Punch-Out!! fix. Not the greatest of games but it was amusing.

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Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC)

it's a mixed bag. i wouldn't have bought the game if a friend didn't also get it simultaneously. the contrast between the ultra-scripted story missions and open world is almost too much

the context-sensitive buttons are another weak point. "See interaction options" is the same button as "Aim Weapon", and it's periodically unclear which will occur when you hit L2.

The game also loves to cap your movement speed- either forcing you to walk or your horse to trot, and you won't know if tapping X will speed you up until you try. I found this one maddening.

But despite this, I was in the mood for western-themed episodic stories and happy going with the more linear flow. I went in with low expectations and they were exceeded.

The online is fun so far, even if my friends and I spend most of our time driving our horses into each other. I imagine it would be miserable to buy into the grind.

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Assassin's Creed III Remastered (PC)

So I got this game to do the King Washington DLC, and I was just allured to replay this. The visuals look amazing and Connor is awesome. But having come so far I can now see without the nostalgia glasses how flawed this game was for its time. Still, it was very innovative and brought to the table a ton of features that future games would take for granted. Why can't this oldschool one-hit-kill anything system be brought to the vast world of the recent 2 games.

I still say Unity is the superior game and doesn't deserve the flack that it gets.

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Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)

So I was having a blast with this game going through the caves, upgrading my shit, and becoming friends with the villagers. Wasn't really understanding why so many people say it's hard to come back to this game aside from the very lacking dialogue. That's when I hit the game halting plot point known as Misty Bloom Cave which is only accessible in Winter. I was in early Summer. Completely killed any enjoyment I had at that point.

Got a few quarantine wins in:

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)

I dunno if this is a game you beat necessarily, but after Project KK, I got credits. So Im counting it.

Knuckles in Sonic 2 (Switch)

Death Egg sucks with Knuckles. Otherwise, I loved playing as him.

Sonic Forces (Switch)

I liked it a lot, but it was super short. Glad I got it on sale and didnt pay full price.

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4/5 Grim Fandango Remastered (Steam)
Took a few years, and some guides, but I finally got through it. Fun game, would not play again. Maybe watch, but never play.

4/11 Invisible Inc. (Steam)
Also, took a while, mostly because I didn't realize the 72 hour time limit was just to get to a final stage, not like a Majora's Mask type thing. I looked up to see if there were alternate endings to keep playing for, but sadly the game ends where it ends and how it does. Ultimately a letdown, but presumably fun for those who like the harder difficulty settings.

Also, X-COM: Enemy Unknown comparison because I stopped for a long time before the final fight for too long before restarting, not knowing I was at the end.

4/15 Brtal Legend (Steam)
One of the earlier games I got on Steam, back when I made purchases very sparingly, and I finally completed it. I had much more fun this time around knowing I'd have to do RTS, and having a Steam Controller to get through it. Thought it was pretty solid overall with some twists that surprised me after all this time. Don't think "Angel Witch" and "We Are the Road Crew" will be leaving my head anytime soon. Ophelia <3

4/16 Higurashi Ch.3 - Tatarigoshi (Steam)
Wow. Third game in a row where I'm fine getting through the beginning and the end, but the middle chapters I flee from for months on end. Really, really good, very surprising, hard to read, hard to play, but ultimately... just wow.

4/16 Arcania: Fall of Setarrif (Steam)
That was dissatisfyingly short. I thought it was a complete sequel, not realizing it was a four-hour dlc campaign for the main game. Very straightforward, pretty easy. Did some nice story beats to add to the poor end of the first game, but still... there was a brand new map and I only explored about 5% of it and fought the final boss without realizing that was the final boss. Whatever, it's over and I can move on.


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Xeodrifter (Switch)

Very fun and short Metroidvania.

I liked Plane Shifting from the foreground to the background and vice versa. That was a neat mechanic and I also heard this was also featured in Mutant Mudds (I have Mutant Mudds Collection which I'll get around to eventually.)

I also liked the weapon system when collecting the +Gun collectibles.

Another upgrade you get near the end of the game I liked also reminded me of Axiom Verge (which came out a year after this game): Phaze. It reminded me of the Modified Lab Coat/Trench Coat. Same mechanic of passing through walls!

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inFAMOUS First Light (PS4)

I really liked how melee was both useful and felt good. I haven't touched the arenas yet.
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Assassin's Creed III Remastered: Tyranny of King Washington DLC (PC)

Another major AC off my list and I feel sad that my time with Connor has passed. I'm going to truly miss this oldschool system and the emphasis on stealth. This DLC honestly feels like Far Cry 3/5 and lol a giant pyramid in the middle of New York echoes a certain game in the near future at the time. There's only 1 more thing I have to do and its the 2 DLCs for AC Odyssey and I'd have "caught up".

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Baba is You

Beat 49 levels. Didn't know I was at the "end" of the game, just wanted to see what the rule did. Still have a fair amount to go so will play it off and on for a while. Overall I have enjoyed this title, I've liked how simple it seems but how difficult it actually is. Puzzles now take me a good 15+ minutes on even the easier puzzles. Can definitely see me playing it for a few months easily.

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Gato Roboto (Switch)

MEOW!

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The Great Perhaps (PC)

A good distraction. Plot's been done before and I wouldn't have minded a pessimistic ending, but an abruptly ambiguous one was kinda lame.

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Metroid Prime (Wii)
Not a big fan of these controls, or of the amount of backtracking through platformy, enemy-filled terrain. Probably going to go GCN for the sequel.

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Well, you will be backtracking just as much through platformy, enemy-filled terrain. I would say you might as well skip to 3, but that is for Wii. I think the Metroid Prime games just aren't for you lol.
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I generally prefer to play through series in their entirety. And I did clear both games on Gamecube a long time ago. There are good aspects to them.

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Cat Quest (Switch)

This was such a fun game. A nice little action RPG stuffed full of cat characters and cat puns. You can even do a Mew Game+ after you beat it. I think I will after I beat Cat Quest 2.

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Half-Life: Alyx

This was the game that got me to replay my favorite series this year. Overall it was a fun title to play. The gunplay was a really fun mechanic in this game, the reloading felt natural and gave a sense of urgency. It was fairly easy to panic and screw up your reloading. It was also fun to actually use cover effectively, being able to peek over exactly how you wanted. There were a few chapters that were really neat and atmospheric, and one level was genuinely intense to me. Overall though, it was towards the bottom of the HL games to me. The puzzles were pretty much the same thing over and over. The weapon variety was pretty slim. I prefer the faster pace of Gordon. The chapters also felt kind of samey, whereas in the other Half-Life games it felt like set pieces changed a lot.

Now that I replayed the series:
Half-Life > Half-Life 2: Episode 2 > Black Mesa > Half-Life 2 > Half-Life: Alyx > Half-Life 2: Episode 1

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Operencia: The Stolen Sun (PC)

This is a very fun RPG, but I would assume people getting into this will be wrought by assumptions. Immediately it appears to be a game like Grimrock or The Bard's Tale. But it is neither of those. It's actually closer to Etrian Odyssey without the grinding. You can say I've been looking hard for a Grimrock follow-up and this game isn't it. I did enjoy it however for its writing, its lore, and the English voice-acting. It poked alot of fun in the genre and had a sense of wit to it as well, without being cheesy.

Mechanics-wise, the game felt more like a puzzle instead of a straight up RPG experience. Certain game design choices basically meant that the goal of this game was to get through the next few sets with whatever you had (secrets and all) and you may try again as many times as you want. So, basically if you go into this thinking about experimenting on builds and exploiting mechanics, you might be disappointed. The respecc abuse, the fact that you will always gain exp and level up even if you die, and that there are only a limited amount of enemies in the game assures you a somewhat bottled linear experience.

That said, once you are able to respecc just right and realize what needs to be done, it is very satisfying especially by the end where the final boss has like several sequences and forms to contend with. Enemies are very cheap as well and the hit-miss ratio is godawful, sometimes bordering unfair or abysmally easy. It actually feels like it wants to be an SMT game. Alot of people might see these aspects as flaws. But the fact that I'm so excited to talk about the details of the system might mean I'm just gushing at it like a fanboy.

Worth your time, in my opinion. As long as you don't have any expectations.

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Figment (PC)

Not what I was expecting and my overall enjoyment was brought down by the combat

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Hypnospace Outlaw (PC)

Love it for the 90s nostalgia. Geocities, Angelfire, Bonzi Buddies. Simpler times. There are probably a few things in this game no one younger than the age of 15 will recognize lol. It was shorter than I expected but it has depth in the pages and the reads, and I can understand why the game was structured like that. At first it seemed like a 90s version of Mainlining, but it becomes its own thing however there are missable content which I'm not happy with as I have to redo segments again despite the fact that the end has an archival portion.

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Alan Wake's American Nightmare (PC)

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4/19 - Ori and the Blind Forest (Steam)
4/22 - Cladun x2 (Steam)

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Rayman Legends (XB1)

I wish Origins was also ported to current gen systems (I know that roughly 60-70% of its levels are in Legends). I can always replay my old copy, but I want an incentive to go through it again to play the tricky treasure levels.
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