Board 8 > October Game of the Month Club ft. Gone Home, Pac-Man, and Little Nightmares

(+) Yeah! (+)

Octobers Games:
Gone Home (PC/Switch/XB1/PS4/iOS)
Pac-Man World (PC/Switch/XS/X/PS5/XB1/PS4/PS/GBA)
Little Nightmares (PC/Switch/XB1/PS4/iOS/Android)

Games of the Month of the Year:
Mass Effect (PC/XB1/PS4/360/PS3)
Mass Effect 2 (PC/XB1/PS4/360/PS3)
Mass Effect 3 (PC/XB1/PS4/360/PS3/Wii U)

What is Game of the Month Club?
Game of the Month is a community project open to all B8ers where users share, discover, play and/or discuss a select few games every month. The games featured each month are chosen by YOU the users (and Lady Luck)

The Basics
- Each month will usually feature three games that were chosen via a random drawing from a pool of games that users nominated
- For each game you beat, you get a cool point on our just-for-fun standings as well as a nomination for next month's randomized drawing
- In order to receive the point and nomination, you must beat said game within the calendar month
- If you beat one of the current month's games in the previous month, you can apply for a "recently beaten waiver," but you will only receive a point and no nomination should you do so
- Drawing for next month's games is usually on the 25th
- If you periodically keep us posted on your progress and/or talk about different aspects of the games, then everyone will obviously think you are super awesome!

Nomination Rules
- You get one nomination automatically each month
- You receive additional nominations each month for every featured game that you beat
- Each game you nominate has to be unique from all other nominations and cannot include a game that has already been selected for GotM
- Each game must be a standalone game that can be acquired and played on its own (aka cannot be DLC/expansion that requires the base game)
- Nominations only carry over if you beat a featured game after the drawing for next month's games but before the end of the month
- You have 9 supports you can use throughout the year. Your only limitations are that you can't support your own nomination, and you can only use one support per game per month

Just-for-Fun Top 20 Standings
KCF - 175
gameking - 116
ArkOfTurus - 107
Mr Crispy - 102
Lolo Guru - 70
Cody - 60
KnightOfNee - 35
Seanchan - 31
ViolentAbacus - 29
MegamanX - 28
Wickle - 27
FakeAccount - 24
Arti - 23
scarletspeed - 23
darkx - 18
GreatPaul - 18
MZero - 17
Fenny - 16
Suprak the Stud - 16
JONALEON - 14
tazzyboy - 14

Spreadsheet with history
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1X8E8oqzES42W4S82j7WTfNnzNa8c3uXdSE1rnqYG7WM/edit?usp=sharing

Additional noms this month
Ark - 1
Sean - 1

Likely nothing for me this month.

Tag for Gone Home.

Kenri has beaten Gone Home

This was a replay and wow this game is a lot less stressful when you already know that nothing is going to jump scare you. The one pseudo jump scare that I got the first time (the lights going out in the secret passage) didn't even happen this time, which makes me wonder if it was just a glitch or something.

Anyway I love this game. Love to explore a big house. Also love a game about gay women.

KCF has beaten Gone Home

It was okay. Movement is way too slow. The ending did resonate with me as someone whose sister moved nearly a thousand miles away earlier this year, and I've been really missing her

I feel like replaying some games, so I'm going to nominate:

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Mirror's Edge Catalyst

KCF0107 posted...

Movement is way too slow.

this didn't bother me during normal gameplay much but it drove me crazy as i was trying to grab a few achievements

girl it's your own family house and nobody's home, get a fuckin move on

ArkOfTurus has beaten Little Nightmares

Felt frustrating to play at times (including the credits) but the atmosphere and design were fantastic enough to make it a very good experience. I'll play the sequels eventually.

I'll probably play Gone Home again at some point just for the nomination, considering how short it is.

Beat Pac-Man World.

I think the second boss ended up being the hardest.

The second world boss really did seem rather overclocked.

Monthly Progress
Home - Kenri, KCF
Pac - Mauron
Nightmares - Ark

Nominations
KCF - PW: Ace Attorney, Mirror's Edge Catalyst

Supports

I beat Pac-Man World

Gone Home is technically on sale for $13.49 USD on Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/gone-home-switch/

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is on sale for $14.99 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1859470/PACMAN_WORLD_RePAC/

Pac-Man World Re-Pac is on sale for $4.49 USD on Xbox
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/pac-man-world-re-pac/9P8XPNNN3VPL

Little Nightmares is on sale for $7.50 USD on Steam
https://store.steampowered.com/app/424840/Little_Nightmares/

Little Nightmares is on sale for $4.99 USD on Xbox
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/little-nightmares/BWD88K55MK5W

Little Nightmares Complete Edition is on sale for $7.49 USD on Xbox
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/little-nightmares-complete-edition/C2MTG1SB3S11/0001/9NW2SP524F8G

I haven't been as great at following sales throughout the month for featured games this year, so I'm sorry to inform people that the Xbox Little Nightmares sales end in less than 10 hours and both the steam sales end in less than 72 hours.

That being said, the Pac-Man Xbox deal is new, which I just bought, and will last for a week.

I may do Re-Pac. Haven't decided.

Wish Little Nightmares was last month when I played it

Evidently, only the complete edition on Xbox went off sale. Base Little Nightmares is still at the sale price on Xbox.

Well, I said nothing for me but then you pointed out the sales...

I've been playing Sparks of Hope for the last few weeks and it's a thoroughly "fine" game that just goes on forever, so I really needed a break with something shorter.

I'm about halfway through Pac-Man World and...yeah, it's a pretty mediocre game.

If the save file screen is of any indication, I'm halfway through Pac-Man. It is fine for what I paid for. It does seem to run smooth and pretty fluid for a remake, so thinking from that perspective, it does seem to be a well-made and (presumably) faithful remake. I never played the original, but it seems design/structure choices come straight out of early 3D platformers. I did play World 3 back on Xbox 15-20 years ago, but I remember little in the way of specifics.

I think that I played the worlds out of order, but if the World 2 boss is Anubis, not that I need to spoiler tag it, then yeah I would agree it is the most difficult so far as it is the only one I didn't beat in one life. My main issue was with it summoning monsters that you could only defeat with a roll, and if I was on top of one of the barrier-killing pads, then I couldn't roll, and I got damaged because of that and also not being able to discern the path/hitbox of the tornado attacks.

Pac-Man World beated!

A mediocre game that I'm not sure why anyone would want to bother playing nearly 25 years later. It's not terrible but there's not much about it that I'd call good or interesting. There was also just something about the feel of the game that always felt off. Getting hit kills your momentum entirely and it wasn't always clear what the hit boxes were for enemies.

Hardest boss for me was certainly the last. Partly me being stupid and not realizing I could use the dash to damage him. Partly it was the awful camera.

Apparently that Xbox Pac-Man World price was an error and has been changed back to its intended sale price of $14.99. I'm glad that I pounced on the deal early.

Nominate:
Cocoon
Maquette
Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart

...last nom again contingent on me finishing Little Nightmares before the drawing...

KCF has beaten Pac-Man World

This game was originally made in 1999, and man did they have really lazy design back then. I was going to use a bunch of examples that they could have used as inspiration, but I realized that those were fully explorable 3D platformers, so they wouldn't be a great comparison. Anyway, my main issue with this game was that level in and level out, they would do the same thing:

- Here's a door with usually a collectible
- Here's the fruit needed to unlock the door just ahead
- Go back and unlock the door (sometimes annoying having to do more involving platforming again, and then again when you go back to proceed through the level)

If they had more dynamic level design, I would hold a much higher opinion of this game than the 5/10 or so that I would currently rate it. I still have my Xbox hooked up, so I'm probably going to find my Pac-Man World 3 disc and play it some just to see how far they came since the first one.

I may or may not beat Little Nightmares before the drawing, but I'm just going to nominate TOEM now so I don't forget.

Monthly Progress
Home - Kenri, KCF
Pac - Mauron, Fake, Sean, KCF
Nightmares - Ark

Nominations
KCF - PW: Ace Attorney, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, TOEM
Sean - Cocoon, Maquette

Supports

Drawing on Wednesday

KCF0107 posted...

his game than the 5/10 or so that I would currently rate it. I still have my Xbox hooked up, so I'm probably going to find my Pac-Man World 3 disc and play it some just to see how far they came since the first one.

I heard people say the second one is best

ArkOfTurus has beaten Gone Home

Didn't get a whole lot out of replaying it, but it's still solid.

Nominate Severed Steel, Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance, Enter the Gungeon, and ZeroRanger

Actually Sean, you had an extra nom coming into the month, so Rift Apart is actually an eligible nom right now

Ha, forgot about that!

About halfway through Little Nightmares.

Have you ever thought, "man, the only thing that would make Limbo and Inside better is being able to die over and over again but in THREE dimensions?" Well have I got the game for you!

Seeing as I found Inside to be great and Limbo borderline bad, I'm not sure what to expect other than a focus on trial-and-error

Nominate:
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Strange Horticulture

It is with the heavy heart that I nominate the former, as it's long as shit. But the HD remaster is out and I know some people on this board (myself included) bought it...!

Seanchan posted...

About halfway through Little Nightmares.

Have you ever thought, "man, the only thing that would make Limbo and Inside better is being able to die over and over again but in THREE dimensions?" Well have I got the game for you!

I find it not as hard as those two except with way more "oh I was more forward than I thought and slipped off the ledge"

Also having to hold the grab button to carry things as I walk is basically hell

Beat Little Nightmares

Oddly enough the final two chapters were both shorter and easier than some of the earlier ones; honestly I feel like the second chapter was the hardest part.

That thing that chases you in part two is also imo the freakiest monster in the game.

Also because I will probably never get another chance to reference this, the cooks made me think of HR Puffnstuf if he really let himself go. The heads apparently being masks just added to that tbh.

Little Nightmares beated!

FakeAccount3000 posted...

Oddly enough the final two chapters were both shorter and easier than some of the earlier ones; honestly I feel like the second chapter was the hardest part.

That thing that chases you in part two is also imo the freakiest monster in the game.

Also because I will probably never get another chance to reference this, the cooks made me think of HR Puffnstuf if he really let himself go. The heads apparently being masks just added to that tbh.

I can confirm this info. Last 2 chapters, especially the last, were MUCH shorter. Oddly, I didn't get the achievement after finishing Chapter 5, no idea why not.

Chapter 2 was definitely the most difficult. Chapter 4 might have been the most gross and disturbing.

Read this post, then in literally the next part of Chapter 3 I had a scene showing the heads as masks as they reached underneath them.

Oh yeah, I get 1 more nomination now, so let's go with:
Titanfall 2

Nom Marvels Spider-Man 2

Support TOEM
I have it from PS+ so maybe I'll play it

Nominate Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

Gonna squeeze in Gone Home this weekend.

Nominate Chaos;Head

Last call for noms, changes, and supports

Everything's closed. I will draw soon

And your November Games of the Month are...

TOEM (PC/Switch/XS/X/XB1/PS5)
Strange Horticulture (PC/Switch/XS/X/XB1)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (PC/Switch/XB1/PS4/iOS/Android/3DS/DS/Wii/GBA)

Congrats to myself and Kenri for having their games selected!

TOEM and Phoenix Wright are on Game Pass

TOEM is on sale for $8 or 10 USD for PS5 depending on your PS+ subscription status
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10003267/

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy is on sale for $10 USD for Switch
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-trilogy-switch/

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney trilogy is on sale for $9.90 USD for Xbox
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/phoenix-wright-ace-attorney-trilogy/c4r4rb3sb1nn

Damn, I was hoping 1 of mine would get selected...

TOEM is only ~4 hours long, so will probably give that one a go.

16 different games were nominated, eight from just two users, and the three games selected were from the five users who had the other eight. Tough break for what seemed like great odds for you and Ark.

Hell Ark had the first game to just miss out and then the bottom three. RNG really had it out for Ark today.

I might replay TOEM on Steam, it's short enough. Gonna pass on PW since I replayed that fairly recently. And I'll do Strange Horticulture of course.

I apparently have TOEM on Steam, so I'll likely give it a go.

The Games of the Month of the Year experiment sadly didn't work out unless there's going to be a rush toward the end. I was considering doing one next year as an annual thing, but I'm scrapping that.

I am intending on bringing back the birthday two-game voting poll, and maybe even in the exact same format. My birthday is in January, so I will be deciding if I would to do that in the next few weeks.

I'd like to see if I can do a nanowrimo in November... so I'm probably not going to play very much. Shame the timing was this bad though since I had 3 nominations and I doubt they roll over.

KCF0107 posted...

The Games of the Month of the Year experiment sadly didn't work out unless there's going to be a rush toward the end. I was considering doing one next year as an annual thing, but I'm scrapping that.

For what it's worth, I think the idea had merit, I just didn't want to play those particular games. Now if I get Persona 5 Royal this Christmas, I'd love that to be up there.. >_>

That particular game has probably been done already, but in general I like the idea since it allows for longer games to not have such a strict timer.