Support NeoGAF

[BurstZyn]

8. Final Fantasy Origins: Final Fantasy (PS):
Gameplay: As simple as you can get with turn based JRPGs, you take turns with the enemy with who hits first and does more damage. And honestly the simplicity is what makes this game still pretty fun to go back to.
Story: Your group of the four warriors of lights journey together to the Fiends of Nature, you rescue princes, princess', civilizations, etc. Your group consisting of either Warriors, Monks, Thieves, Red, Black, and/or white mages.
Art Style/Music: This is a remake of the original for NES so the updated graphics and art style looks astonishing, especially as you look through the art gallery you unlock more content for as you progress through the game. The music is fun and highly nostalgic, specifically the victory theme that has been used for all these years beginning with the very first game of the series.
Gripes: The story is generic, but doesn't terribly take away from the game or ruining it in anyway. The thing that is annoying about the game... are the random encounters, and how frequent they can be. I know the game is more based on the old school original, with the constant encounters that happen between 1 - 8 steps with no Repel, Like Pokemon, of any sort. Your only chance to reduce unnecessary fights that either give you very little experience or Gil is to either Flee, Destroy the enemy, or Flee to not waste to much time.
Additional Info: Being the first Final Fantasy I have actually played, I actually really enjoyed my time with it and will probably getting around to the others of the series.
Final Score: 4/5

9. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix (PS4):
Gameplay: Feeling like a revised version of the combat system from Re:Chain of memories, the command system lets you melee as usual but now ending in finish commands among multiple choices of what to end the combo with, and use magic without the worry of using MP but allowing them to cool down instead. Introducing cool mechanics such as command which activate as you different magic and melee skills among your combos. Also added is the D-Link system which allows you to borrow the friends, that you meet on your journey, powers. My favorite mechanic added tho, was that you can give up melee skills and magic to meld them into new moves.
Story: The story is shared among three friends; Terra, Aqua and Ventus. Being a prequel to the original series, it takes place a few years before Kingdom Hearts 1, introducing many characters origins and explaining some situations of the other games. So if you have some questions from playing the 1st game and I'm sure most do from playing the second one, give this one a view. One thing i really liked about this series is that it introduces new worlds, unlike the other spin offs, that are with characters from the other games, such as Maleficent, The Fairy God Mother, etc.
Art Style/Music: Not much to say about the art style and the music that I haven't said about the other games in the series; excellent music, weird designs, and cool recollection of the Disney and Final Fantasy art style.
Gripes: Well... I might as well say that I have a good amount of gripes towards this game. Ill start with the combat system, now is it worst than RCoM? I wouldnt go that far, but it still feels clunky and weird at times. It can honestly kill you at times as well, such as entering command styles as you're fighting super bosses that do a shit ton of damage (which we'll get to in a bit). It does not feel as fast flow and smooth as 2, but to excuse the game it did originate on the PSP so i can see it working on that particular console. And now the boss fight designs, they range from being boring to annoying. The disney boss fights are pretty boring and sometimes gimmicky being unremarkable. But the biggest offender are the super bosses, which have no virtually stun so you have to poke, run away, and repeat taking away the point of the Kingdom Hearts combat system and style. And then theres the story... so its not really pointless like Re: coded's story, which had some cool moments but overall it was minuscule in importance in the overall plot of Kingdom Hearts. No the story of Birth By Sleep is probably the worst of series, starting with the characters. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua are meant to be the Sora, Riku, and Kairi of their story, now Aqua is a fine character and my favorite of the three and probably the best female protagonist of the Kingdom heart series, And then there's Ventus who's an even more annoying Sora and Terra who is kinda a dumb Riku. The story also ruins the importance of other elements from the other entries in the series, especially Kingdom Hearts 1.
Additional Info: With all that said, its hard to rank this among the other bottom dwellers of the series, this having the worst story, Re:Coded being boring, RCoM having the worst gameplay. Now these are in no way bad games, but the worst of the series that i have played so far... so ima have to put this game as 5/6, over Re:Coded and under Re: Chain of Memories. I will give this game a plus for having such a sick ass intro cinematic tho.
Final Score: 3/5

 

[ROMhack]

4. The Beginner's Guide

The short: A narrative video game from Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable. It lasts about an hour and a half and has no traditional mechanics, no goals or objectives. Instead, it tells the story of a person struggling to deal with something they do not understand.

Typically we only see games as final products. Games released in alpha, beta, gamma and zeta stages certainly buck this trend but generally we only see games once they're ready to launch. The development process therefore goes unnoticed: like an actor waiting in the wings for his time to become the pantomime villain.

Davey Wreden’s The Beginner’s Guide goes against this. It asks us to take a more introspective look at how we approach the games we play. It's made up of 15 individual mini-games, narrated by an omnipresent voice who takes us through them like we're on a virtual museum tour.

It tells the story of Coda, an amateur game designer who makes friends with said narrator. A narrator who is all too eager to show his work to the world. This puts Coda in the awkward position of having to show off his personal projects when he'd much rather keep them to himself. His work becomes more desperate over time, exhibiting darker themes that indicate some kind of personal problems.

Truthfully it’s not so much a game as much as it is an interactive experience – one that made me think plentifully about my own stance towards interpreting other people's work. The themes indicate a lot of personal reflection on the part of Wreden who appears to be a stand-in for Coda discussing how he feels about other people playing his games. It suggests that creativity can stop being an outlet once there are too many expectations.

The open-ended loose structure means there are no right answers, merely reflection (the point of art!). I certainly wouldn’t recommend the game widely but for me it's a fascinating take on game-development from the inside. It's also quite absurd and funny, as you would expect from one of the minds behind The Stanley Parable.

4/5

P.S. I'm not the biggest fan of this review but I'm trying something different than 'yeah it's like good'. I also wrote it quickly at work.

 

[Kadayi]

4. The Beginners’ Guide

Cool. On my 52 games playlist also (as well as the Stanley Parable which I've never played either).

 

[Jack Videogames]

7 Days

3h-ish, got all the endings but didn't unlock all the scenes.

A decent budget visual novel for Android, with a certain 999-ish feel to it. The characters are strong, the setting is a bit cliche'd and it could use more CGs, but at 99c is hard to find faults on it.

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[Dr. Claus]

2. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue: 0.2 Birth By Sleep (PS4):
Gameplay: Action-based combat utilizing a menu system to switch between melee, magic, summons, and items. Reaction commands can be used to pull off flashy maneuvers that deal high damage when using specific spells repeatedly. Fast, fluid, and punchy.
Story: You play as Aqua as she tries to survive her ten years in the realm of darkness. Here she fights her own inner demons while finding an escape.
Art Style/Music: This was the first Kingdom Hearts game made for the ground up for HD and it looks fantastic. Yoko Shimomura's soundtrack sounds fantastic and the twisted world of Cinderella is a sight to behold and explore.
Gripes: The game is very short, beatable in under an hour if you know what you are doing. This was a glorified demo for KH3 and, thankfully, it came bundled in with a movie and an HD remaster.
Additional Info: Aqua is second best girl.
Final Score: 4/5

3. Kingdom Hearts III (PS4):
Gameplay: Take all the games combat systems, remove what didn't work, and mix them together and you will get KH3. By far the best combat system in the franchise. Shotlocks from Birth By Sleep, transforming spells and weapons similar to 0.2, long and satisfying combos from Kingdom Hearts II, and finally the summons similar to the more recent Birth By Sleep. Donald and Goofy will always be in your party alongside whatever Disney characters you meet on your travels - a first for the franchise and a much needed addition. You will find ingredients around the worlds that you can use to craft food buffs, something that is nearly a necessity if you are doing a 0 EXP run.
Story: You play as Sora after the events of Dream Drop Distance. The Mark of Mastery Exam was done to help both Sora and Riku to learn the Ritual of Waking, however due to the events that transpired Sora lost much of his power as well as the ability to perform the ritual. He travels to Olympus to hopefully find out how to regain his powers so he can defeat Xehanort once and for all.
Art Style/Music: Take 0.2 and make it even better. The music is beautiful with orchestral arrangements of the new Utada songs being the standout highlights of the OST. The new version of Dearly Beloved is by far my favorite of the franchise and something that feels truly magical. The graphics look like Pixar films brought to live. In particular, the Toy Story and Monsters Inc models are brilliant.
Gripes: The pacing can be wonky for some and a few of the worlds are rather average. Couple this with the lack of endgame and a very easy "proud" mode and you will have a divisive entry.
Additional Info: This was never billed as the end of the franchise, but just the end to the Dark Seeker (aka Xehanort) saga. Do not go in expecting everything to be wrapped up, but do go in with the knowledge of *all* previous games. You will get much more enjoyment if you do.
Final Score: 5/5

4. Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition HD (PS4):
Gameplay: The king of fast-paced, cool looking action-combat games. Choosing between either Vergil or Dante, you have a plethora of melee and ranged weapons at your disposal to defeat hordes of demons, alongside a challenge mode called "Bloody Palace". Dante has the ability to switch between 4 different styles at the start of the game with two more unlockable styles by the end. This opens up the combat in multiple ways, allowing for added mobility with Trickster, more melee combos with Swordmaster, more gun maneuvers with gunslinger, or strong blocking and parrying with Royal Guard. Enemies are fast and deadly, requiring you to dispatch them quickly if you want to live - but skilled players will be able to maximize their time by alternating combos to build up their style, which awards the player with more red orbs that can be used to purchase more moves, increase the damage of their guns, or to purchase items. Both are able to enter their "Devil Trigger" modes, which adds various bonuses such as health regen, increased damage, and faster reaction times.
Story: You play as the Demon Hunter, Dante as he climbs the tower of Temen-ni-Gru after his long-lost twin brother Vergil raised it from the ground. Along the way you will encounter an army of demons, a crazed clown called Jester , a young human by the name of "Lady", and more.
Art Style/Music: Given this was a PS2 game, the graphics are more low resolution - but still full of style. The cinematography is excellent for its age and still holds up well today. The music is pumpin' and gets you raring to kill demons.
Gripes: Fuck Dante Must Die mode. Enemies are now able to use DT and this makes fights last far longer than they need to. They become pure damage sponges.
Additional Info: If you want the most of the game, I suggest playing at least through to Very Hard mode. DMD is completely skippable unless you want that 100%.
Final Score: 5/5

5. Katamari Damacy ReRoll (Switch):
Gameplay: You control the Prince in three different ways, depending on the control scheme: You can use the motion controls of the joycons, use two sticks in tandem to move, or switch to one stick moving and one stick to control the camera. The core gameplay is simple: Collect as many items as you can to get your Katamari as large as you can. Some levels add unique challenges like trying to collect the largest Cow, requiring you to avoid any dairy-based item so you can increase your size to get the bovine behemoth.
Story: You play as the Prince who was ordered to collect materials on Earth so your father can re-create the stars in the sky. Why do you need to do this? Because your father is a dick and decided to break every star in the universe because he could.
Art Style/Music: Given this was a PS2 game, the graphics are simple - but has its own unique style. The game absolutely oozes uniqueness from its music, to its world and item design. Listening to "You are Smart" while rolling around a japanese city, collecting cats, dogs, and children is such a silly and relaxing experience that must be had.
Gripes: The controls are difficult to get used to. Personally I used the "simple" control method (1 stick for movement, 1 stick for camera), however all are usable and should be practiced to get the best fit for you.
Additional Info: The Prince has to be the most cold-blooded psychopath ever in gaming. No one is safe from his Katamari.
Final Score: 4.5/5

6. Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo DS):
Gameplay: The pioneer of 3D Platformers, you will move around 15 worlds to complete various tasks ranging from climbing a mountain, defeating a boss, collecting 8 red coins, or even helping a mother Penguin find her child. Long jumps, triple jumps, and more are at your disposal alongside 4 playable characters, each with their own unique playstyle and power up that need to be used to obtain certain stars. In this version, you can find multiple rabbits throughout the castle that you can catch to obtain keys. These keys unlock various minigames that can be played at any time you like. If you have played New Super Mario Bros on the DS, these are the same minigames.
Story: Princess Peach is kidnapped, alongside Mario, Wario, and Luigi. You need to enter her castle as Yoshi and gather enough stars to put Bowser in his place.
Art Style/Music: The models got a much needed upgrade for its character models. The game looks and runs very well and the portability factor is a major plus. Sadly the music takes a hit as the DS did not have a fantastic sound card.
Gripes: The controls are less than optimal. The original game was designed with Analog movement in mind, however the DS was unable to produce such given its lack of an analog stick. This leaves the player with only 8 directional movement which leads to many incorrect jumps, poor positioning, and frustrating falls.
Additional Info: If you can get past the controls, there is a lot of cool additions - but the game screams for a proper HD re-release on current gen systems.
Final Score: 3/5

 

[jshackles]

Game 10 - LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 - Xbox One - Completed Mar 10th, 2019
It's been a while since I've played any LEGO games, and I've a huge Marvel fan so I decided to pick this one up and give it a shot. The game was pretty good (not great) and I felt like the characters were captured pretty well here. One of the biggest problems with this game was sprawl - there was a huge open world hub, which was nice, but there was so much busy-work to do that I ended up completing the game with something like 35% completion. I could easily spend another 20 or so hours in this just flying around doing all the races, collecting all the characters, getting all the gold bricks, doing all the levels in free-play, etc but it all feels pretty empty outside of the story missions. The story missions were pretty good and there was a lot of variety afforded by the fact that this world was a culmination of a lot of different Marvel properties. The voice acting was really well done also, the characters personalities came through similar to their movie counterparts. Definitely recommend this game if you're a LEGO and Marvel fan.

 

[Kadayi]

12. Brothers : Tale of Two Sons (100% achievement)

Coming off Edith Finch and specifically the Cannery section I couldn't help but be reminded of B:ATOTS which I played at launch so I thought I'd replay it and also mop up the remaining achievements. Great game, but for some reason, the checkpointing system didn't seem to want to play nice with my PC (I've submitted a ticket to 505 so they can look into it, though given the game is 6 years old at this point I'm not expecting any solutions) and I kept losing entire chapters worth of progress at point, which was pretty frustrating. I managed to track down a completed save file so I could at least playthrough each, chapter. Technical issues aside, still a fantastic game and just extremely imaginative in terms of both design, game-play and aesthetics. I guess my only real criticism is I'd have preferred a slightly lower angle on the camera just to take in a bit more of the world building.

13. Tacoma (100% achievement)

Had this gifted to me a while back and figured it was about time I played it. Overall I thought it was a pretty competent narrative adventure, with an engaging hook. Ostensively you're sent to an abandoned space station to recover various data logs and determine what happened to the crew. .Given it's a Fullbright game the wokeness levels were predictably through the roof, however, given the game is set over 60 years in the future there was something decidedly twee about the characterisations of the missing crew, in the sense that it felt like the developers thought it was enough to tick off various diversity boxes to score points, but didn't necessarily put any thought into how society as a whole would progress and change over those 60 years. Just as the past isn't now but with worst hygiene, the future isn't going to be now but with space toilets. A missed opportunity.

Game 10 - LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 - Xbox One - Completed Mar 10th, 2019
It's been a while since I've played any LEGO games, and I've a huge Marvel fan so I decided to pick this one up and give it a shot. The game was pretty good (not great) and I felt like the characters were captured pretty well here. One of the biggest problems with this game was sprawl - there was a huge open world hub, which was nice, but there was so much busy-work to do that I ended up completing the game with something like 35% completion. I could easily spend another 20 or so hours in this just flying around doing all the races, collecting all the characters, getting all the gold bricks, doing all the levels in free-play, etc but it all feels pretty empty outside of the story missions. The story missions were pretty good and there was a lot of variety afforded by the fact that this world was a culmination of a lot of different Marvel properties. The voice acting was really well done also, the characters personalities came through similar to their movie counterparts. Definitely recommend this game if you're a LEGO and Marvel fan.

Yeah getting those 100%s on the Lego games requires some serious dedication. I beat the first Marvel game and that took me around 50 hrs or so to complete the lot, even with guides Great game, but yeah, not easy on the achievement hunting.

 

[IKSTUGA]

15. Wolfenstein: The New Order, 9.5/10
Second playthrough, still love the game. Nazis and plot are so much fun and gunplay is just awesome. Probably gonna play Old Blood next. I haven't tried that one yet.

16. Wolfenstein: Old Blood, 9/10
Yeah this one is pretty great as well. Obviously they had a smaller budget for this one, which shows in the quality of cutscenes and the amount of content. Still good stuff, would recommend to anyone who enjoyed New order.

17. Devil May Cry V, 10/10
Holy shite this game is good. I've already beaten it three times and I just can't just get enough of this stuff. Probably gonna be stuck replaying this game for the next couple of weeks at least, RIP game number 18.

 

[BurstZyn]

9. Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Final Mix (PS4):
Gameplay: Feeling like a revised version of the combat system from Re:Chain of memories, the command system lets you melee as usual but now ending in finish commands among multiple choices of what to end the combo with, and use magic without the worry of using MP but allowing them to cool down instead. Introducing cool mechanics such as command which activate as you different magic and melee skills among your combos. Also added is the D-Link system which allows you to borrow the friends, that you meet on your journey, powers. My favorite mechanic added tho, was that you can give up melee skills and magic to meld them into new moves.
Story: The story is shared among three friends; Terra, Aqua and Ventus. Being a prequel to the original series, it takes place a few years before Kingdom Hearts 1, introducing many characters origins and explaining some situations of the other games. So if you have some questions from playing the 1st game and I'm sure most do from playing the second one, give this one a view. One thing i really liked about this series is that it introduces new worlds, unlike the other spin offs, that are with characters from the other games, such as Maleficent, The Fairy God Mother, etc.
Art Style/Music: Not much to say about the art style and the music that I haven't said about the other games in the series; excellent music, weird designs, and cool recollection of the Disney and Final Fantasy art style.
Gripes: Well... I might as well say that I have a good amount of gripes towards this game. Ill start with the combat system, now is it worst than RCoM? I wouldnt go that far, but it still feels clunky and weird at times. It can honestly kill you at times as well, such as entering command styles as you're fighting super bosses that do a shit ton of damage (which we'll get to in a bit). It does not feel as fast flow and smooth as 2, but to excuse the game it did originate on the PSP so i can see it working on that particular console. And now the boss fight designs, they range from being boring to annoying. The disney boss fights are pretty boring and sometimes gimmicky being unremarkable. But the biggest offender are the super bosses, which have no virtually stun so you have to poke, run away, and repeat taking away the point of the Kingdom Hearts combat system and style. And then theres the story... so its not really pointless like Re: coded's story, which had some cool moments but overall it was minuscule in importance in the overall plot of Kingdom Hearts. No the story of Birth By Sleep is probably the worst of series, starting with the characters. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua are meant to be the Sora, Riku, and Kairi of their story, now Aqua is a fine character and my favorite of the three and probably the best female protagonist of the Kingdom heart series, And then there's Ventus who's an even more annoying Sora and Terra who is kinda a dumb Riku. The story also ruins the importance of other elements from the other entries in the series, especially Kingdom Hearts 1.
Additional Info: With all that said, its hard to rank this among the other bottom dwellers of the series, this having the worst story, Re:Coded being boring, RCoM having the worst gameplay. Now these are in no way bad games, but the worst of the series that i have played so far... so ima have to put this game as 5/6, over Re:Coded and under Re: Chain of Memories. I will give this game a plus for having such a sick ass intro cinematic tho.
Final Score: 3/5

10. DmC: Devil may Cry (Xbox 360):

Story: The story follows a retelling of the original Devil May Cry carry some other elements from the other games, mainly 1 and 3. It follows the path of Dante, a Nephilim, who joins forces with his brother Vergil in order to stop the King Demon Mundus.
Gameplay: The gameplay feels solid, and fluid in most parts allowing for nice combos between the weapons used in Human mode, Rebellion, and the weapons of Angel mode and demon mode. It takes some elements from the other games as well, and puts its own little twist on it at times.
Art Style/Music: Gotta say that the enemy designs were pretty cool, among with some level designs, especially the news network fight and the nightclub stage. And the music, while different from the style of the original series, I still felt myself bumping my head to most of the tracks during the fights.
Gripes: Alright, so new game so new approaches, and do they land fine? Ehhhh the ones i talk above do in some areas… First of all this is such an edgy take on the series that I basically had to keep checking my hands for cuts as I played. The new Dante has a fine design, but pretty boring attitude with the try hard “Fuck You” Persona, and Vergil, who was once a silent cool antagonist with a bad ass katana and design, is just an annoying little bitch in this game who wear a long coat with a stupid blue skull design on the back, as he wields Yamato with the dumb looking fedora on his head. The gameplay is fine, but can be interrupted by annoying color coded enemies who stop the flow fights, because you’re not using the correct weapons. It can super annoying at times especially if you have two different colored enemies in one fight. And you can’t lock on which can suck when you’re trying to aim at a specific enemy that you don’t mean to, because you don't have the right weapon for them! Overall the game is just super edgy and sometimes fails in gameplay design.
Additional Info: Now with that all said, it's not really as bad as I remember it being; I had a few chuckles at Dante’s little edgy quips and the combat felt fun most of the time. If I were to put this game somewhere among the DMC games I have played, i would put it 3/5 of the series, on top of Devil May Cry and under Devil May Cry 3. It’s obviously better than DMC 2, and it’s only better than the first which is now pretty outdated compare to the others.
Score: 3/5

 

[Dr. Claus]

7. Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition (PS4):
Gameplay: Three different "character" choices are available to play with two of the three changing characters halfway through the game. Nero/Dante was what the game originally launched with. Nero is unable to change weapons, however he can use his Devil Bringer to grab and damage enemies, pull them towards him, and rev his sword to provide multiple new variations of other combos. Dante plays much like his DMC3 version, however he is finally able to switch between his various styles at the press of a button on the D-Pad. Lady/Trish are not something I have played (yet) so I can't provide much information on them. From what I have gathered, Lady relies on her weapons for long range battles while Trish plays similarly to Dante in DMC1. Vergil is absolutely broken and can do massive amounts of damage to enemies without much trouble with his concentration meter coupled with his devil trigger form.
Story: You start off playing as Nero as you rush to the church after dispatching demons. During the speech given by the cities' Pope, Dante appears to assassinate him and after a brief skirmish - escapes. Your goal is to chase down and apprehend the assassin and figure out the secrets of the town's religion.
Art Style/Music: The game was breathtaking on its launch and still looks pretty damn good now. It has a ton of style and the music is fantastic.
Gripes: Grindy. The game is very, very grindy. To 100% the game, you need to not only get all S ranks on Human through Dante Must Die mode, but you also need to beat the story on Heaven or Hell and Hell and Hell modes. Bloody Palace needs to be beaten with all 5 playable characters, and the story needs to be beaten both with Vergil and Lady/Trish. This is even worse when the game requires you to backtrack halfway through, repeating the same rooms nearly 20+ times.
Additional Info: Each boss has one or two unique Devil Bringer triggers. If you can find them, you can end the fights so much faster.
Final Score: 3.5/5

8. Devil May Cry 5 (PS4):
Gameplay: Dante - Plays like DMC4 but with better weapons. Nero - Plays like DMC4 but with more possibilities and better timing for Max-Act and multiple unique arms. V - Uniquely uses Griffon, Shadow, and Nightmare to attack from afar, but needs to kill the demons with a final blow himself. Basically the greatest of all the games and the king of action combat.
Story: Dante, hired for a new job by Morrison, goes to deal with the new "king of the underworld", Urizen. Nero is brought by V and comes along to find Lady, Trish, and Dante all royally screwed and gets his ass kicked when he tries to help. Nero and V escape to regroup and return to kick Urizen's demonic ass.
Art Style/Music: Using the Resident Evil 7 engine, everything looks life-like in its designs. Some may love it, some may hate it, but personally I found it to be really bloody fantastic. The music is the best the franchise has ever had with the themes of each playable character growing in intensity as you get higher and higher ranks.
Gripes: Microtransactions are in the game, despite being completely useless and uneeded unless you are lazy or dumb. Also the game requires you to S rank every difficulty mode, barring Heaven or Hell. Yes, that includes Hell and Hell. Which is, no pun intended, hell. You need to perfect your playing if you want to get the platinum on this game.
Additional Info: While not required, it is highly suggested you play through the game a second time so you can use all your new found weapons and unlocked abilities to their full potential. Also Son of Sparda is like the best difficulty and is the most fun.
Final Score: 10/5

9. Luigi's Mansion (Nintendo Gamecube ((Suggested by Faust ))):
Gameplay:
Using a modified vacuum cleaner, you explore the mansion to capture ghosts and return them to paintings. You get three unique elemental powers that you can switch between using designated power up locations to freeze, burn, or wet certain ghosts and environmental hazards to change things up.
Story: Luigi wins a mansion in a sweepstakes he doesn't remember entering. Upon showing up, he finds that his brother, Mario, is missing and the mansion is filled to the brim with ghastly ghosts. With the help of Professor E. Gadd, Luigi braves the mansion to save Mario.
Art Style/Music: The music is fantastic. It is equal parts eerie, simple, and unique. Luigi hums along to the music, acting as an instrument. The art style is classic Nintendo so it is both colorful and fun.
Gripes: The game is super short. I beat it in like 3 hours. Also trying to get all the boos is a pain in the ass as later in the game they get twice as much health and disappear between rooms.
Additional Info: Portrait ghosts are the best part of the game, so take your time and find them all.
Final Score: 4/5

 

[Kadayi]

13. Tacoma (100% achievement)

Had this gifted to me a while back and figured it was about time I played it. Overall I thought it was a pretty competent narrative adventure, with an engaging hook. Ostensively you're sent to an abandoned space station to recover various data logs and determine what happened to the crew. .Given it's a Fullbright game the wokeness levels were predictably through the roof, however, given the game is set over 60 years in the future there was something decidedly twee about the characterisations of the missing crew, in the sense that it felt like the developers thought it was enough to tick off various diversity boxes to score points, but didn't necessarily put any thought into how society as a whole would progress and change over those 60 years. Just as the past isn't now but with worst hygiene, the future isn't going to be now but with space toilets. A missed opportunity.

14. Day of the Tentacle Remastered (100% achievement)

Beat the original years ago, but picked up the remaster a while back and figured it would be worth playing through again, though I didn't reckon with a lot of the (hidden) achievements being easily missable, so I had to do a bit of backtracking and refer to a guide for some of the less obvious ones. The game still holds up pretty well and is suitably amusing. Think I will perhaps revisit a couple more of the Lucas Art remasters. Controller friendly as well which was a bonus as I favour a lean-back experience more these days.

 

[BurstZyn]

10. DmC: Devil may Cry (Xbox 360):

Story: The story follows a retelling of the original Devil May Cry carry some other elements from the other games, mainly 1 and 3. It follows the path of Dante, a Nephilim, who joins forces with his brother Vergil in order to stop the King Demon Mundus.
Gameplay: The gameplay feels solid, and fluid in most parts allowing for nice combos between the weapons used in Human mode, Rebellion, and the weapons of Angel mode and demon mode. It takes some elements from the other games as well, and puts its own little twist on it at times.
Art Style/Music: Gotta say that the enemy designs were pretty cool, among with some level designs, especially the news network fight and the nightclub stage. And the music, while different from the style of the original series, I still felt myself bumping my head to most of the tracks during the fights.
Gripes: Alright, so new game so new approaches, and do they land fine? Ehhhh the ones i talk above do in some areas… First of all this is such an edgy take on the series that I basically had to keep checking my hands for cuts as I played. The new Dante has a fine design, but pretty boring attitude with the try hard “Fuck You” Persona, and Vergil, who was once a silent cool antagonist with a bad ass katana and design, is just an annoying little bitch in this game who wear a long coat with a stupid blue skull design on the back, as he wields Yamato with the dumb looking fedora on his head. The gameplay is fine, but can be interrupted by annoying color coded enemies who stop the flow fights, because you’re not using the correct weapons. It can super annoying at times especially if you have two different colored enemies in one fight. And you can’t lock on which can suck when you’re trying to aim at a specific enemy that you don’t mean to, because you don't have the right weapon for them! Overall the game is just super edgy and sometimes fails in gameplay design.
Additional Info: Now with that all said, it's not really as bad as I remember it being; I had a few chuckles at Dante’s little edgy quips and the combat felt fun most of the time. If I were to put this game somewhere among the DMC games I have played, i would put it 3/5 of the series, on top of Devil May Cry and under Devil May Cry 3. It’s obviously better than DMC 2, and it’s only better than the first which is now pretty outdated compare to the others.
Score: 3/5

11. 99 Vidas (PS4):
Story: You play as 4 characters (based off the cast a Brazilian podcast which i believe as the same name as the game) who control the elements of fire, water, lighting, and earth. The 99 Vidas, an object of incredible power, is in the hands of a dastardly doo that is the Boss, and its your job is get it back.
Gameplay: Classic beat 'em up style gameplay that tries to mimic the style of Streets of Rage, The SNES Turtle arcade game, and etc. To me it like the most as Castle Crashers, with the play on the elements and the upgrade system.
Art Style/Music: The art style is fun and retro, with the character designs being weird and goofy, especially the bosses. The music is pretty fun and actually quite enjoyable.
Gripes: Alright so the art style and music are fun and enjoyable, the story is fine, nothing amazing but fine I suppose. The main problem with this game, is the gameplay! Everything feels unbalanced and not in your favor; the game wants you to do cool long combos, but most of the time that will get you killed so you're better off just jump kicking most of the time. The stun you get from last for so long, that essentially 2-3 combos will get you killed, 1 if there is more than one enemy hitting. If you're playing multiplayer, the difficulty scales with adding more enemies to the screen but not items so you and your friends have try to ration items as best as possible while getting your ass kicked by like 10 people. The bosses are more unfair than fun, doing annoying attacks that at times seem to have weird dodge timing and such. Honestly this game would have greatly benefited from a block or at least a parry mechanic.
Additional Info: N/A
Score: 2/5

 

[BurstZyn]

11. 99 Vidas (PS4):
Story: You play as 4 characters (based off the cast a Brazilian podcast which i believe as the same name as the game) who control the elements of fire, water, lighting, and earth. The 99 Vidas, an object of incredible power, is in the hands of a dastardly doo that is the Boss, and its your job is get it back.
Gameplay: Classic beat 'em up style gameplay that tries to mimic the style of Streets of Rage, The SNES Turtle arcade game, and etc. To me it like the most as Castle Crashers, with the play on the elements and the upgrade system.
Art Style/Music: The art style is fun and retro, with the character designs being weird and goofy, especially the bosses. The music is pretty fun and actually quite enjoyable.
Gripes: Alright so the art style and music are fun and enjoyable, the story is fine, nothing amazing but fine I suppose. The main problem with this game, is the gameplay! Everything feels unbalanced and not in your favor; the game wants you to do cool long combos, but most of the time that will get you killed so you're better off just jump kicking most of the time. The stun you get from last for so long, that essentially 2-3 combos will get you killed, 1 if there is more than one enemy hitting. If you're playing multiplayer, the difficulty scales with adding more enemies to the screen but not items so you and your friends have try to ration items as best as possible while getting your ass kicked by like 10 people. The bosses are more unfair than fun, doing annoying attacks that at times seem to have weird dodge timing and such. Honestly this game would have greatly benefited from a block or at least a parry mechanic.
Additional Info: N/A
Score: 2/5

12. Bayonetta (Xbox 360):
Story: Ummm you play as a witch... and you're killing angels.. and to be really honest I couldnt be able to tell you what the hell is goin on, this game is bat shit crazy with its story
Gameplay: Alright the real shiner of the game right here, I came to this right after playing DMC 4 and DmC, expecting that style of gameplay; but to my surprise its actually pretty different and pretty tougher too. With the constant use of firearms being used into combos and being able to overpower enemies with the witch time mechanic. What really makes this game stand out though are the boss fights and set pieces. God this game is cinematic as hell, and its amazing. You'll be going high speed down a highway on a motorcycle shooting down enemies and then surfing the ocean in order to take down a giant boss, and Jeanne fight is just over the top madness that is amazing in so many ways.
Art Style/ Music: Bayonetta design is fine along with the other cast (I prefer her old outfit more) but the real incredible art is on the enemy and the boss designs. They are so unique and so gah damn awesome to look at! The music is fun and cool, but didnt get me into the game as much as the DMC osts.
Gripes: I dont really have any real gripes with the game, its pretty tough but thats just me sucking at it. I only would have to say that I like the DMC play style more.
Additional Info: N/A
Score: 4/5

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

11. Mega Man 11 (PS4) - 8/10

At first this one was kicking my ass but I eventually got the hang of it again. It's been a minute since I beat 10 and forgot how challenging Mega Man stages can be. I did hear the criticism of the stages being too long...and after playing I do agree. Some just didn't feel tight and might have been better served as a side level / like Mega Man 3 tried to do with the rehash of MM2 bosses. Still really enjoyed my time. Stages were hard as hell but the robot masters weren't. Only boss that gave me trouble was the yellow devil.

12. King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne (PC) - 7/10

I enjoyed this more than the first game. It felt more like a legit fantasy quest. Definitely had some head scratching moments but still felt like it made more sense than the first game. I enjoyed it.

13. Bulletstorm (PS4) - 7/10

Stupid name but what a fun game. Everything was over the top and I just loved it. I did run into a ton of bugs which made some areas difficult. I had to fight the plant boss without using the leash since it stopped working. Would love to see them take this game-play further. I don't really need it to be a sequel but would love to see them take the same idea and advance it.

14. Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal (3DS) - 6/10

Weird game. It wasn't as bad as the Wii-U one...but it was bad. The characters move so slowly that you forget this is supposed to be Sonic. Needing to find so many collectibles to advance was a pain but I guess it made it a bit more of a challenge. You really never die which makes it a breeze. The last boss was a joke. I heard Fire/Ice was better but I think I need a break before I give that a go.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Professor Layton and the Curious Village HD

8:01h, 113 puzzles, completed the Inn rooms, the robot dog and the picture.

Generally, the games I enjoy the most in my phone are those that have a relaxed pace and those that I can play in portrait mode. So Professor Layton ticked all the boxes, to the point I didn't care much about the high price. And yes, I enjoyed the game thoroughly - yet, I'm torn. I feel the art and the setting are much, much richer than the game itself, almost Ghibli-level. The cinematics, while short and rare, are top-notch, and so is the voice acting. So I feel they would have been better used for a more meaty epic instead of a short-ish collection of puzzles and minigames.

But I guess that's what makes Layton games special - you get to care about the world they've created and I'm curious to see where the story goes. I'm going to definitely pick up the next games in the series... if they're ever released for Android.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[marcincz]

First and huge update:

Game 1 - Papers, Please (PSV) - 06h 25m
Beat 03/01/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 2 - Observer (XB0) - 07h 08m
Beat 08/01/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 3 - D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die (XB0) - 04h 25m
Beat 12/01/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 4 - Oxenfree (XB0) - 06h 08m
Beat 15/01/2019 - my score: ★★★★★

Game 5 - Late Shift (XB0) - 01h 19m
Beat 15/01/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 6 - Amplitude (PS3) - 01h 16m
Beat 18/01/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 7 - Thomas Was Alone (XB0) - 05h 12m
Beat 24/01/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 8 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (PS3) - 26h 42m
Beat 31/01/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 9 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow; DLC Reverie (PS3) - 02h 18m
Beat 03/02/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 10 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow; DLC Resurrection (PS3) - 02h 07m
Beat 05/02/2019 - my score: ★★☆☆☆

Game 11 - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow; Mirror of Fate (PS3) - 10h 58m
Beat 15/02/2019 - my score: ★★★★★

Game 12 - Killzone: Mercenary (PSV) - 07h 08m
Beat 24/02/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 13 - Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days (PS3) - 03h 08m
Beat 03/03/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 14 - Kingdom Hearts Final Mix (PS3) - 36h 20m
Beat 08/03/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 15 - Borderlands 2; DLC Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty (PS3) - 03h 57 m
Beat 23/03/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

 

[IKSTUGA]

16. Wolfenstein: Old Blood, 9/10
Yeah this one is pretty great as well. Obviously they had a smaller budget for this one, which shows in the quality of cutscenes and the amount of content. Still good stuff, would recommend to anyone who enjoyed New order.

17. Devil May Cry V, 10/10
Holy shite this game is good. I've already beaten it three times and I just can't just get enough of this stuff. Probably gonna be stuck replaying this game for the next couple of weeks at least, RIP game number 18.

18. Bioshock, 9.5/10
This was my third or fourth playthrough already, not many complaints here, the game is as good as ever. Remastered version's improvements were a nice added bonus (framerate etc.).

19. Assassin's Creed Odyssey, 9/10
Might be my new favorite in the series. I does get a bit grindy at times, but holy hell does ancient Greece look and feel impressive. Alexandria was my favorite part about Origins and this game has even more Greek goodness + SPARTA. Sorry Bayek, but Egypt is a boring desert shithole compared to Greece and its glorious islands. Regarding cool new features, dialogue choices were a welcome addition.
Please give me Imperial Rome next...

 

[Jack Videogames]

Samurai of Hyuga: Book I

3h-ish, got the Alligator Spirit Animal.

This was touted as one of the best gamebooks Choice of Games has to offer, but in my opinion it's inferior to Sabres of Infinity or Wasted!. The prose is not bad, but the book is short and around 40% of the story and three of the main characters are directly lifted from one of the early arcs of Rurouni Kenshin. Still, a good read (play?).

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[Jack Videogames]

Devil May Cry 5

12h-ish, Devil Hunter difficulty.

Capcom hit the motherlode with the RE Engine. DMC5 looks like a dream and plays about as well. Like GoW last year, DMC5 redefines the character action genre, in this case the crazy, fast, cocky subgenre which I henceforth dub "fuck you-'em-up". Like it usually happens with DMC, it sometimes feels like a button masher, but it's actually really demanding and rewards skill. The only thing keeping it from being a perfect game is that it lacks a certain gravitas, and, even though it was made for replayability, the story mode is still a tad too short. 5 missions more or so would have rounded it up nicely.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

12. Bayonetta (Xbox 360):
Story: Ummm you play as a witch... and you're killing angels.. and to be really honest I couldnt be able to tell you what the hell is goin on, this game is bat shit crazy with its story
Gameplay: Alright the real shiner of the game right here, I came to this right after playing DMC 4 and DmC, expecting that style of gameplay; but to my surprise its actually pretty different and pretty tougher too. With the constant use of firearms being used into combos and being able to overpower enemies with the witch time mechanic. What really makes this game stand out though are the boss fights and set pieces. God this game is cinematic as hell, and its amazing. You'll be going high speed down a highway on a motorcycle shooting down enemies and then surfing the ocean in order to take down a giant boss, and Jeanne fight is just over the top madness that is amazing in so many ways.
Art Style/ Music: Bayonetta design is fine along with the other cast (I prefer her old outfit more) but the real incredible art is on the enemy and the boss designs. They are so unique and so gah damn awesome to look at! The music is fun and cool, but didnt get me into the game as much as the DMC osts.
Gripes: I dont really have any real gripes with the game, its pretty tough but thats just me sucking at it. I only would have to say that I like the DMC play style more.
Additional Info: N/A
Score: 4/5

13. Override: Mech City Brawl (PS4):
Story: Fight against the alien Kaiju that are known as Xenotypes, choosing among 12 mechs (more if you have the DLC) getting somewhat different stories with each one. Upgrading your mech with different weapons to appear on stage, modifications, and upgrades that are unique to the campaign.
Gameplay: The game is an arena brawler, like that of the old school Godzilla games like Destroy All Monsters Melee, Save The Earth, and Etc. with modes like team death match and Free-For-All. With the weighty control of the mechs, making them feel like legit giant robots; with the fun addition of items such as axes, machine guns, missile launchers, shields, etc. Each mech has their special abilities; such as teleportation, substitution jutsu's, Freeze rays, etc., and Ultimates for when your health hits below 30%. One mechanic that is very unique to this game is that you can have up to 4 people controlling one mech, having each person controlling individual parts of the mech itself. Another cool design of the game local split-screen play is that when one person
Art Style/ Music: The designs of the mechs are all unique and awesome, ranging from Luchador Fish to a Ninja Cat. The music isn't very exciting, the only one I can enjoy a little is the Mexico stage.
Gripes: Unfortunately this game does suffer problems in and out of the game itself. Out of the game just that it does not have a huge player base, you'll only really be picking this up to play locally with friends, or if you can convince them to get them with you on a sale. The Single player is fine, but can be way to easy and is not exciting enough for a purchase. The game also has some glitches with the audio just going out as you join a lobby, you can't match make with friends; you have to join a lobby and hope there's an open space to invite your friends (which isn't that hard to do, but still an inconvenience.), and there will be time's when I will be playing with my friends and ultimates just did not come out no matter how many times we would try to activate them.
Additional Info: N/A
Score: 3/5

14. Beyond Good and Evil HD (Xbox 360):
Story: Play as Photo journalist Jade joined by her uncle P'eyj, trying to uncover the truth of the invading alien species known as the Domz, who take their hostages and drain all of their energy out of them.
Gameplay: A mix of platformer, stealth, and action-adventure; you climb around taking pictures of all sorts of crazy animals for some extra cash, and sneak around enemies to uncover the secrets of the Domz. The combat actually flows pretty well with an auto lock-on that lets you move and attack between enemies. Scale through areas solving platforming puzzles with your partner P'eyj, as he helps fight enemies as well. The progression of the game reminds that of Jak and Daxter, where you need to collect a certain number of Pearls in order to continue with the story of the game.
Art Style/ Music: The game looks fantastic for its age, and the design of the characters and enemies (especially the final boss) are awesome. The music is sick and rocking, when it's playing at least.
Gripes: Now with the few problems with this game, there's nothing really game breaking or too annoying. There are some problems with the camera being clunky and hard to follow at times. And the very last boss fight is a little bullshit, but once you calm down and understand the boss' pattern you can get over it. While the music was awesome, it was only available during certain events like fights, mini games, and races. The rest of the game I was just alone my thoughts... which I never like
Additional Info: I heard about this a while back ago, and how it was considered a cult classic and I can now see why. I instantly ended up enjoying as soon as it started. While i don't love it, i like it enough to be interested in the sequel.
Score: 4/5

 

[ROMhack]

5. Octopath Traveler (15 hours, unfinished)

I haven't beaten it but I recently bought FFVII again so I know deep down I've given up on it.

I've found it to be a thoroughly average experience for the 15 or so hours I played. The battle system is novel but finding out enemy weaknesses becomes less impressive over time. Ordinary enemies aren't interesting to fight and it simply morphs into boss-dominated experience, held back by not being able to enter certain areas because enemies are too powerful - which destroys any sense of exploration!

I cared not for any of the stories or characters which are designed around a chapter system that basically means you forget about them by the time you get to the next 'part'. The concept feels like it this was designed for mobile, which unsurprisingly is what Squenix are doing for the sequel.

Graphics? You bet it's got them and they look lovely. The music is top notch too. Best parts of the game.

Unfortunately I don't have any motivation to grind through an 80-hour game that I don't enjoy.

You might like the game. I didn't.

2/5

 

[tomiguelk]

First try here. Finished the first today:

1. Bloodborne + Old Hunters DLC: Amazing game. The DLC bosses are insanely Hard, but the harder they are the better you feel after finally killing them… 9.5/10

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus: Liked it more than the first order, and I really liked the first order. Great graphics, well optimized and amazing story. 9/10 for seeing Hittler piss his pants...

 

[Jack Videogames]

Shiny Sky Resort

13:21h. Rank 8 number 1 resort.

Shiny Sky Resort is the best Kairosoft offering in years, even better than the excellent Pool Slide Story. It seems they've finally achieved a good amount of balance between "interactive" and "idle". The game has a lot to do and a lot to discover, but luckily it doesn't get too micromanagey until well into its second half.

After that, in the final end years it becomes a grind for G, if you did everything right. Still, like every Kairosoft game, it will keep you hooked until the hi-score screen.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[Jack Videogames]

Ōkami HD

27:59h. Not a completionist run but not rushed either.

Every year I beat one or two games that have been sitting in my backlog for way too long. Ōkami is one of them - I have purchased it for every platform it came out on except PC and PS4, (PS2, Wii, PS3 and Switch). After finally beating it, I can see why it's considered one of the best games ever. Artistically, everything about it is top-notch; the design, the music, the story, have all the markings of an once-in-a-lifetime production. The way Japanese legends intertwine in the game plot is simply superb, the characters are fantastic, and the main story, while cliche'd, is developed extremely well. It's true the graphics are severely dated, the camera feels like it's actively trying to sabotage you, and the controls go from "finicky" to "FUCK IT'S THE THIRD TIME I FALL FROM THIS PLATFORM!", but believe me, you almost won't notice (or care about) those niggles once you're 2-3h into the story.

Maybe the game is a tad too easy as I managed to beat it without dying once and I see in the Internet that this is pretty common - not even the bosses pose a real threat, particularly if you use items. But hey - you play Ōkami for the experience, not for the challenge. If you want a difficult game in a Japanese setting, well...

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[Barnabot]

2/52

1. Super Robot Wars V

73.h
It was a fine game. Capitain Okita (Yamato) and Ruri (Nadesico) were the aces in that game imo. That was a fun ride.
I've enjoyed playing this and I cared more about the store than the X counterpart.

2. Super Robot Wars X

67.5h
*Sigh* It was one of the first SRW game I've forced myself to finish and I didn't enjoy the ride. It was fun a few stages after picking Mazinkaiser and Mazin Emperor G but that was all about it. This is the first game I ever got a platinum Emblem in the first playthrough though. The story pretty dull and you fight parrot as the the last boss. A *freaking* parrot. So if are reading this , do never bother finish this game. You won't have you time spent back.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

15. Devil May Cry (PS4) - 9/10

With V being released, I got the itch to replay this and start up the HD collection. I haven't played this since it was on PS2 and I remember having a difficult time. This time I had an absolute blast and crushed through it, maybe too quickly. Maybe it was the 60fps upgrade but this felt amazing to replay.

16. Jurassic Park (NES) - 7/10

This was one of those games I owned as a kid that I could never get very far. I randomly got the itch to correct that and decided to play through it. This game is hard as crap, especially the last level and boss. I do appreciate how they pushed the NES hardware and did a mostly good job. I think it's fun for awhile but then gets frustrating with the amount of dinos respawning. My nostalgia is probably giving this a higher score than it deserves.

17. Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS) - 8/10

Really enjoyed this Kirby game. It felt longer than the others that I have played and occasionally difficult. I found each stage creative and fun. If you like Kirby at all, I would give this one a go.

 

[jshackles]

Game 12 - Tom Clancy's The Division - PC Uplay - Completed Apr 5th, 2019
It's been a while since I have played any PC games, but The Division was on sale for cheap (the Gold Edition was $7) and I heard it worked really well with ultrawide monitors. Playing on my RX580 at 3440x1440 was a real treat, and the monitor's Freesync capabilities made this game an absolute joy to play. It's also been a while since I've played a looter / shooter - I think the last one I played was Borderlands 2 a few years back - so it was fun to break out of my genre "comfort zone" a bit. I liked the game a lot but I found I had to approach it in a really methodical way to make a lot of progress. The game was obviously designed to be played in a squad, but I played the game solo which came with it's own set of challenges. However, once I hit level 30 the game became an absolute cakewalk which took a lot of the fun out of it. I had a lot of fun picking up the collectibles on the map, and piecing together the puzzle of what happened. I love the open-ended narrative that definitely left itself wide open for sequels. I'll probably be picking up The Division 2 when it goes on sale.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

5:03h. Maxed Will and Shadow, found all red skulls.

Very pleasing game. Like Shovel of Hope, has a lovely Megaman-ish vibe. The difficulty curve is all over the place though, with some levels having parts that are a breeze and parts that are a bit too challenging for their own good. However, SoT is never unfair and the checkpoints provided are more than sufficient to never get you stuck for long. Also, I love the way it expands on the lore of some of the more memorable SoH characters.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

13. Override: Mech City Brawl (PS4):
Story: Fight against the alien Kaiju that are known as Xenotypes, choosing among 12 mechs (more if you have the DLC) getting somewhat different stories with each one. Upgrading your mech with different weapons to appear on stage, modifications, and upgrades that are unique to the campaign.
Gameplay: The game is an arena brawler, like that of the old school Godzilla games like Destroy All Monsters Melee, Save The Earth, and Etc. with modes like team death match and Free-For-All. With the weighty control of the mechs, making them feel like legit giant robots; with the fun addition of items such as axes, machine guns, missile launchers, shields, etc. Each mech has their special abilities; such as teleportation, substitution jutsu's, Freeze rays, etc., and Ultimates for when your health hits below 30%. One mechanic that is very unique to this game is that you can have up to 4 people controlling one mech, having each person controlling individual parts of the mech itself. Another cool design of the game local split-screen play is that when one person
Art Style/ Music: The designs of the mechs are all unique and awesome, ranging from Luchador Fish to a Ninja Cat. The music isn't very exciting, the only one I can enjoy a little is the Mexico stage.
Gripes: Unfortunately this game does suffer problems in and out of the game itself. Out of the game just that it does not have a huge player base, you'll only really be picking this up to play locally with friends, or if you can convince them to get them with you on a sale. The Single player is fine, but can be way to easy and is not exciting enough for a purchase. The game also has some glitches with the audio just going out as you join a lobby, you can't match make with friends; you have to join a lobby and hope there's an open space to invite your friends (which isn't that hard to do, but still an inconvenience.), and there will be time's when I will be playing with my friends and ultimates just did not come out no matter how many times we would try to activate them.
Additional Info: N/A
Score: 3/5

14. Beyond Good and Evil HD (Xbox 360):
Story: Play as Photo journalist Jade joined by her uncle P'eyj, trying to uncover the truth of the invading alien species known as the Domz, who take their hostages and drain all of their energy out of them.
Gameplay: A mix of platformer, stealth, and action-adventure; you climb around taking pictures of all sorts of crazy animals for some extra cash, and sneak around enemies to uncover the secrets of the Domz. The combat actually flows pretty well with an auto lock-on that lets you move and attack between enemies. Scale through areas solving platforming puzzles with your partner P'eyj, as he helps fight enemies as well. The progression of the game reminds that of Jak and Daxter, where you need to collect a certain number of Pearls in order to continue with the story of the game.
Art Style/ Music: The game looks fantastic for its age, and the design of the characters and enemies (especially the final boss) are awesome. The music is sick and rocking, when it's playing at least.
Gripes: Now with the few problems with this game, there's nothing really game breaking or too annoying. There are some problems with the camera being clunky and hard to follow at times. And the very last boss fight is a little bullshit, but once you calm down and understand the boss' pattern you can get over it. While the music was awesome, it was only available during certain events like fights, mini games, and races. The rest of the game I was just alone my thoughts... which I never like
Additional Info: I heard about this a while back ago, and how it was considered a cult classic and I can now see why. I instantly ended up enjoying as soon as it started. While i don't love it, i like it enough to be interested in the sequel.
Score: 4/5

15. Advanced Wars (GBA):
Story: Command armies as three Commanding Officers of The Orange Star army "advise" you, Andy, Max, and Sami. Battle against the forces of The Blue Moon, Green Earth, and Yellow Comet. As you continue to progress the story, you find that some sort of mysterious foe has a dark plan set for the warring countries.
Gameplay: Strategic turn based combat is the game, with the power of infantry, tanks, helicopters, Submarines, and etc. Either wipe out the enemy, control more of the land than them, or capture their HQ to win. Advisers give you certain advantages/disadvantages among your troops, making either faster, stronger, more durable, etc. They also allow you to use their specific CO Super, affecting the fight by either healing your troops, giving them a damage boost, allowing you to go twice per turn, etc.
Art Style/Music: The art style is simple in a nice soft approach to a subject that is war, which is weird but still nice to look at. The music is so catchy, and always nice to hear after you turn up your gameboy/DS to hear that iconic GBA chime.
Gripes: N/A
Additional Info:As listed before, I really can't find anything wrong with this game. I've essentially owned it since I was around 8-9 years old, finding hard as shit as kid, but still couldn't put it down no matter how many losses. Coming back to this game now after becoming the stronger, smarter, and better looking man that I am now, I found the game easier to comprehend, but not to easy to make me bored. The last fight is no joke though, changing based on in game conditions being met, it was quite a challenge taking me about 3 legit days to figure out how to combat it. I believed this as a kid, and I still believe it now: This is the best GBA game ever made in my opinion, with PokeMon Emerald being a close second. And I cannot wait to continue the rest of the series once i get my hands on them.
Score: 5/5

16. The Surge: A Walk in The Park
Story: Catch a ride to the amazing place that is Creo World! Being surrounded by the friendly faces of Donnie Donuts, Samuel Soda, Ivan Iron-bar, and Cocoa-bean Charlie. Restoring power to the park by exploring the several amusing attractions and stopping the evil plans of Iron Maus' arch nemesis: Carbon Cat!
Gameplay: Plays the same as I would describe in The Surge review (Which will be coming soon!)
Art Style/Music: Look at Gameplay; besides the core elements following the main game, this DLC has some fun additions of fun silly tunes and awesome character and enemy designs. Mostly those of the characters of the park.
Gripes: The particular gripes I would have against this DLC is that is was simply not long enough! I enjoyed so much of it, and finished it such a short amount of time. I would have loved the additional of at least one more boss!
Additional Info: So I've owned this game for about a year. Finally deciding to get around to it, I'm loving everything about it, and taking my time to finish it (which explains the lack of a review). Completing several side quest and locating several secrets that I can find before I finish the game. I came into this DLC with low expectations, as I read a review that basically called it a shallow arena with new enemies and bosses. But after playing it, I can say it's more than that. It's really enjoyable and adds amount to the lore of the main game, mostly referring to Warren. I just wanted to complete this DLC before I finished the main game, just in case the ending is a point of no return sort of deal.
Score: 4/5

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Main Post

18. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (PS3) - 8/10

Continuing the backlog cleanse. This was a charming quick game. I thought it would be more of a brawler but it turned out to be more of a puzzle/platformer. The puzzles were pretty easy and the platforming was even easier...but the game has a nice charm. I enjoyed the ending but there really wasn't much of a lead up to it.

19. Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge (Gameboy) - 7/10

This was a tough game to get through. The screen size makes it difficult. I usually have more trouble with Mega Man levels and find the bosses easy. This was the reverse. The bosses were a struggle, especially the Wily Castle ones. All said, it's a good Mega Man game and I look forward to beating the other Gameboy games.

20. Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System) - 7/10

Interesting game. Very very different from the Genesis version. It almost seems more like a Mario game at times than Sonic. Knowing the limitations of the Master System, I was pretty impressed with what they did here. I have the Gamegear one to try eventually...but how different is it?

21. Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice (3DS) - 7/10

They finally made a decent Sonic Boom game! It was fast and actually kind of fun. I wasn't groaning during cut scenes and found myself wanting to keep playing. My biggest issue, it was beyond short. It was maybe half the length of the other games. I wish it were longer.

22. Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles (DS) - 7/10

I have had this game for maybe a decade and I can finally take it off the list. It's actually not a bad game, but the jumps and combat can be hard to tell what you are doing. I died way too many times on simple jumps simply because the game would do what you needed it to. Not much of a story but it had some interesting platforming and levels.

23. Guardians of the Galaxy (PS4) - 8/10

Definitely janky and I ran into quite a few glitches...but I really did like this one. I found the voice acting pretty decent and enjoyed my time with the team. The story has some nice highs but also some low lows. The 3rd and 4th chapter were pretty weak. Would have been nice to continue but we know that is not going to happen.

 

[kyubajin]

2. The Order 1886
PS4 | about 6 hours

A very pretty game with an interesting story but very little gameplay, mostly corridor after corridor of cover shooting. Incredible graphics and brilliant voice acting. I hope they do make a 2nd game.

3. The Evil Within 2
PS4 | 24 hours
A significant improve (in some areas) over the first game. I had a great time with the sequel, loved the combat, the weapons, the crafting, etc. The bosses were a marked downgrade however with the exception of the final boss which I absolutely loved. I’d gladly return for a part 3 if they ever make one.

4. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
PS4 | 65 hours
Wow, what a blast of a journey. I felt exactly like Sekiro, improving myself along the long and difficult path to the final boss. Every mini-boss and boss felt like a conquest and a realisation of how much my own skill is what pushed me forward. Miyazaki never disappoints. The combat is the best by FromSoftware so far. I deeply enjoyed my time with the game.

 

[jshackles]

Game 13 - Parasite Eve - Playstation Classic - Completed Apr 20th, 2019
I picked up a Playstation Classic for about $25 and decided to hack it. This was the first game I put on it, and since it's been a few years since I've played through the game I thought I'd give it a go. The Playstation Classic played the game perfectly, which I was kind of surprised about. I love this game to pieces, it's a great take on the "modern RPG" and was done in Square's hayday. The game doesn't overstay it's welcome (it took me a bit over 8 hours to complete) and the RPG mechanics never get crazy - I didn't have to do much grinding. The controls were janky (as always) but the experience was pretty great overall - the game holds up really well. A fun little adventure. Now, I might have to play Parasite Eve II, because I've started that game about a dozen times but never got around to finishing it.

 

[BurstZyn]

15. Advanced Wars (GBA):
Story: Command armies as three Commanding Officers of The Orange Star army "advise" you, Andy, Max, and Sami. Battle against the forces of The Blue Moon, Green Earth, and Yellow Comet. As you continue to progress the story, you find that some sort of mysterious foe has a dark plan set for the warring countries.
Gameplay: Strategic turn based combat is the game, with the power of infantry, tanks, helicopters, Submarines, and etc. Either wipe out the enemy, control more of the land than them, or capture their HQ to win. Advisers give you certain advantages/disadvantages among your troops, making either faster, stronger, more durable, etc. They also allow you to use their specific CO Super, affecting the fight by either healing your troops, giving them a damage boost, allowing you to go twice per turn, etc.
Art Style/Music: The art style is simple in a nice soft approach to a subject that is war, which is weird but still nice to look at. The music is so catchy, and always nice to hear after you turn up your gameboy/DS to hear that iconic GBA chime.
Gripes: N/A
Additional Info:As listed before, I really can't find anything wrong with this game. I've essentially owned it since I was around 8-9 years old, finding hard as shit as kid, but still couldn't put it down no matter how many losses. Coming back to this game now after becoming the stronger, smarter, and better looking man that I am now, I found the game easier to comprehend, but not to easy to make me bored. The last fight is no joke though, changing based on in game conditions being met, it was quite a challenge taking me about 3 legit days to figure out how to combat it. I believed this as a kid, and I still believe it now: This is the best GBA game ever made in my opinion, with PokeMon Emerald being a close second. And I cannot wait to continue the rest of the series once i get my hands on them.
Score: 5/5

16. The Surge: A Walk in The Park
Story: Catch a ride to the amazing place that is Creo World! Being surrounded by the friendly faces of Donnie Donuts, Samuel Soda, Ivan Iron-bar, and Cocoa-bean Charlie. Restoring power to the park by exploring the several amusing attractions and stopping the evil plans of Iron Maus' arch nemesis: Carbon Cat!
Gameplay: Plays the same as I would describe in The Surge review (Which will be coming soon!)
Art Style/Music: Look at Gameplay; besides the core elements following the main game, this DLC has some fun additions of fun silly tunes and awesome character and enemy designs. Mostly those of the characters of the park.
Gripes: The particular gripes I would have against this DLC is that is was simply not long enough! I enjoyed so much of it, and finished it such a short amount of time. I would have loved the additional of at least one more boss!
Additional Info: So I've owned this game for about a year. Finally deciding to get around to it, I'm loving everything about it, and taking my time to finish it (which explains the lack of a review). Completing several side quest and locating several secrets that I can find before I finish the game. I came into this DLC with low expectations, as I read a review that basically called it a shallow arena with new enemies and bosses. But after playing it, I can say it's more than that. It's really enjoyable and adds amount to the lore of the main game, mostly referring to Warren. I just wanted to complete this DLC before I finished the main game, just in case the ending is a point of no return sort of deal.
Score: 4/5

17. The Surge (PS4):
Story: Creo is the way of the future, bringing bigger and better lifestyles to everyone willing to embrace it... or not. You play as Warren, paralyzed from the waist down looking to work for Creo in order to gain the ability to walk again by using the Creo model Exo-Suits. But after his operation goes terribly awry, the whole factory suddenly turns into a terrible nightmare of survival against machines gone nuts and other employees that have turned into violent mindless killers. Solve the mystery of the cause of all this tragedy, and survive against the tough hordes of enemies .
Gameplay: Taking some obvious inspiration from the SoulsBorne series with some clever and original mechanics of it's own. Such as the combat being commanded by horizontal and vertical slashes that are used to cut off different body parts of enemies. You must cut off limbs in order to acquire and upgrade new weapons and gear. There are OPS areas that are just like bonfires from the Dark Souls series, allowing the player to recover health and items, but also bringing back dead enemies. The weapons are very nice in variety, having about as much as Bloodborne and get better the more you upgrade them and the more you use them. Gear is categorized among 3 different types: Operator (speed & high stamina recovery), Goliath (defense & impact), and Operator (I wanna say a good medium between the other 2 types along with high energy gain). You can mix and match armor or wear a complete set to get an Armor Set Bonus for special perks. Gain energy to use specific items, use your drone companion, and/or cut off limbs.
Art Style/ Music: The design of the game as fantastic, which people describe as robot souls, exo-souls, and etc. But I much rather call it a nice mix of Dark Souls and Edge of Tomorrow (Or All You Need Is Kill, if you would prefer the Japanese novel more) The enemies look cool, giving you some pretty sick looking gear. Most of the weapons are awesome in a Dead Space sort of way, where they're mechanical tools that are not really meant for combat. It's also always nice to return to OPS with the lovely song Prisoner performed by Stumfol in the background.
Gripes: Alright I honestly love this game a lot, enough to say its a friendly competitor to the SoulsBorne series... but it does have it's fair share of problems. The game does have a good amount of bugs, some being good and bad in broken ways. Such as infinite health or getting stuck in geometry. This game also has crashed on me several times, I don't know if that was a problem with my copy or a PS4 specific problem. The game map design can also be a little... boring in where certain parts look very similar in just being a metal maze that can be confusing at times. A more personal gripe, but i purchased the "Complete Edition" or whatever like a year ago, to have a new expansion announced months that I didn't get as part of the collection. I will purchase this expansion somewhere down the line, but that is a little annoying.
Additional Info: As I said before, I love this game a lot and its gonna be part of my yearly play through list of games along with the SoulsBorne series. I'm really looking forward to the improvements they plan to make on the sequel, and shit it may even be a day one purchase from me.
Score: 4/5

 

[Jack Videogames]

Disgaea 5 Complete

61:37h. Completed all DLC, quite a bit of Netherworld research and Item World exploring. No postgame.

While I'm not a big Disgaea fan, I can see how the spectacularly good tactical combat has its diehard fans. The game has such complexity that I haven't even begun to scratch at the surface after 60h. I know Disgaea hardliners say the story mode is the prologue and the postgame is the real meat - but I don't think I have 300h to spend grinding.

Apart from the gameplay, the story is basically what you would get from any mid-season anime. A level 5 storm of cliches, some innocent innuendo, a frankly uninteresting story, good characters and top-quality music and art, except for some impossible boobage here and there. But all of this is secondary compared to the near-perfect gameplay, so there's that.

PS: Try using the DLC characters as little as possible. They make the game a walk in the park.

My Score: ★★★★☆

Original Post

 

[jshackles]

Game 14 - Mortal Kombat 11 - Nintendo Switch - Completed Apr 24th, 2019
I decided to pick this up for the Switch so I could play matches on the go with my son. I kinda regret that decision, since the Switch port of this game turned out to be not so great, and the Xbox port turned out to be flawless. Oh well, I predominantly picked this up for the story mode, which I completed this morning. The story mode in this game was pretty good, though Ronda Rousey's acting was pretty cringe. I liked nearly all of the characters, and the story mode gives you a pretty good opportunity to play as nearly everyone in four or five fights and get to know their moveset a bit before moving on to the next fighter, which is a pretty good way of introducing you to each. It's a technical marvel that they got this running so well on the Switch - the pre-rendered cut scenes look great (of course) but the texture quality really took a dive when the battles started and it was quite jarring. There was also something funky going on with the character's hair, some sort of AA problem perhaps. Also I'm gonna be skipping the Krypt and all the grinding that goes along with that, because it's kind of a mess. I'll probably pop in and play some of the towers at some points here or there when the mood to play a fighting game strikes me. Can't say I'd recommend this game at full price just for the story mode, but there is a lot of other content to mow through (as well as online play, which isn't really my jam either) to keep you busy.

 

[Daymos]

I was just thinking.. if you took my combined total playtime from xenoblade2 + zelda botw (782) hours, I could of beaten something like the last of us or super mario odyssey (let's say 15 hours for either) 52 times! Ding 2 games, 1 year, 52 weeks burned.

 

[ROMhack]

6. Final Fantasy VII (45 hours)

Breaking new ground on FFVII is like coming up with an original opinion on The Beatles – it ain't happening.

In fact I’m struggling to find any motivation to review it properly so instead here’s my responses to things I've heard about it.

It’s the best game ever!

Hmm no. It’s very good but it’s most certainly not the best game ever. It’s not even the best JRPG on the PlayStation One – that dubious honour goes to Xenogears which IIRC was originally pitched as a scenario for FFVII by Tetsuya Takahashi.

The dialogue is Shakespearian

Seriously who said this? FFVII is mostly goofy fun. Sephiroth is a compelling villain sure and there’s a somewhat tragic scene where somebody important dies (no spoilers!) but it’s got far, far, far, far more in common with a 90s shonen anime than it does, say, Hamlet.

The game hasn’t aged well.

True in a way. The character models look like ass. They look even worse in HD as they’re stretched out and look very cartoonish against the background art – which is still really good. The gameplay though has aged just fine. It’s a very traditional turn-based RPG and that’s a style that never goes out of fashion.

The new ‘cheats’ ruin the game.

Naw. It’s hard to turn the on accidentally and I was happy to use them towards the end when the ‘fucking hell can’t this just be over yet’ feeling I always with JRPGs set in. At these points I mostly used x3 to get to places quicker. I never used it in-battle except to speed up summons.

FFVII is SO overrated.

First, it's hard for anything that's popular not to be overrated. Second, I think FFVII gets the praise it deserves. It’s a strong, fun title with a nice plot and some cool characters. I really enjoy the interplay between Cloud, Aeris and Tifa. Barrett is a bit of a caricature, as is Cid, but it’s got one of the best casts out of any game not called Chrono Trigger.

Aeris is Best Girl.

Yeah she is.

Cait Sith Sucks.

No. Cait Sith is the hero we all deserve.

4/5

 

[ROMhack]

7. Transistor (5 hours)

Transistor is one of those titles that's bolstered by aesthetics. The artstyle and music are absolutely impeccable. They complement the world by giving a lush, cyberdystopian atmosphere that's oozing in end of the world because of cynical human actions reasons.

The plot is somewhat incomprehensible although makes more sense at the end. I really liked how it obscures points to concentrate on the journey of the main character (Red) and her talking sword (Transistor). The game is actually a tragic romance which doesn't seem obvious at first.

Gameplay is interesting. I'm not a 'systems' type of gamer but there's a lot of possible combinations when attacking. You basically stack 'functions' on top of one another for different effects. It means the game can be played in a variety of different ways - including upping the challenge with limiters.

All in all, I really didn't like it until the end but then it all came together and now I feel really taken by it. End credits song is phenomenal.

4/5

 

[Jack Videogames]

Anime Studio Story

3h-ish. Several perfect 100s, got all trophies in the lastest years.

It seems I had already played this game in 2015 and I didn't even remember until I checked my Backloggery, but since I didn't have it purchased I probably pirated it or something. As I don't pirate games anymore and since I now purchased it, I'm counting it as a new game. Fuck the police.

I'm totally reusing 2015's "review" though.

"Anime Studio Story was a bit disappointing - it's basically Game Dev Story with a coat of paint, but less interesting. The need to constantly create characters and reuse them and the inability to use more than one is confusing."

My Score: ★★★☆☆

Original Post

 

[jshackles]

Game 15 - Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch - Completed May 2nd, 2019
This is actually the first Tales game I've beaten, despite having started a half dozen or so of them (including this one, when it was out on the Xbox 360). I loved the art style, animations, characters, and pretty much everything about this game. I put nearly 70 hours into it, and got my party members up to level 95ish before beating the game. Aside from the story (which was excellent) I found all of the sidequests and side content a lot of fun to explore as well - monster hunting, cooking, synthesis ingredient searching, all that. The skill system was pretty similar to Final Fantasy IX's "learn from your equipment" system and I enjoyed that a lot. However, I wish that skills could have been learned from armor instead of just weapons and side-weapons, but that's a pretty minor nitpick. I thought the voice acting was a lot of fun - even playing in English! Overall, a really solid experience that had a pretty winding narrative. This has had me interested in maybe trying a few other Tales games I haven't played - I have Zesteria on PC and Berseria on PS4 and it might be worth taking a look at those.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

40:17h. Return Ending. All bosses killed (except for those for the Shura ending). Most minibosses defeated too.

Everybody here heard about the Tetris Effect, yes? If you haven't, quoth Wikipedia: "The Tetris effect (also known as Tetris syndrome) occurs when people devote so much time and attention to an activity that it begins to pattern their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. It takes its name from the video game Tetris.". I bet everyone here has experienced this more than once. Well, when I close my eyes I'm still trading blows with the final boss and I hear the clang clang clang of the sword deflects.

For the 40h that has lasted, Sekiro has been an obsession, much more than Bloodborne before. But unlike Bloodborne (and I guess most DSlikes?) Sekiro is not about finding the perfect build, or dodging until you find an opening: it's a game of reflexes and skill. "Hesitation is defeat", as I'm sure you've heard before - you've got to be aggressive but smart, and be ready to defend at a moment's notice. And to top it off, artistically the game is top-notch too. A lot of care has been put on design - particularly the level design, which is hideously beautiful, and takes a lot of inspiration from real life locales (Senpou Temple, for example, looks quite a bit like the Kiyomizudera). The music is generally absent until the boss battles, where it takes main stage with a blockbuster movie-like epicity (epicness?). Just hear the final boss' theme (warning, spoilers).

Yes, Sekiro is hard. Punishingly so, sometimes. Some fights, like the Guardian Ape, the secret bosses or the end boss, have made me seriously consider abandoning the game. But if you're currently struggling with Sekiro, soldier on. The game seems to be taking the piss at you, but in fact it's training you to beat it. There's no fight that can't be beaten by throwing yourself at the boss until they die before you, and the repeat attempts make you learn the patterns even if you don't realize. It's the best kind of difficulty, not a fake difficulty based on being unfair, but a true "earn your fun" gameplay.

I liken playing Sekiro to angry makeup sex. It has made me furious and driven me to the brink of a heart attack several times, but the payoff is like no other. So, for now, Sekiro is my GOTY.

My Score: ✪✪✪✪✪

Original Post

 

[BurstZyn]

17. The Surge (PS4):
Story: Creo is the way of the future, bringing bigger and better lifestyles to everyone willing to embrace it... or not. You play as Warren, paralyzed from the waist down looking to work for Creo in order to gain the ability to walk again by using the Creo model Exo-Suits. But after his operation goes terribly awry, the whole factory suddenly turns into a terrible nightmare of survival against machines gone nuts and other employees that have turned into violent mindless killers. Solve the mystery of the cause of all this tragedy, and survive against the tough hordes of enemies .
Gameplay: Taking some obvious inspiration from the SoulsBorne series with some clever and original mechanics of it's own. Such as the combat being commanded by horizontal and vertical slashes that are used to cut off different body parts of enemies. You must cut off limbs in order to acquire and upgrade new weapons and gear. There are OPS areas that are just like bonfires from the Dark Souls series, allowing the player to recover health and items, but also bringing back dead enemies. The weapons are very nice in variety, having about as much as Bloodborne and get better the more you upgrade them and the more you use them. Gear is categorized among 3 different types: Operator (speed & high stamina recovery), Goliath (defense & impact), and Operator (I wanna say a good medium between the other 2 types along with high energy gain). You can mix and match armor or wear a complete set to get an Armor Set Bonus for special perks. Gain energy to use specific items, use your drone companion, and/or cut off limbs.
Art Style/ Music: The design of the game as fantastic, which people describe as robot souls, exo-souls, and etc. But I much rather call it a nice mix of Dark Souls and Edge of Tomorrow (Or All You Need Is Kill, if you would prefer the Japanese novel more) The enemies look cool, giving you some pretty sick looking gear. Most of the weapons are awesome in a Dead Space sort of way, where they're mechanical tools that are not really meant for combat. It's also always nice to return to OPS with the lovely song Prisoner performed by Stumfol in the background.
Gripes: Alright I honestly love this game a lot, enough to say its a friendly competitor to the SoulsBorne series... but it does have it's fair share of problems. The game does have a good amount of bugs, some being good and bad in broken ways. Such as infinite health or getting stuck in geometry. This game also has crashed on me several times, I don't know if that was a problem with my copy or a PS4 specific problem. The game map design can also be a little... boring in where certain parts look very similar in just being a metal maze that can be confusing at times. A more personal gripe, but i purchased the "Complete Edition" or whatever like a year ago, to have a new expansion announced months that I didn't get as part of the collection. I will purchase this expansion somewhere down the line, but that is a little annoying.
Additional Info: As I said before, I love this game a lot and its gonna be part of my yearly play through list of games along with the SoulsBorne series. I'm really looking forward to the improvements they plan to make on the sequel, and shit it may even be a day one purchase from me.
Score: 4/5

18. Yakuza 0 (PS4):
Story: You play as Kazuma Kiryu and as Goro Majima back in the year of 1988 in Kamurocho and Sotenbori. Kiryu struggles against the internal conflict of Dojima Family and the police as he is framed for murder. Working to clear his name, he must fight his way to solve the mystery of the murder. While Majima on the other is ordered to assassinate a target, if he wishes to join back into the Yakuza. Accepting the mission, he tries to assassinate his target until the mission becomes complicated putting him into a more complex situation then he was expecting.
Gameplay: A 3-D beat 'em up with a style change system that affects your combat offensively and defensively; giving you new heat actions, combat maneuvers, and many more to experiment with. Heat Actions are moves that you can use spending your heat meter that allow you do major damage to an enemy, being you grabbing their entire body and tombstoning them with extreme force to you grabbing a handful of nails and shoving it into their mouth. But this game gives you way more than fighting, with several mini games and sub stories you'll have plenty to do. Ranging from actually playing classic Sega arcade games, such as Outrun, to maintaining a Hostess club making sure it succeeds as you rival other owners. Every one being fun and can be challenging in their own right.
Art Style/ Music: The art style is more realistic late 80's urban Japan making you feel part of this fictional city, with it's lively open city filled with people, city lights, restaurants, and other ways to entertain yourself. The music is fun with it really amping up in certain fights and changing depending on your fight style.
Gripes: If I were to have to make a gripe among anything in this game... I would say that the Heat action being assigned to the triangle button can be inconvenient at times. Where I want to do one action, but ending up doing a heat move and wasting heat meter
Additional Info: This game is amazing! Probably one of the best games I have ever played, coming back to this series after the PS2 was an awesome welcome with this entry has been a way to bring me way back into the series.
Score: 5/5

19. Borderlands (Xbox 360):
Story: You choose among a group of 4 known as the Vault Hunters, each having their own unique ability. The Vault is a tale of legends, being said to hold treasures of unimaginable wealth convincing to search it as well. This causes many enemies be your obstacles, ranging from psychotic humans to creatures of this wasteland planet. You are helped by a mysterious voice who seems to believe you are personally the one that will be able to find and open the Vault.
Gameplay: A standard FPS with an open world that plenty of to explore. You can play cooperatively with either 3 other friends or random, either being each unique character or the same characters with different color palettes. The four classes of the game are Berserker, Hunter, Siren, and Soldier; each having the respective ability of Rage, A Hawk companion (BloodWing) who attacks enemies, Invisibility, and a Turret. The cool thing is that each has their own unique skill tree that kind of diverts into 3 paths. So for example, with the Hunter you can kind of choose to focus on BloodWing Abilities, your sniping skills, and/or your gunslinger abilities improving your pistol use. So if three characters were to choose the Hunter, they could be 3 different kind of Hunters in a way. You can also combat each other, have destructible vehicular combat, and race.
Art Style/ Music: The art style is a favorite among mine, a cel-shaded look to everything. The music is fine, nothing really exciting to write about to be honest.
Gripes: While i still love the cel-shaded art style, it doesn't work the best in this game. The palette of the game is pretty much brown and grey, not making best use of the art style. I also played this game earlier a couple years ago, and got pretty bored it pretty quickly. Not really the game's fault tho, it's just a blend of my least two favorite genres I suppose; FPS and open world. It's also kinda weird to say this about a game that was released in 2009 (10 years ago i guess) but it also feels kind of dated. The combat felt lackluster, the controls felt clunky and slowly, and the HUD could be better made. I constantly had to check my map to see if I was going the right way or not, with the radar not being the best .
Additional Info: As I said before I didn't really care for this game, but I think that was more of my personal unfondess of the genre blend and use, so I won't be to harsh on the score. While the faults still stand, there is also the huge issue of Framerate drops, which I won't really count in my gripes since I'm sure the GOTY HD remaster of the game fixes that on current consoles (hopefully). I played through this with my little brother, and cousin which was... in a word chaotic at times. It was a little more enjoyable having them at my side, but the game does really get pretty damn cool at two boss particualary, The Hive and The Destroyer. But these Boss fights are where you're gonna see most the framerate drops as well. The lore and setting was really fun and interesting though. I would try to listen to every audio tape and read every description I could just because of how interesting i found the lore. I'm also a fan of the Mad Max style setting, and I hope you like references because this game throws a ton at you. While I didn't really care for this game, I still wanna progress the sequels and spin-offs to see if interest me in the 3rd that is meant to be released later on this year.
Score: 3/5

 

[jshackles]

Game 16 - Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy - Nintendo Switch - Completed May 15th, 2019
I thought this would be a fun short distraction and the game actually turned into Dark Souls: Final Fantasy edition. Chocobo Dungeon games are rogue-likes that have pretty punishing death mechanics where you keep your EXP and JP, but lose all of your found/equipped items, which lets you slowly build up power over time while trying to get an item build that decent enough to do some real damage or take a beating. I spent around 30 hours on this game, and I'd say at least 20 of that was in the last two dungeons which were massive. While the game definitely a budget title (as it's a port of a Wii game), I'd say there is enough entertainment and side content available that the price feels justified. The real standout of the game is it's music which consists of remixed tracks from other games in the Final Fantasy franchise (at least up to IX). I would really only recommend this game for ultra-fans of Final Fantasy or fans of rogue-likes that don't get frustrated when you step on a hidden trap that instantly kills you and causes you to lose an hour of progress.

 

[Jack Videogames]

Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition

42:47h. Found the Fell Arms, defeated the true form of the final boss. Did one of the two postgame dungeons but not the other; more on that below.

Unlike Berseria, Vesperia is a 100% classic Tales game. Every staple of the series is here: the world map, the open world exploration, the enormous amount of skits, the Wonder Chef... even the music is much closer to Tales of Symphonia than Berseria. Since the first minute of the game I felt that particular "tinge" of being back to a game series I enjoy.

Plot-wise, I found Vesperia much more enjoyable than Vesperia, mostly because the characters are more believable in their roles. The MC Yuri is a true anti-hero, learning to the "hero" part of the spectrum, but absolutely merciless when it comes to his ideals, even murdering some inoffensive villains in cold blood. Much of the drama between him and his more traditionally heroic friend Flynn comes from they having the same ideals but having different levels of scruples.

What I didn't enjoy about ToV is that much of the side content is totally unmarked and in some cases, missable. I do not understand why there is a point-of-no-return, about 75% in, to unlock the EX dungeon, which requires you to go to a particular location that you have no real reason to visit. Missables do not encourage exploration, they make you uninterested in finishing the rest of the side content knowing that you will never be able to do a 100% run.

That made me so angry that I almost decided to remove a star. Almost. ToV is too good otherwise, maybe the best Tales I've played.

My Score: ★★★★★

Original Post

 

[marcincz]

2019 gaming challenge - 52 Games in 1 Year - You can do it!

Another year, another 52 game challenge! You can do it, I have faith in you. You've trained for this moment your whole life. All the glory is just within your grasp. This is a thread for GAFfers that want to play on average one game a week for the year of 2019. Whether you're doing the...

www.neogaf.com

Next update:

Game 16 - Borderlands 2 (PS3) - 31h 27m
Beat 25/03/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 17 - Borderlands 2; DLC Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage (PS3) - 04h 13m
Beat 29/03/2019 - my score: ★★☆☆☆

Game 18 - Borderlands 2; DLC Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt (PS3) - 03h 19m
Beat 06/04/2019 - my score: ★★☆☆☆

Game 19 - Borderlands 2; DLC Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep (PS3) - 05h 15m
Beat 09/04/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 20 - Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition (XBO) - 10h 08m
Beat 10/04/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 21 - Assassin's Creed: Origins (XBO) - 39h 32m
Beat 29/04/2019 - my score: ★★★★☆

Game 22 - What Remains of Edith Finch (XBO) - 02h 04m
Beat 04/05/2019 - my score: ★★★☆☆

Game 23 - Muramasa Rebirth (PSV) - 10h 46m
Beat 18/05/2019 - my score: ★★★★★

 

[jshackles]

Game 17 - The Walking Dead: The Final Season - Xbox One - Completed May 18th, 2019
I've been a huge fan of The Walking Dead ever since I won a copy of the first game on NeoGAF for Steam and played through it. Every episode feels like (and takes about as much time to play as) a movie, so a series usually takes about 10 hours to complete, and this game was no exception. The first game kinda turned me on to Telltale games in general, and I ended up enjoying a huge number of their games before they closed up shop. That being said, the last two episodes of this game were far and away better than the first two and really had a huge emotional impact. I felt like the ending of this game was extremely satisfying and very bitter sweet. Highly recommended if you enjoyed the other games in the series. Shame it's the end, I'd love to see more of these being made and I'd definitely play them.

 

[jshackles]

Game 18 - Yoshi's Crafted World - Nintendo Switch - Completed May 19th, 2019
I have to say I'm a little bit disappointed with the newest Yoshi game. While the visuals were excellent and really gave me the feel that I was in a make-believe crafted story land, the difficulty just never punched up. The game honestly felt like a cake walk, and about half way through the game I realized that I couldn't play more than a level or two at a time without getting bored. Some of the (optional) content where you go through the levels in reverse were a lot of fun though, and some of them even challenging due to the levels being on a timer - but the timer counts up, instead of down, and there really isn't a fail-state. Outside of the visuals though, I really didn't find a lot here to enjoy especially for the game's $60 price tag. The game has quite a bit of replayability if you're the kind of person who has to hunt down every secret though.

 

[BurstZyn]

18. Yakuza 0 (PS4):
Story: You play as Kazuma Kiryu and as Goro Majima back in the year of 1988 in Kamurocho and Sotenbori. Kiryu struggles against the internal conflict of Dojima Family and the police as he is framed for murder. Working to clear his name, he must fight his way to solve the mystery of the murder. While Majima on the other is ordered to assassinate a target, if he wishes to join back into the Yakuza. Accepting the mission, he tries to assassinate his target until the mission becomes complicated putting him into a more complex situation then he was expecting.
Gameplay: A 3-D beat 'em up with a style change system that affects your combat offensively and defensively; giving you new heat actions, combat maneuvers, and many more to experiment with. Heat Actions are moves that you can use spending your heat meter that allow you do major damage to an enemy, being you grabbing their entire body and tombstoning them with extreme force to you grabbing a handful of nails and shoving it into their mouth. But this game gives you way more than fighting, with several mini games and sub stories you'll have plenty to do. Ranging from actually playing classic Sega arcade games, such as Outrun, to maintaining a Hostess club making sure it succeeds as you rival other owners. Every one being fun and can be challenging in their own right.
Art Style/ Music: The art style is more realistic late 80's urban Japan making you feel part of this fictional city, with it's lively open city filled with people, city lights, restaurants, and other ways to entertain yourself. The music is fun with it really amping up in certain fights and changing depending on your fight style.
Gripes: If I were to have to make a gripe among anything in this game... I would say that the Heat action being assigned to the triangle button can be inconvenient at times. Where I want to do one action, but ending up doing a heat move and wasting heat meter
Additional Info: This game is amazing! Probably one of the best games I have ever played, coming back to this series after the PS2 was an awesome welcome with this entry has been a way to bring me way back into the series.
Score: 5/5

19. Borderlands (Xbox 360):
Story: You choose among a group of 4 known as the Vault Hunters, each having their own unique ability. The Vault is a tale of legends, being said to hold treasures of unimaginable wealth convincing to search it as well. This causes many enemies be your obstacles, ranging from psychotic humans to creatures of this wasteland planet. You are helped by a mysterious voice who seems to believe you are personally the one that will be able to find and open the Vault.
Gameplay: A standard FPS with an open world that plenty of to explore. You can play cooperatively with either 3 other friends or random, either being each unique character or the same characters with different color palettes. The four classes of the game are Berserker, Hunter, Siren, and Soldier; each having the respective ability of Rage, A Hawk companion (BloodWing) who attacks enemies, Invisibility, and a Turret. The cool thing is that each has their own unique skill tree that kind of diverts into 3 paths. So for example, with the Hunter you can kind of choose to focus on BloodWing Abilities, your sniping skills, and/or your gunslinger abilities improving your pistol use. So if three characters were to choose the Hunter, they could be 3 different kind of Hunters in a way. You can also combat each other, have destructible vehicular combat, and race.
Art Style/ Music: The art style is a favorite among mine, a cel-shaded look to everything. The music is fine, nothing really exciting to write about to be honest.
Gripes: While i still love the cel-shaded art style, it doesn't work the best in this game. The palette of the game is pretty much brown and grey, not making best use of the art style. I also played this game earlier a couple years ago, and got pretty bored it pretty quickly. Not really the game's fault tho, it's just a blend of my least two favorite genres I suppose; FPS and open world. It's also kinda weird to say this about a game that was released in 2009 (10 years ago i guess) but it also feels kind of dated. The combat felt lackluster, the controls felt clunky and slowly, and the HUD could be better made. I constantly had to check my map to see if I was going the right way or not, with the radar not being the best .
Additional Info: As I said before I didn't really care for this game, but I think that was more of my personal unfondess of the genre blend and use, so I won't be to harsh on the score. While the faults still stand, there is also the huge issue of Framerate drops, which I won't really count in my gripes since I'm sure the GOTY HD remaster of the game fixes that on current consoles (hopefully). I played through this with my little brother, and cousin which was... in a word chaotic at times. It was a little more enjoyable having them at my side, but the game does really get pretty damn cool at two boss particualary, The Hive and The Destroyer. But these Boss fights are where you're gonna see most the framerate drops as well. The lore and setting was really fun and interesting though. I would try to listen to every audio tape and read every description I could just because of how interesting i found the lore. I'm also a fan of the Mad Max style setting, and I hope you like references because this game throws a ton at you. While I didn't really care for this game, I still wanna progress the sequels and spin-offs to see if interest me in the 3rd that is meant to be released later on this year.
Score: 3/5

Yakuza Kiwami (PS4):
Story: The year is 1995, Kazuma Kiryu, the main protagonist, is a high ranking Yakuza lieutenant of the Tojo Clan with a formidable reputation as the "Dragon of Dojima". He is respected and feared, and shares most of his time with his best friend Nishikiyama, his friend Reina, and the girl he secretly loves Yumi. If certain things don't get in his way, such as his as rival that constantly tests him, Majima Goro. Things seem great for Kiryu, until one night he is setup for murder that puts him for 10 years. 2005 he returns to Kamurocho to find his love missing, his best friend a ruthless clan leader, 10 billion dollars stolen from the clan, and a 9 year old girl that is looking for her mother. So much happens to Kiryu as he tries to solve the mystery and fight for his friends.
Gameplay: Much is added to this remake of the original, along with new mini games, new story added cutscenes and elements, and The Majima Everywhere system, which allows his rival to pop out of anywhere and as anything just to test out his rival's skills in combat. The game is a 3D Beat Em Up with 4 styles to switch in between: Rush, Brawler, Beast, and Dragon, and as an added addition to game's combat you can now do Kiwami moves against Bosses, which are Extreme Heat Moves that stops them from healing. The game represents the original PS2 game but redesign from the ground up in the Yakuza 0 engine, with better framerate, graphics, loading times, and textures.
Art Style/ Music: Same as Yakuza 0, looks great in a mid 2000 urban Japan setting! The music again is awesome and can really intensify the situation.
Gripes: Same gripe with 0, but I would say this game had boss fights that were really damn hard but doable, and others that just felt annoying as shit that I was surprised to beat in one go. In order to beat those boss fights though, I did have to go through a shit ton of health and heat items.
Additional Info: Coming back to this game after 14 years is a fun little trip down memory lane, and it was exciting to actually be able to beat this game this time. I would say this one is harder than 0, but both are excellent starting entries into the series if you wish to join.
Score: 4/5

 

[Hikikomori6]

3. Bloodborne + Old Hunters DLC
What is there to say about Bloodborne that hasn't been said already? I loved the fact that the game had a limited number of weapons. You'd get to know each and everyone intimately. Boss fights are incredible, Mood and atmosphere is just thick and heavy. And the combat is perfection! its exactly what the Doctor ordered after playing so many shooters and rpgs last year. This game is pure unforgiving skill and I love it.

I hope it's okay if I upload pictures...

4. Binary Domain
Now I'm not sure if this game flew under everyone's radar or perhaps it was just poor marketing. But this game is one terrific kickass shooter. Made the Yakuza devs, I rarely get to play Japanese 3rd person shooters that are this tight and precise (Looking at you QUANTUM THEORY). Enemies are robots that are creatively designed and feel great to shoot! and the best part is with all the scrap metal flying about you can really tell they paid no mind to the system constraints of the PS3 version. Definite recommend!

 

[jshackles]

Game 19 - Braveland - Nintendo Switch - Completed May 22nd, 2019
I picked up the trilogy on the Switch because ports of mobile games without the IAPs like this game is usually have turned out pretty well. The game is really simplistic in it's approach to strategy, but it makes for a fun diversion. The variety of enemies you encounter was pretty varied, and the hero units you get are also diverse enough to be useful while still setting up a decent team / system to make killing the enemies a lot of fun. The leveling system (combined with finding random powerups on the map) was also well done especially when combined with the equipment system that give you a fair number of build options. Certainly not deep by any standards, but a fun game none the less.