Support NeoGAF

[LegionX]

Wow.. talk about failing so far this year... I was pretty active in 2020 and planned to this year also... yet this is my first post since... December??? oops! Last year I completed 30 games, 28 backlog and 2 new... right now I'm pretty much on target for that again, but had hoped to get through more.. we'll see if I can speed things up any

Anyways, while I've been silent here, I HAVE kept with the plan of going for the Kanye 5 backlog games per new game, and also the one backlog per month so far... so there's that I guess...

I'll still note what I played so far this year in an effort to catch up... and then I plan on actually contributing as I complete things...

1. Spider-Man Miles Morales (PS5)

I moved on to this pretty quickly after getting the platinum for Spider-Man Remastered, so I'm surprised it kept my attention still, as it's pretty much more of the same, with some changes to combat and abilities, but basically Spider-Man 1.5..... All up I enjoyed my 15 hours or whatever that it took to get through it, I did everything and got every trophy possible up to the point where I found I needed to complete it again as new game + for the platinum, which is where I decided that would do me and time to move on.

2. Watchmen : The End is Night pt2 (PC)

I completed part 1 of this game way back in Jan 2015... and at the time I noted how weak and buggy that game was.... well..... pt2 seemed to clear up the bugs (I recall multiple restarts in pt1 due to glitched out AI partner pathfinding)... but it sure didn't improve the game.... it's a super super basic 3rd person beat em up game where the levels are just repeated geometry and rooms over and over again, and it gets very tiring.... which considering my total play time of this was 2.4 hours... is almost an impressive achievement! Only played it cause well... I was half way through anyways.. and I knew it would be (thankfully) short

3. Bugsnax (PS5)

I didn't really know what to expect with this one... but being short on PS5 content and having the bonus of getting it late last year so I could still consider it backlog, I jumped in to it... What an odd little game it is... It's basically a puzzle game in that you get a few tools and have to work out how to collect each bugsnax, some being simple, some requiring luring them to other locations, or sometimes making multiple types attack each other etc... It's by no means pushing the console... but I did like the creatures vocalizations of their names coming out of the controller as you catch them.. I did end up "catching them all" in this so got myself another Platinum on this one... (I had 1 platinum total before getting the PS5, so this is a bit of a new thing for me!)

So as not to create a stupidly long post.. I'll post further games a bit later in my effort to catch up

 

[stn]

still, as it's pretty much more of the same, with some changes to combat and abilities, but basically Spider-Man 1.5..... All up I enjoyed my 15 hours or whatever that it took to get through it, I did everything and got every trophy possible up to the point where I found I needed to complete it again as new game + for the platinum, which is where I decided that would do me and time to move on.

I would do it, you can beat it in 4 hours if you just focus on the main quests and skip all cutscenes.

 

[LegionX]

I would do it, you can beat it in 4 hours if you just focus on the main quests and skip all cutscenes.

I've considered it from time to time... It's still installed on the console if I ever feel like it... but for now I'm trying to clear some other games rather than going backwards... but yea.. anything is possible! It's fun to play so maybe!

 

[Ascend]

Started with the second DLC in Pokemon Sword yesterday (Crown Tundra). It also seems to have quite a bit of story going for it... But, once I discovered Dynamax Adventures, I've only been playing that. It's so much fun.

Basically, you cannot bring your own Pokemon. You go into a den with three other players (4 total), and each player has to borrow a Pokemon at the beginning, the reason (or excuse) being that normal Pokemon go crazy in the den due to the energy present, and the game gives you Pokemon that are resistant to that.
As you progress, you can switch to any Pokemon you catch, but only one team member can do so after every battle. The team members also vote on which path to take, which will let you encounter different Pokemon on the way to the deepest part of the den. When you reach the deepest part of the den, you will encounter a Legendary Pokemon.
During this whole process, Pokemon of all the players combined can only faint 4 times. Otherwise you're blown out of the den. And of all the Pokemon you catch, you can only keep one, which generally is the Legendary if you manage to reach the end, and beat it, and catch it.
Each session is around 20 minutes or so.

Too much fun. At this rate I'll be playing this game all year lol.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Started with the second DLC in Pokemon Sword yesterday (Crown Tundra). It also seems to have quite a bit of story going for it... But, once I discovered Dynamax Adventures, I've only been playing that. It's so much fun.

Basically, you cannot bring your own Pokemon. You go into a den with three other players (4 total), and each player has to borrow a Pokemon at the beginning, the reason (or excuse) being that normal Pokemon go crazy in the den due to the energy present, and the game gives you Pokemon that are resistant to that.
As you progress, you can switch to any Pokemon you catch, but only one team member can do so after every battle. The team members also vote on which path to take, which will let you encounter different Pokemon on the way to the deepest part of the den. When you reach the deepest part of the den, you will encounter a Legendary Pokemon.
During this whole process, Pokemon of all the players combined can only faint 4 times. Otherwise you're blown out of the den. And of all the Pokemon you catch, you can only keep one, which generally is the Legendary if you manage to reach the end, and beat it, and catch it.
Each session is around 20 minutes or so.

Too much fun. At this rate I'll be playing this game all year lol.

Your dedication to Pokemon is admirable

 

[Ascend]

Your dedication to Pokemon is admirable

Lol I don't know what to say to that. Sometimes I need a racing game, and sometimes I need Pokemon lol. Depends if I want a thrill or a chill. It's simply entertaining and relaxing to me. It's really a low key game, and I like that. It's good to unwind and play at your own pace. Sometimes the game can troll you a bit, since attacks that are supposed to be 90% accurate miss three times in a row lol. But generally, it's really hard to become pressured by these games, so to speak. And they pack a lot of content.

I generally like JRPGs. The only drawback, like pretty much all RPGs, is that they take so much time. But our government did this weird thing where toddlers can go to their pre-school, but only 'primary' jobs are allowed (doctors, law enforcement, government officials etc). In other words, my oldest daughter can go to her pre-school normally, but, I have to work from home through a VPN, while technically my job is more field-based but not considered primary. So, I have had some additional time to play during the last few weeks. Lockdown might end soon though.

The game and its DLC wasn't cheap, so, I might as well get my money's worth during this time. And I'm liking it a lot more than I expected, because I played pretty much every previous Pokemon generation, and the last few (X/Y, Sun/Moon) have been quite disappointing. This one is a pleasant surprise, especially because this generation got a lot of backlash, but is actually one of the best.

If someone owns a Switch, I recommend them to try Pokemon Sword/Shield, even if they never played Pokemon before. Just don't expect Battlefield-like action.

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Just finished Xenogears (PS) finally lol. Confusing. But, I enjoyed it. Probably gonna play something actually fun like Suikoden 1 + 2 next.

I bought Suikoden 1 and 2 on PSN a few weeks ago because of the purge. No idea what they're about lol

 

[LegionX]

OK, time to continue with my catch-up efforts!

4. Sam and Max - Beyond Time and Space (PC)

This was the second season of the Telltale Sam and Max games... back before Walking Dead when they were still doing pure point and click games... It was 5 separate episodes which I completed over perhaps a 6 month period.. doing an episode between other games... Each episode is generally 2-3 hours long so they are nice diversions... It was a small technical improvement over the first season, but still graphically very basic... I enjoyed the humor of it all though, and I grew up with point and click adventure games, so it's always nice to go back to the genre!

5. Unreal 2 (PC)

This was a bit of an odd one... one of the first things I ever bought on Steam was the Unreal Pack which had all the games included, and until now I'd never played this one... I was a little surprised to see it basically had nothing to do with any of the other games.. to the point of it being done with a different studio, and not even using any of the same weapons from the series..... All up I found it to be a pretty lacking FPS where the feel just wasn't quite right... I'll never bother going back to this one... but can cross it off the list at least!

6. Halo : Combat Evolved Anniversary (PC)

My first true Halo experience..... technically.. I tried playing the original PC release of the game way back in the day, only to find my PC at the time just couldn't quite handle it (how time changes things!).. Anyways... I grabbed the Master Chief Collection when it came to Steam and then didn't get to it until now... And hmm.... I have to admit I didn't really enjoy my time with it that much..... the combat and feel of it was fine... but the level design and signposting was very poor... the warthog controls were laughable... and it just felt super super repetitive... I've heard that a lot of things were improved with the sequel so I still plan on continuing onwards... but it really did feel like a game of its time to me.... and I just came to it far too late......

 

[Bakkus]

I've finished the Crash games on PS1 these last few days (with the exception of the first one which i've heard haven't aged well). And these games are alright although very forgettable. They're corridor 3D platformers which are mostly solid levels without leaving a lasting impact. They ocasionally mixes things up by having Indiana Jones rolling ball style levels where you are being chased or engine levels where you use a vehicle for most of it. In Crash 3's case, these compose of almost half the levels with varying degress of success quality wise. The one thing these games really does right is pacing; They know how to avoid overstaying their welcome by making them short 4 hour games (shorter than that on consequitive playthroughs). I couldn't imagine how bored I would've been if they lasted many hours more.

I also finished the racing game Crash Team Racing. When I heard people kept saying that this game was better than Diddy Kong Racing I was curious and sceptical. This game is like the Crash games alright, but it lacks the little extra which DKR had in spades. This game feels like a copycat of that game only weaker in almost every way.

The one thing all these games also reminded me of is how important music is to video games. The only good and memorable song in all 3 games is the hub in 3. That's just sad. I also see that the games had 3 composers. One of them also later did The Sims, and they couldn't do better than this? That's just tragic.

 

[stn]

Ended up buying Hitman 3 (it was on sale). Still playing Dragon Quest 11 S (PS4), gonna stick with it until I finish it. Its a great game and I recommend it to any JRPG fan.

 

[Phase]

Ended up buying Hitman 3 (it was on sale). Still playing Dragon Quest 11 S (PS4), gonna stick with it until I finish it. Its a great game and I recommend it to any JRPG fan.

Just got DQ 11 on PC. I've heard it brings the magic of the old school rpg's. I'd like to finish Lost Odyssey first though . I can't handle more than one long JRPG at a time.

 

[VidKid369]

I bought Suikoden 1 and 2 on PSN a few weeks ago because of the purge. No idea what they're about lol

They're good RPGs. You can recruit 108 characters to join your army and a majority of them are playable and actually fight. Plus some actually fun mini-games.

 

[LegionX]

After ignoring here for 4 months it seems I'm now spamming the place..... This may be an odd request... but I'd like to ask somebody to pick which game below I should focus on next.... Most of these games I've started on at some point and then just put aside for a while... but I always try to complete anything I start.. sometimes I just need a nudge... So yea... first person to respond with one of the below games and that's the one I'll jump on next... thanks in advance!

Command & Conquer - Tiberian Sun (PC)
Age of Empires - Definitive Edition (PC)
Killzone Liberation (PSP)
Tales of Destiny (PS1)
Medievil (PS4)
Cross Edge (PS3)
Dishonored (PC)
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (PC)
The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind (PC)
Grand Theft Auto III (PC)
The Longest Journey (PC)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Prince of Persia - Sands of Time HD (PS3)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Mario Kart (3DS)
Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Btw, is is worth the trouble to play through RE2's B runs? I've finished Leon A and am now going through Claire A so would a third and fourth (Leon B and Claire B) be worth it?

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Btw, is is worth the trouble to play through RE2's B runs? I've finished Leon A and am now going through Claire A so would a third and fourth (Leon B and Claire B) be worth it?

Absolutely. In the B scenarios, you get completely different bosses, a couple of new areas, a stalker character, several things are moved around, the "true" ending, etc.

You can get the 95% experience by doing Character 1 (A) -> Character 2 (B).... (although, If you only do Leon A -> Claire B, there's a minor storyline you miss out on that's exclusive to Claire A -> Leon B).

I still think all of them are worth doing though. But if you are afraid of getting burned out, you can drop Claire A right now and just do Claire B, so you can get one complete cycle.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

After ignoring here for 4 months it seems I'm now spamming the place..... This may be an odd request... but I'd like to ask somebody to pick which game below I should focus on next.... Most of these games I've started on at some point and then just put aside for a while... but I always try to complete anything I start.. sometimes I just need a nudge... So yea... first person to respond with one of the below games and that's the one I'll jump on next... thanks in advance!

Command & Conquer - Tiberian Sun (PC)
Age of Empires - Definitive Edition (PC)
Killzone Liberation (PSP)
Tales of Destiny (PS1)
Medievil (PS4)
Cross Edge (PS3)
Dishonored (PC)
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (PC)
The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind (PC)
Grand Theft Auto III (PC)
The Longest Journey (PC)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Prince of Persia - Sands of Time HD (PS3)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Mario Kart (3DS)
Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)

(1) There's no such thing as spamming the thread. Post as much as you want. I've been busy with personal things (work, friends, etc) so I haven't been posting as much as I usually do, but this is my main thread and sometimes I "spam" it too

(2) That's a good spread of genres you got there! Not sure how well it's aged, and not sure if it's got additional problems by being the PC version, but maybe you can check out GTA3?

I'll be looking forward to your posts! Cheers!

 

[LegionX]

Cheers for that. I installed GTA3 back in 2018 and played 23minutes according to Steam.. and I'm pretty sure those 23 minutes were installing and testing a mod to allow my Xbox 360 controller to work with the game... so hopefully that'll all just work correctly. I did originally play this back on the PS2 many years back.. but never got very far.. so should be fun to give it a proper shot! (And if in the end I do struggle with the PC version I can always get one of the Playstation versions of it)

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Gta3 is one of my personal goats. Absolutely love that game.

 

[Soodanim]

Cheers for that. I installed GTA3 back in 2018 and played 23minutes according to Steam.. and I'm pretty sure those 23 minutes were installing and testing a mod to allow my Xbox 360 controller to work with the game... so hopefully that'll all just work correctly. I did originally play this back on the PS2 many years back.. but never got very far.. so should be fun to give it a proper shot! (And if in the end I do struggle with the PC version I can always get one of the Playstation versions of it)

The solution here is actually really easy. Unless you’re super happy with stable mods, it might be easier to clear your entire GTA3 away and start again. The reason is that you can go to the Steam Guides section and find a mod called Definitive Edition.

It’s a series of mod packs someone made for the GTAs, Manhunt, and Bully. Very easy to install, and perfect results instantly from what I remember. XInput, widescreen, restored cut music (not an issue in 3), graphical stuff ported from superior versions, and probably more.

Running the PS2 GTAs with great image quality at an easy 60fps is definitely the way to do it.

 

[Kazza]

The Longest Journey (PC)

I'm about to start that game soon, so I'll let you know if it still holds up. I actually started it last year, but stopped playing after around 3-4 hours as I saw that there was a modified version that made it look much better on modern systems. I thought it looked fine as is, but it made me hesitate about continuing my game. It's weird because I'm not a huge "fiddle with the settings" PC guy. It was good from what I did play, so I'm looking forward to starting over.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

The solution here is actually really easy. Unless you’re super happy with stable mods, it might be easier to clear your entire GTA3 away and start again. The reason is that you can go to the Steam Guides section and find a mod called Definitive Edition.

It’s a series of mod packs someone made for the GTAs, Manhunt, and Bully. Very easy to install, and perfect results instantly from what I remember. XInput, widescreen, restored cut music (not an issue in 3), graphical stuff ported from superior versions, and probably more.

Running the PS2 GTAs with great image quality at an easy 60fps is definitely the way to do it.

LegionX -- I have to say, if I were to take any PC game mod advice from anybody on this site, it might as well be Soodanim . He helped me out with some mods and let's just say -- the man knows what he's talking about. (And I rarely say that about... anybody )

 

[InfiniteCombo]

By the way, as far as backlog, I'm splitting my time between Batman: Arkham Knight, and continuing to go through the Konami Arcade games -- I'm going through Gradius now. Both on PC.

I'm splitting my time that way to not get burned out on the Konami Arcade stuff, and since they're arcade games, they're easy for quick pick up sessions. (Note I say they're easy for pick up sessions; the games themselves, especially earlier ones like Gradius, are NOT easy, holy shit).

 

[LegionX]

The solution here is actually really easy. Unless you’re super happy with stable mods, it might be easier to clear your entire GTA3 away and start again. The reason is that you can go to the Steam Guides section and find a mod called Definitive Edition.

It’s a series of mod packs someone made for the GTAs, Manhunt, and Bully. Very easy to install, and perfect results instantly from what I remember. XInput, widescreen, restored cut music (not an issue in 3), graphical stuff ported from superior versions, and probably more.

Running the PS2 GTAs with great image quality at an easy 60fps is definitely the way to do it.

Thanks for the advice. I don't actually remember what it was I installed... but I'm pretty sure it was purely for adding XInput... however... I do already have Widescreen resolution support and it all seems to run fine... so maybe it was something more.... either way it all seems to run fine so I think I'll just continue on as is, but if things go south I know where to go to sort it

I'm about to start that game soon, so I'll let you know if it still holds up. I actually started it last year, but stopped playing after around 3-4 hours as I saw that there was a modified version that made it look much better on modern systems. I thought it looked fine as is, but it made me hesitate about continuing my game. It's weird because I'm not a huge "fiddle with the settings" PC guy. It was good from what I did play, so I'm looking forward to starting over.

(Referencing The Longest Journey)

Cool, this seems to be another one I installed in 2018, only got 2 hours in to before getting distracted. I'd be curious as to what mod it was, as from memory this game was fairly low res and with prerendered backdrops? So I'm not sure how that could be improved without doing a full remaster. And yea, This is another of my failures where I'd heard good things, always liked the genre, to the point of Kickstarting Dreamfall Chapters, which was the 3rd game in the series... with the plan to complete the first 2 games before the development of it ended.. and then I completed none of them....

 

[Noncanon Ship]

Beat Contradiction (PC).

This game took me longer than I expected because at first, I forgot to save and the game quit so I had to replay, then later, I found out the 'save and quit' function wasn't working and it just lost my progress, so I had to replay some more lol.

A common complaint for Ace Attorney games is 'I knew where the contradiction was but I didn't know what the game wanted from me to point it out', but I found that to be way more the case with this game than any AAs.

For example, a guy says "I saw her wearing a necklace back in college when we went out drinking at a bar". To point out a contradiction in his past statements, I tried to use "I didn't socialize with her outside of [cult group they joined after college]". The game didn't like that. I had to use "I've only known her for 3 months" for the game to acknowledge it.

Another example from later in the game which I'll try to obscure more, a character says he bought some jewelry for some student of his. I tried to contradict this immediately with the statement that he avoids relationships with students, but it didn't work. The game wanted me to wait multiple chapters until I could use the statement "I barely knew [specific female student's name]", and use that. But I already was aware of the contradiction for a long while - the game just wouldn't recognize that I noticed it.

That same issue surrounded the ending of the game. The entire twist at the end surrounds a contradiction I had noticed about 15 minutes into the game, but the game would never acknowledge my efforts to point it out. It basically reveals a character to have been lying, and I had all the evidence to point it out from the very beginning but the game wouldn't allow me to interrogate the person on it until the end. It was a pretty disappointing and abrupt ending, but I understand that's from budget reasons.

Although it sounds like I'm very down on the game, I actually did enjoy my time playing. It was very relaxing, quaint little village, great sound fx (I loved the ambient pub noise and fire crackling during questioning, ahhhh... ), and it really felt like I was playing the Midsomer Murders tv show. So even though I think it had mechanical/storyline issues, the process of playing it was still enjoyable and I had a great time. Some really fun acting in it too. I especially enjoyed Paul Darrow (RIP) as the conniving ultra-libertarian multi-millionaire 'business course' cult leader. He really savors his lines, dripping venom. It reminded me of Alan Rickman's Snape.

My internet is broken so I'll probably be playing more games now since I can't stream or watch videos lol. I already got most of the trophies in Hotline Miami out of sheer boredom last night so I'm probably going to plat it.

 

[Kazza]

(Referencing The Longest Journey)

Cool, this seems to be another one I installed in 2018, only got 2 hours in to before getting distracted. I'd be curious as to what mod it was, as from memory this game was fairly low res and with prerendered backdrops? So I'm not sure how that could be improved without doing a full remaster. And yea, This is another of my failures where I'd heard good things, always liked the genre, to the point of Kickstarting Dreamfall Chapters, which was the 3rd game in the series... with the plan to complete the first 2 games before the development of it ended.. and then I completed none of them....

Here's a link to the mod:

Steam Community :: Guide :: TLJ Graphics Overhaul/Performance Fix

A quick and dirty guide on how to modernize this beautiful game with ai-enhanced upscaled background textures and videos aswell as a redrawn user interface and and a lot of other small improvements thanks to the ResidualVM implementation of the game engine. You can play it on Windows, Linux and macOS.

I'm currently playing through FFVII for the very first time and don't have a problem with the sometimes blurry pre-rendered backgrounds (playing on the small screen of the Vita helps), but since such a mod exists for the Longest Journey I may as well use it.

I wanted to play the TLJ when it first released (being a big P&C fan), but iirc my PC was too weak. Once I finally upgraded I guess I just had lost interest.

 

[Aurelius]

Finished a couple of games of Civilization 6 on Switch. Enjoying it a lot and will keep playing it now and then. But for now, I feel like I got my money's worth and crossing it off the list.

 

[Phase]

Red Faction (PC) - 5hrs

This was my first time playing it since its release in 2001. It's dated, but it's still a worthy classic.

 

[Noncanon Ship]

Hotline Miami (Vita)​

I platinumed it last night! The last trophy was a grind (go to the car 60 times) so it was a bit of an anti-climactic plat, but A+ing all the levels was a good challenge. I was a little worried about the weapons trophies, especially because I had a hard time telling some apart, but they thankfully weren't so bad. I got stuck on one for a bit because beer bottles and wine bottles look near identical in the game - I hadn't yet used a wine bottle as a finisher and they wouldn't spawn for me!

Those fast reloads (well, non-existent reloads)... I cannot overstate how key they are to this game. It makes it immensely addictive - 'let me give it just one more try!' You barely register that you died because you're right back in, and its immediacy makes you go for a riskier playstyle because the punishment for death is minimal, and playing like that makes the game more fun. Well, I did swear a lot on some levels... I hate dogs >:-(

I didn't think I'd like it at first but it was so satisfying. And that soundtrack is killer.

On to Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (3DS). A bit of a shorter one, so it should be a nice gimme to check off the list. I am terrible at platformers though.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Finished a couple of games of Civilization 6 on Switch. Enjoying it a lot and will keep playing it now and then. But for now, I feel like I got my money's worth and crossing it off the list.

Cool! Are there Switch unique features (other than the obvious portability, of course), or is it the straight PC version?

Hotline Miami (Vita)​

I platinumed it last night! The last trophy was a grind (go to the car 60 times) so it was a bit of an anti-climactic plat, but A+ing all the levels was a good challenge. I was a little worried about the weapons trophies, especially because I had a hard time telling some apart, but they thankfully weren't so bad. I got stuck on one for a bit because beer bottles and wine bottles look near identical in the game - I hadn't yet used a wine bottle as a finisher and they wouldn't spawn for me!

Those fast reloads (well, non-existent reloads)... I cannot overstate how key they are to this game. It makes it immensely addictive - 'let me give it just one more try!' You barely register that you died because you're right back in, and its immediacy makes you go for a riskier playstyle because the punishment for death is minimal, and playing like that makes the game more fun. Well, I did swear a lot on some levels... I hate dogs >:-(

I didn't think I'd like it at first but it was so satisfying. And that soundtrack is killer.

On to Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (3DS). A bit of a shorter one, so it should be a nice gimme to check off the list. I am terrible at platformers though.

I'm.... uhhhh.... trying to figure out what's going on in that cover

Actually, I looked up a YouTube video and... holy shit. The game is intense. Looks like a lot of fun, though.

 

[Aurelius]

Cool! Are there Switch unique features (other than the obvious portability, of course), or is it the straight PC version?

I haven't played the PC-version, but I think it's the same game with a different interface.

 

[LegionX]

OK.. time to finish off my backlog of already completed games from this year...

7. Maneater (PS5)

My first cheat/failure of the year... though it could ALMOST qualify as a backlog game cause it was announced in December as a PS+ game... but didn't go live until the first week of January... but I'll stick with it as a cheat cause I was going for 5 backlog per new game this year anyways. To the game.... This is the kind of thing I like getting from PS+, as it's an unusual game that I don't think I'd ever have directly chosen to buy on my own.. yet... I had a fun time with it! It's pretty basic and repetitive, but was fun for me to play in an hour or less sessions... You play a shark... you eat things.... as you progress you gain levels and become.. a bigger shark.. so you can eat bigger things etc.... It has a super simple story line of a shark hunter being after you and having to defeat a bunch of lower ranked hunters to get to him, and there's a bunch of collectables to get. Anyways, I enjoyed it enough to Platinum it (no need for new game + or anything.. basically complete game and all side missions, and collect everything and you're done.

8. Wet (PS3)

I'm a bit conflicted with this one.... in all true regards it's kinda rubbish.... the graphics are really rough for a PS3 game... and the mechanics are very rough/janky and more of the PS2 era.... but.... it has a cool and novel art style going for it.. The plot is pretty rubbish and the combat is very repetitive (You'll be playing in slowmo sliding around the ground for the majority of the time in combat), but I still had a good time with it all things considered.... I'd never actually recommend it though

9. Call of Juarez - The Cartel (PC)

A bit of a cautionary tale for this digital gaming future... I own this on Steam having bought it about 6 years ago yet never playing it till now (not at all common for me, thus being in this thread). So I installed it in Steam, loaded it up, It then installs and runs Ubisoft Connect... once logging in and setting that up it asks for a game key.... that's odd I think... Cause Steam doesn't list one.... I go through Steam Support who after a day or so provide me the key... I enter it in to Ubisoft Connect and..... not recognised.... further research and I find that Ubisoft stopped selling the game in 2018, and in doing so stopped registering keys that hadn't already been activated by then... rights had returned to Techland who haven't even bothered trying to sell the game... Techland don't respond to my contact, Ubisoft absolve blame, as does Steam support... thus.. a game I bought legitimately is impossible to install.. Thus... for the second time I've had to pirate a game I own on Steam.... After all of that bitching... turns out the game is crap anyways..... It was a really poor FPS... and I can generally enjoy pretty basic FPS titles.... The gunplay just felt weak, the graphics for a 10 year old game were really poor.. and just overall it was a bad experience... don't waste your time!

So that's me caught up to date... I'm currently focusing on GTA 3, but will no doubt play a bit of a few other games as some variety as I go through that!

 

[Aurelius]

Gave up on Resident Evil 2. Mr. X appearing really ruins the relatively even pace I was enjoying until then. It's turned the game into a Benny Hill episode, running around while trying to solve puzzles and not shoot anything for fear of him magically appearing. Introducing him in the first run really messes up the pacing. He was only in the second run in the original I believe, mixing things up a bit by keeping you on your toes as you revisited areas from the first run.

 

[Kazza]

I just completed Super Mario 3D Land on the 3DS today (well, I beat the final boss, I might do the Luigi playthrough a couple of years down the line if I'm in the mood, but I don't fancy basically replaying the whole game right now). I've heard it described as a 3D MArio game which plays like a 2D Mario game, and I found that to be true in many ways. I really didn't like Odyssey much when I tried it for an hour, I much prefer how in this game (and the Galaxy games) you get thrown right in to challenging little levels, rather than placed in a super easy open world.

I've completed disc 1 of FFVII on my Vita. Apparently, I've already been playing for 25+ hours - am I going really slow, or is the game just that long? I'm enjoying it so far, but only really play for 2-3 hours per week (just before bed, whenever I'm in the mood), so it may take a while to finish at this rate.

Backlogged games completed so far this year:

Mega CD:
Shining Force CD

Gameboy:
Super Mario Land 2
Zelda Link's Awakening (well, I got towards the end, but am happy to just finish where I am, maybe finish off later)

Xbox 360:
Guardian Heroes
Virtua Fighter 2
Fighting Vipers (can't seem to get good at this one)

PS3:
Mass Effect 2

3DS:
Super Mario 3D Land

I got a new laptop recently, which has opened up my PC steam backlog (I got a lot of games in Steam sales that my old laptop couldn't really run properly, so I didn't play). I couldn't resist finally booting up Yakuza 0 and am loving it so far. It's a big game, so it's going to take a while to complete. Speaking of PC gaming, these aren't exactly in my backlog, as I did play a fair bit on my old computer, but playing Civ 6 and Shogun 2 Total War at max settings with super smooth framerates has been just lovely (you all know that new PC/PC-upgrade feeling, right?).

 

[Bakkus]

I finished Gunstar Heroes on Genesis with a friend. What a ride. The Seven Force boss is one of the greatest boss battles in history. The game's biggest flaw is that when you die you lose one of your weapons which messes you up completely and it's just sheer luck if you can get the weapon back before a boss fight.

 

[Phase]

Someone stop me, I was down to under 10 games on my backlog and in the last month I've purchased a bunch of old games!

I just picked up Unreal Gold, System Shock 2, and Hidden and Dangerous 2 in today's GOG sale. In all honesty sales have been awesome and I get to play some games I've never played before for pennies on the dollar. With the gpu market issues at the moment I'll be continuing to focus on older titles that I missed. I hope others are finding old gems they passed on, forgot about, or missed as well!

Maybe by next year I'll have finished my list and a 3080ti will be in my hands

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Almost done with the main campaign of Batman: Arkham Knight. Should be done tomorrow.

But for now, the design of the encounters towards the end is really souring my experience with the game, which wasn't stellar to begin with. And this is coming from a huge fan of the Batman: Arkham series. (Love Asylum, and City is not just my favorite Arkham game, but one of my favorite video games of all time. Really liked Origins despite thinking it was a bit of a step down from City. But this...)

Full writeup when I'm done.

 

[LegionX]

Almost done with the main campaign of Batman: Arkham Knight. Should be done tomorrow.

But for now, the design of the encounters towards the end is really souring my experience with the game, which wasn't stellar to begin with. And this is coming from a huge fan of the Batman: Arkham series. (Love Asylum, and City is not just my favorite Arkham game, but one of my favorite video games of all time. Really liked Origins despite thinking it was a bit of a step down from City. But this...)

Full writeup when I'm done.

Will be interested to hear that, I loved Asylum and City (though I think I liked Asylum more) and I have both Origins and Knight, always had plans to get to them one day but they are with so many others in my infinite backlog

Only negatives I'd heard about Knight were related to the Batmobile, so interested to see if that ends up being what you are referring to or not!

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Will be interested to hear that, I loved Asylum and City (though I think I liked Asylum more) and I have both Origins and Knight, always had plans to get to them one day but they are with so many others in my infinite backlog

Only negatives I'd heard about Knight were related to the Batmobile, so interested to see if that ends up being what you are referring to or not!

Absolutely, will do. I'm sure that you've been able to gather, based on my posts in this thread, that sometimes I can be... Verbose . But when talking about games, that's a good thing, leaves no room for ambiguity or questions.

But to give you a preview: yeah, a fair number of my complaints will center around the Batmobile. My complaints will center around it because... The *game itself* kind of centers around it.

 

[stn]

Still on DQ11 S (PS4), 21 hours in. I really can't recommend it enough for fans of JRPG's. I've put all other games on pause while I grind through it.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Actually, I thought I'd be done tonight. Not quite... So I am indeed finished with the "main campaign." But, without giving any spoilers, it seems like to get the truly "final" ending, you need to 100% the main campaign and main side quests (there are extended side quests after those, which don't count towards the true ending).

Anyway, I like to finish my games before I give my final say.

For now, I'll just leave some pictures because... why not. No spoilers in any of these pictures. [EDIT] Since I'm silly and don't know how NeoGAF software works, I reduced the size of the pictures and initially thought that would be their size. But you can click on each picture to get their true (2560x1440) size! The more you know...


It's always good to work with a long-time close ally. You can't have a Batman work without this guy:

They have A LOT of alternate costumes, for several characters, which is cool. They gave a lot of love to a lot of the Batman series throughout its history. Catwoman '66? No problem!

Not Morgan Freeman, but he will make do

Can't have an Arkham game without the Clown Prince(ss) of Crime:

When a regular thug won't take a hint, you gotto administer a bit of Batmobile-assisted intimidation (note in the pic Batman is using the Batmobile to almost crush the dude's shoulder bones):

Speaking of alternate costumes, it's nice to administer some justice... Flashpoint Paradox (Thomas Wayne) style -- I may upload a picture from a different angle next time, because that costume is indeed pretty freakin' sick, amazing:

The Dark Knight:

 

[Kazza]

Actually, I thought I'd be done tonight. Not quite... So I am indeed finished with the "main campaign." But, without giving any spoilers, it seems like to get the truly "final" ending, you need to 100% the main campaign and main side quests (there are extended side quests after those, which don't count towards the true ending).

Anyway, I like to finish my games before I give my final say.

For now, I'll just leave some pictures because... why not. No spoilers in any of these pictures. [EDIT] Since I'm silly and don't know how NeoGAF software works, I reduced the size of the pictures and initially thought that would be their size. But you can click on each picture to get their true (2560x1440) size! The more you know...


It's always good to work with a long-time close ally. You can't have a Batman work without this guy:

They have A LOT of alternate costumes, for several characters, which is cool. They gave a lot of love to a lot of the Batman series throughout its history. Catwoman '66? No problem!

Not Morgan Freeman, but he will make do

Can't have an Arkham game without the Clown Prince(ss) of Crime:

When a regular thug won't take a hint, you gotto administer a bit of Batmobile-assisted intimidation (note in the pic Batman is using the Batmobile to almost crush the dude's shoulder bones):

Speaking of alternate costumes, it's nice to administer some justice... Flashpoint Paradox (Thomas Wayne) style -- I may upload a picture from a different angle next time, because that costume is indeed pretty freakin' sick, amazing:

The Dark Knight:

Nice shots. I just remembered that I actually own the Batman trilogy (must have been an Epic giveaway or Humble Bundle thing). I might give Arkham Asylum a try, once I've finished with Yakuza 0 (the first Batman is only 15 hours long according to HowLongToBeat, so it's not a huge game). Being an older title, I should be able to crank everything up to the max. It looks like the graphics still hold up pretty well.

 

[LegionX]

Nice shots. I just remembered that I actually own the Batman trilogy (must have been an Epic giveaway or Humble Bundle thing). I might give Arkham Asylum a try, once I've finished with Yakuza 0 (the first Batman is only 15 hours long according to HowLongToBeat, so it's not a huge game). Being an older title, I should be able to crank everything up to the max. It looks like the graphics still hold up pretty well.

Asylum is also easily the most linear of the games... which I personally found kept everything quite tight... Granted it's many years now since I played it so it may not quite hold up so much... but it really was one of the top games I'd played back in the day.... but I'm a sucker for Mark Hamills Joker performances.. so there is that too!

 

[stn]

Arkham Asylum is great, it still holds up and is worth playing. I found Arkham Knight to be solid but the worst in the franchise.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Nice shots. I just remembered that I actually own the Batman trilogy (must have been an Epic giveaway or Humble Bundle thing). I might give Arkham Asylum a try, once I've finished with Yakuza 0 (the first Batman is only 15 hours long according to HowLongToBeat, so it's not a huge game). Being an older title, I should be able to crank everything up to the max. It looks like the graphics still hold up pretty well.

I highly recommend the series, and yeah, start with Asylum.

Asylum is the first one, it's somewhat linear (ish), and the story is fantastic. It's the most "grounded" of the games. But because it's the first one, going back to it after later games can feel a bit... primitive. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I still love this game, to this day. And for a lot of people (even on this forum), it's their favorite. Some give it the label "Metroidvania," although to be honest, I think that label is overused, and I don't fully know what it means

City is absolutely my favorite, the one I consider the best, and to me the jump in quality/scope from Asylum -> City is almost the equivalent of the jump from Assassin's Creed -> Assassin's Creed II. It is very much an "open world" game, but one that's absolutely worth it. LOTS of characters from Batman's rogues gallery, bigger combos, more involved stealth rooms, more gadgets,... etc.

Origins wasn't developed by Rocksteady but in the gameplay department, it's practically a continuation of City. The combat and stealth design took a bit of a hit though, which is why I rate it lower than City. But still, I think Origins arguably has the best story out of all of them.

Knight. Well... I'll get to that, LOL.

They ALL look good and play fantastic. All of them (yes, even Knight, to be honest) are worth playing. Be aware when you start with Asylum, though: Partly because of the story, and partly because of the art direction they chose, it's more gritty and less (colorful?) than later entries. Also, in the outside areas, it has a bit of a green-ish equivalent to Resident Evil 5's "piss filter."

A few example pictures. (His suit is all scratched up for story reasons; it doesn't start off like that at the beginning of the game).

Title screen:

Outside, screenshot 1:

Outside, screenshot 2:

Inside:

 

[Phase]

I highly recommend the series, and yeah, start with Asylum.

Asylum is the first one, it's somewhat linear (ish), and the story is fantastic. It's the most "grounded" of the games. But because it's the first one, going back to it after later games can feel a bit... primitive. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I still love this game, to this day. And for a lot of people (even on this forum), it's their favorite. Some give it the label "Metroidvania," although to be honest, I think that label is overused, and I don't fully know what it means

City is absolutely my favorite, the one I consider the best, and to me the jump in quality/scope from Asylum -> City is almost the equivalent of the jump from Assassin's Creed -> Assassin's Creed II. It is very much an "open world" game, but one that's absolutely worth it. LOTS of characters from Batman's rogues gallery, bigger combos, more involved stealth rooms, more gadgets,... etc.

Origins wasn't developed by Rocksteady but in the gameplay department, it's practically a continuation of City. The combat and stealth design took a bit of a hit though, which is why I rate it lower than City. But still, I think Origins arguably has the best story out of all of them.

Knight. Well... I'll get to that, LOL.

They ALL look good and play fantastic. All of them (yes, even Knight, to be honest) are worth playing. Be aware when you start with Asylum, though: Partly because of the story, and partly because of the art direction they chose, it's more gritty and less (colorful?) than later entries. Also, in the outside areas, it has a bit of a green-ish equivalent to Resident Evil 5's "piss filter."

A few example pictures. (His suit is all scratched up for story reasons; it doesn't start off like that at the beginning of the game).

Title screen:

Outside, screenshot 1:

Outside, screenshot 2:

Inside:

Gawd damn he's built! Graphically looks very detailed too.

 

[Phase]

Still on DQ11 S (PS4), 21 hours in. I really can't recommend it enough for fans of JRPG's. I've put all other games on pause while I grind through it.

What is the combat system like? I'm currently going through Lost Odyssey and while good, I'm starting to find it very tedious.

 

[Phase]

After ignoring here for 4 months it seems I'm now spamming the place..... This may be an odd request... but I'd like to ask somebody to pick which game below I should focus on next.... Most of these games I've started on at some point and then just put aside for a while... but I always try to complete anything I start.. sometimes I just need a nudge... So yea... first person to respond with one of the below games and that's the one I'll jump on next... thanks in advance!

Command & Conquer - Tiberian Sun (PC)
Age of Empires - Definitive Edition (PC)
Killzone Liberation (PSP)
Tales of Destiny (PS1)
Medievil (PS4)
Cross Edge (PS3)
Dishonored (PC)
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (PC)
The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind (PC)
Grand Theft Auto III (PC)
The Longest Journey (PC)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
Prince of Persia - Sands of Time HD (PS3)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Mario Kart (3DS)
Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)

I'm late to this one, but I vote for STALKER SOC. I finished this for the first time this year, with a few mods added. I think my favorite is Call of Pripyat (as the large areas make it feel much more open world like), but once you're a couple of hours in the game's atmosphere sucks you in deep. It can be difficult but it's so good.

 

[LegionX]

I'm late to this one, but I vote for STALKER SOC. I finished this for the first time this year, with a few mods added. I think my favorite is Call of Pripyat (as the large areas make it feel much more open world like), but once you're a couple of hours in the game's atmosphere sucks you in deep. It can be difficult but it's so good.

Cheers, The whole pick a game thing ended when GTA3 was picked earlier I'm afraid, so I'm (slowly) progressing through that currently... I just unlocked the second area.. so am further than I've ever been...

as to STALKER... I started that in 2019 and looking at stats... I played 3.7 hours before stopping... I was enjoying it but was finding it a bit obtuse and I think when I put it down I was lost not sure where to go next or something.. and put it aside for "a couple days" with the plan to return... but never did... at this point whenever I do get back to it I should probably start 100% from scratch... I hate to start games without completing them.. thus keeping notes of what I've started so there's always the plan to one day return

 

[Phase]

Cheers, The whole pick a game thing ended when GTA3 was picked earlier I'm afraid, so I'm (slowly) progressing through that currently... I just unlocked the second area.. so am further than I've ever been...

as to STALKER... I started that in 2019 and looking at stats... I played 3.7 hours before stopping... I was enjoying it but was finding it a bit obtuse and I think when I put it down I was lost not sure where to go next or something.. and put it aside for "a couple days" with the plan to return... but never did... at this point whenever I do get back to it I should probably start 100% from scratch... I hate to start games without completing them.. thus keeping notes of what I've started so there's always the plan to one day return

I did the same thing years ago ha. This year when I started it I was "in the mood" for it, and I think that really helped to progress rather far quickly. Then I was locked in. The first game is definitely rather obtuse, as you say, but once you start to learn the nuances it becomes easier to move from goal to goal.

Have fun in GTA3! Loved that game on release long ago. The radio station songs are still in my head.

 

[Hawks Eclipse]

Absolutely, will do. I'm sure that you've been able to gather, based on my posts in this thread, that sometimes I can be... Verbose . But when talking about games, that's a good thing, leaves no room for ambiguity or questions.

But to give you a preview: yeah, a fair number of my complaints will center around the Batmobile. My complaints will center around it because... The *game itself* kind of centers around it.

Lol, I'm choosing one of your shorter comments to reply to (I know @ exists, I just have a habit of replying) so I can let you know I haven't forgotten about beating Contra 3, I've just been dividing my time between Fortnite and Monster Hunter Rise, the latter being a big reason why I could never sign the pact to begin with.

And speaking of Contra (I've been meaning to post this for weeks now), here's one of my favourite tracks!

Personally love this rendition of it with the frantic tempo and thick, gnarly tones.