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[Kazza]

Add me to the phat PS2 cool kids club! I've got a nice silver one. It sits next to my OG Xbox, and a tinny little slim just wouldn't look right next to that beast.

What kind of TV is everyone playing on. I found an old LCD TV (a no name brand with built in DVD player) in my parents' loft, so I grabbed that. Looks ok to me, although I'm sure the MyLifeInGaming crew would look on in disgust. I'm thinking about getting a CRT from somewhere, but that would likely mean 50Hz only for me (some games, like VF4 have a 60 Hz option, despite being PAL, which the LCD supports).

It's the little things which a like about using OG hardware. For the PS2, I like those little save icons. I think I might have a dead battery or capacitor somewhere though, as the system time and date always resets when turned off, which can cause problems with saving in VF4.

 

[DelireMan7]

Add me to the phat PS2 cool kids club! I've got a nice silver one. It sits next to my OG Xbox, and a tinny little slim just wouldn't look right next to that beast.

What kind of TV is everyone playing on. I found an old LCD TV (a no name brand with built in DVD player) in my parents' loft, so I grabbed that. Looks ok to me, although I'm sure the MyLifeInGaming crew would look on in disgust. I'm thinking about getting a CRT from somewhere, but that would likely mean 50Hz only for me (some games, like VF4 have a 60 Hz option, despite being PAL, which the LCD supports).

It's the little things which a like about using OG hardware. For the PS2, I like those little save icons. I think I might have a dead battery or capacitor somewhere though, as the system time and date always resets when turned off, which can cause problems with saving in VF4.

It's so good to replay these old consoles.

I also play on a SONY LCD which have is at least 8 years old. I am not a technical guy and I don't understand all these resolution, Hz stuff... but MGS2 and 3 are looking really nice and sharp on it. It surprised me because Baten Kaitos on gamecube and Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii looked really blurry and "messy". It's fine for me but I don't get why the difference.

Haha yes I also love the save icon from PS2. It's a nice little touch

 

[Kazza]

Haha yes I also love the save icon from PS2. It's a nice little touch

I've heard that some of the icons will beg you not to when you hover over the delete option, but I haven't tried this yet. It would be a nice touch if it's true

There have been a a few times when I have gone searching through a game menu looking for a Quit Game option, only to realise "oh yeah, it's PS2/Xbox, I only need to switch the actual console off. It still feels like I'm damaging it somehow . I don't know how everyone else does it, but whenever I want to change games during a session I first hit the reset button on the console and then quickly press the eject button before the disc has a chance to load again. I then insert the new disc and then the new game loads up.

 

[Aurelius]

Finished Subnautica. What a great game!

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Now playing: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. So... see you bozos in like 100 years from now

(Semi-kidding; as I can rarely play one game at a time, I'll be squeezing in some retro action as I progress through The Witcher).

 

[Kazza]

Now playing: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. So... see you bozos in like 100 years from now

(Semi-kidding; as I can rarely play one game at a time, I'll be squeezing in some retro action as I progress through The Witcher).

That's the same thing I do when playing a massive open-world game - mix in a few smaller ones in between (currently half-way through Yakuza 0). Great minds think alike

Speaking of smaller games, I just finished off Celeste. I'm not sure if I could count it as a backlog game, seeing as it was one of those free Epic giveaways, but I probably would have bought it at some steam sale eventually anyway, given its stellar reputation.

I thought it was very good, but nowhere near the GOAT platform game I heard many proclaiming:
- nice, tight controls
- good difficulty curve
- not so great graphics (I know they were going for a simple style, but I'm still not a fan)
- too long cutscenes. I understand some people may have enjoyed the whole mental health line (makes a nice change from "save the princess"), but I think it could have been achieved with less than half the dialogue)

 

[Bakkus]

Finished Star Fox 64, at least the easy route. Hasn't aged that well imo. Way too much framedrops and really shitty AI by your teammates. Is the hard route any better? For reference, I absolutely adore Sin & Punishment 2 on the Wii. So don't question whether the genre is for me or not.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Original Post

+1. Current backlog completed count: 20.

Metal Slug; on PC (Steam). I also have this game for the Saturn but bought the PC version some time ago on a steep sale. As a quick arcade playthrough, I strongly recommend it, if you like "run n' gun" games like Gunstar Heroes or the Contra series

Pros:
+ Absolutely gorgeous game, one of the best looking game [series] on the Neo Geo
+ Animations are out of this world; some of the best animations in pixel art games I've ever seen
+ Controls are tight and responsive
+ The available weapons are fun to use (main ones you'll always run into are: Heavy Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, and Flamethrower)
+ Traversal, both on foot and on the tank (the titular "Metal Slug") feels fantastic
+ Fantastic sense of humor; from the animations, to what the soldiers may be doing when you're infiltrating their base, to the POWs you rescue, it's all pretty charming and amusing. (Although it does get serious on the rare occasion; the end credits show a little girl praying by a cross with a soldier's helmet on it; like, yo, that's the game going from 0-60; one second I was laughing and now I'm thinking, "holy shit, that's deep.")

Cons:
- Weapons are a bit limited, but that's OK
- No diagonal aiming; I know the game is designed around this limitation, but it takes A LOT of getting used to. At the same time though, Contra 3 (a game released four years earlier) already had diagonal shooting.
- Shooting and aiming while inside of Metal Slug is... strange. Take some getting used to.
- The final boss can go eat a dick; the difficulty spike is nonsensical and this is probably the reason why I may take a longgggg time to achieve a 1CC for this game. (In fact I never may, depending on whether I feel like doing it).

I may try to get some screenshots, but it's difficult getting screenshots when the game has just a relentless amount of action going on. This is why I love retro games; very little nonsense. Your character (Marco) parachutes in, the announcer says, "Mission... Start!" and you're running and shooting. No cutscenes. No 5 minutes of splash screens. Nothing. Get dropped in, start shooting, and start running. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. [EDIT: Pictures below]

Alright, I have to go back and get Geralt to fix the Silver Sword; I guess that Level 1 Geralt vs a Level 7 (!) Wraith fight took a toll on my sword.

Some pictures.

The titular Metal Slug tank:

I think this shows a lot of what I was talking about: Action, a weapon upgrade ("Heavy Machine Gun") and some of the comical aspects: a pig just hanging out in a warzone for no reason, and two soldiers just chilling and making fun of each other when they're supposed to be in a war, LOL:

Some action with "Metal Slug." I think part of the awkwardness of aiming with Metal Slug is that its cannon is on the back of the vehicle:

More "humor" -- the soldiers are in the middle of a (barbeque?) session, and I guess the one on the right freaks out when he finally sees you. (But note how much action is fit into just a single frame). Also, clearly the bad guys are Nazi-inspired, the flags are obvious....

 

[Kazza]

Original Post

+1. Current backlog completed count: 20.

Metal Slug; on PC (Steam). I also have this game for the Saturn but bought the PC version some time ago on a steep sale. As a quick arcade playthrough, I strongly recommend it, if you like "run n' gun" games like Gunstar Heroes or the Contra series

Pros:
+ Absolutely gorgeous game, one of the best looking game [series] on the Neo Geo
+ Animations are out of this world; some of the best animations in pixel art games I've ever seen
+ Controls are tight and responsive
+ The available weapons are fun to use (main ones you'll always run into are: Heavy Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, and Flamethrower)
+ Traversal, both on foot and on the tank (the titular "Metal Slug") feels fantastic
+ Fantastic sense of humor; from the animations, to what the soldiers may be doing when you're infiltrating their base, to the POWs you rescue, it's all pretty charming and amusing. (Although it does get serious on the rare occasion; the end credits show a little girl praying by a cross with a soldier's helmet on it; like, yo, that's the game going from 0-60; one second I was laughing and now I'm thinking, "holy shit, that's deep.")

Cons:
- Weapons are a bit limited, but that's OK
- No diagonal aiming; I know the game is designed around this limitation, but it takes A LOT of getting used to. At the same time though, Contra 3 (a game released four years earlier) already had diagonal shooting.
- Shooting and aiming while inside of Metal Slug is... strange. Take some getting used to.
- The final boss can go eat a dick; the difficulty spike is nonsensical and this is probably the reason why I may take a longgggg time to achieve a 1CC for this game. (In fact I never may, depending on whether I feel like doing it).

I may try to get some screenshots, but it's difficult getting screenshots when the game has just a relentless amount of action going on. This is why I love retro games; very little nonsense. Your character (Marco) parachutes in, the announcer says, "Mission... Start!" and you're running and shooting. No cutscenes. No 5 minutes of splash screens. Nothing. Get dropped in, start shooting, and start running. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am. [EDIT: Pictures below]

Alright, I have to go back and get Geralt to fix the Silver Sword; I guess that Level 1 Geralt vs a Level 7 (!) Wraith fight took a toll on my sword.

Some pictures.

The titular Metal Slug tank:

I think this shows a lot of what I was talking about: Action, a weapon upgrade ("Heavy Machine Gun") and some of the comical aspects: a pig just hanging out in a warzone for no reason, and two soldiers just chilling and making fun of each other when they're supposed to be in a war, LOL:

Some action with "Metal Slug." I think part of the awkwardness of aiming with Metal Slug is that its cannon is on the back of the vehicle:

More "humor" -- the soldiers are in the middle of a (barbeque?) session, and I guess the one on the right freaks out when he finally sees you. (But note how much action is fit into just a single frame). Also, clearly the bad guys are Nazi-inspired, the flags are obvious....

I've had this in my Steam library for a while now, and this little review convinced me to play it this lazy Sunday morning. I have played it before at the arcade, but never all the way through. A great 30 minutes of fun. While the graphics are, justifiably, praised, the gameplay is really good too. I was going to go with the limited credits option, but then just went ahead with the unlimited option. It was the right choice, as it took me 22 credits to complete and and the default number of credits is just 20, meaning that I would have ran out right at the end boss. Being a coin-munching coin-op, unlimited credits is probably the way to go anyway.

I'll move onto the sequel next Sunday. That'll be another quick/easy one off the backlog.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

I've had this in my Steam library for a while now, and this little review convinced me to play it this lazy Sunday morning. I have played it before at the arcade, but never all the way through. A great 30 minutes of fun. While the graphics are, justifiably, praised, the gameplay is really good too. I was going to go with the limited credits option, but then just went ahead with the unlimited option. It was the right choice, as it took me 22 credits to complete and and the default number of credits is just 20, meaning that I would have ran out right at the end boss. Being a coin-munching coin-op, unlimited credits is probably the way to go anyway.

I'll move onto the sequel next Sunday. That'll be another quick/easy one off the backlog.

Nice! Everything you said is spot on.

I'll also be working through the series over the next couple of weeks. On Steam I have 1, 2, X, and 3; they were really dirt cheap back in whatever sale I bought them on.

And yeah, if you're just having a fun/casual playthrough, unlimited continues is the way to go. Otherwise you'll get wrecked in the last couple of levels, especially the final level and final boss.

I hope I didn't over-emphasize the graphics over the gameplay in my post, because like you said the gameplay is . (It's the main reason I play those games; the graphics are a nice bonus though.)

 

[Kazza]

I hope I didn't over-emphasize the graphics over the gameplay in my post, because like you said the gameplay is . (It's the main reason I play those games; the graphics are a nice bonus though.)

Oh no, I was just making a general point, nothing to do with anything you said.

It's not surprising that the graphics are mentioned so often, as they arguably haven't been bettered since (in terms of 2D graphics). It's almost like how air flight hasn't really improved much since the 1960s or so (flight times staying the same, with just a small blip when concord came and went). Vanillaware are great, but none of the 2D indie games even come close.

 

[VidKid369]

Beat Suikoden IV. (PS2) Didn't get all 108 Stars of Destiny, but I'll go back next time and do it right. Gonna speedrun Suikoden I next even though I've done everything in that game a bunch of times before, I haven't speedran it ever yet lol. Pretty busy with exercising now so I'm gonna stick to a game I know and have played before I don't want to play an RPG that's completely new to me.

 

[LegionX]

11. Mafia - Definitive Edition (PS4)

After the retro style of GTA3 it was nice to go to a more modern variant of the genre... although to say that... Mafia is very different, far far more was put in to the story and making the missions all follow each other, with honestly very little to do outside of the story missions... but I was up for that. It's a late era PS4 game but the remake was done well, everything looks really nice and I never had any problems with glitches or wonky physics... The other nice thing was all the modern improvements like.... a... map! and mission markers and pathfinding... and.... checkpoints! Anyways, I've had the 3 games in the series for ages but only now jumped in once I upgraded to the Trilogy pack, so at some point I'll try the re-release of Mafia II, though it's not going to look at all as good, being only a resolution upgrade rather than remaster. I'd recommend the game for anybody in to the genre though!

 

[Bakkus]

Finished Star Fox 64, at least the easy route. Hasn't aged that well imo. Way too much framedrops and really shitty AI by your teammates. Is the hard route any better? For reference, I absolutely adore Sin & Punishment 2 on the Wii. So don't question whether the genre is for me or not.

Finished the hard route yesterday. I liked it better now.

 

[DelireMan7]

My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Physical Backlog :

• Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Done !
• The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
• Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
• Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
• Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) Done !
• Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) Done !
• Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
• Hollow Knight (PS4) Done !
• [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
• [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
• [2021] Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• [2021] Project X Zone (3DS)
• [2021] Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology (3DS)

Games completed :

1. Rayman Origins (PS3) (started in Spring 2020, main story finished 5th of January 2021, coop with my 4 years old daughter, her first video game)
2. Lunar : Silver Star Harmony (PSP) (Started 1st of January, finished 17th of January, 25h56m)
3. Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) (Started 19th of January, Finished the 13th of March, around 67h)
4. Hollow Knight (PS4) (Started 26th of February, Close to platinum the 23rd of April, around 83h)
5. Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) (Started the 25th of April, Finished the 29th of May, around 33h)
6. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid (PC) (Started the 29th of May, Finished the 5 of June, 8h32)
7. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty (PS2) (Started the 7th of June, Finished the 15th of June, 13h29)
8. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater (PS2) (Started the 18th of June, Finished the 29th of June, 22h25)

I remember receiving a preorder for this game as a birthday gift from my friends. Then on the release date I run into the shop which hasn't receive it... Finally I found the steelbook case edition into the supermarket next to it. I spend the entire week-end on it and finished in 2-3 days (good times where I good finished games in few days...). Then went straight into another run...

So it's not without emotion that I took the game out of my shelf. I love my steelbook case because some rust has appear on it and it gives it an authentic look (but still mad that the sticker with price couldn't be remove properly).

Let's start with my verdict : I love it and this game is a masterpiece.

First I was again shocked by how good the game looks. The environments feel much more alive compare to MGS2. You can feel that it pushes the console to its limit but for the good !

The game take places during the Cold War in 1964. So you get a lot of historical recalls/references which I love. It really make the game more "grounded and realistic". And this apply to the gameplay as well.

So now you do not have the Soliton radar which was showing the area, enemies and their vision field to you. So you must be extra cautious to go through the different area if you don't want to get caught especially since the guards have a really good sight and spot stuff from really far. So they come investigate anything suspect pretty easily.
I really appreciate how you have to rely on the first person view to observe the surroundings and enemy patrols. In addition, you can now "move" the camera in third person view : it's still a fix angle but you can move it a bit in the direction you want with the right stick, to check your surrounding. It's a nice addition.
Also the "Anti personal sensor", which detect the close heartbeat, is extremely useful. This is the item I used the most for sure. It was already present in MGS2 but I barely used it because the radar was just superior.

Then of course there is the Camouflage system : you can change your uniform at will to melt into your environment. Environment which are now mostly "natural" like jungles, swamp, forest, mountains...
You can hide the mud, the grass, against trees... You have to go in the menu each time to change your uniform, which can be a bit tedious, but it's really worth it.

Speaking of menu, I am not a fan of the new "limited" weapons and item you can carry. Because it just don't make sense. In previous game, every weapons/items you collect appeared in your inventory (via the shoulder buttons) but now they decided to limited to 8. Which would be fine for if it was really the case. But in reality you can still pick up everything and it goes to your "backpack", which you access via your menu (and pausing the game)... So if in battle you need a certain weapon, not in your inventory, you just have to pause the game, go to your backpack and rearrange your inventory... So you virtually have access to every weapons you have like in previous games but with extra tedious steps... I would be fine with limited weapons/items if it would mean real choice on what to keep. Here I just don't see the point since you can still pick up and use everything.

So overall the stealth is much better and immersive than in previous games in my opinion. But also much more difficult and frustrating sometimes... Because enemy have a really good vision (and hearing) and spot anything suspect from really far and a lot of time I was spotted by a guard that I haven't (or couldn't) see because he was too far. But it's maybe because I was playing on hard.

Then there is the new CQC (Close Quarter Combat) which is really great. You can now sneakup on guard and grab them for interrogation, use them as human shield, choke them, throw them to the ground and slice their throat in a very satisfying animation (or I am just a psychopath).
The interrogation option is really great. Guards will give you tips and trick, reveal secret passage or radio frequencies (for cancelling alert, trigger mortar shots, listen music).

The survival element is surprisingly good. You have an endurance gauge that decrease when you do effort. The lower it is, the more you shake when aiming and you HP recover slower. Speaking of which there are almost no item to heal you. I found 8 healing items in total. I did most of the game without them and had to rely on the "natural" HP recover system most of the time.
Also when you reach half of your endurance, your stomach start growling which can be a problem during infiltration phases...
So you have to eat regularly to keep you endurance high. For that you either find so ration or other "human made food", or you have to capture/kill different animals and collect mushroom.

Then the game uses the internal clock of the console. When you stop playing, the game still evolves with time. Your food (dead animals and mushroom) rot, your injuries heal and your HP recovers and, of course, you can let The End (one of the bosses) die naturally if you stop playing for 1 week (or change the time manually).

This leads me to the "experimentation" part of the game. This game, like other Metal Gear Solid, is filled with secrets. But I have the feeling it's much more present in this one. The game wants you to experiment.
As an example take The Fear boss fight. Its endurance quickly decrease during the fight so he regularly kills animals in the area and eat them to replenish it (you can beat boss by depleting their endurance instead of HP and get special reward). So I decided to try something. I throw on the game some of my rotten food... Then he went to take it but got sick and throw up (losing a lot of endurance in the process) ! This is how I beat him.

This makes different play through of the games really enjoyable. Few months ago I heard about the "nightmare hack and slash" game you can play. I had no idea it was in the game. So I give it a try this time.
Then there is "The End" you can beat 3 completely different ways. Then there is dozen of others stuff to experiment with during you infiltration (intoxiciate dogs, throw living animals to the guard...)

I love the story of this one. The mix of historical and fictional events makes wonders ! Then the character are really good. On that topic : The Boss is just so freaking badass, interesting and deep character. Her relation with Snake is really interesting. I loved their interaction.

Let's finish with the bosses. Boss fight are pretty unique (Special praise to The End, The Sorrow and The Boss) and the bosses personalities are pretty great (nice after MGS2 which was a bit disappointing on that level).
But I wish each of them had more screen time like in MGS1, which in that regard is still the best in terms of memorable cast.

Back in the day, I consider it on par with Metal Gear Solid 1. And today it's pretty much the same. I would rank MGS1 slightly above but MGS3 is a brilliant masterpiece.


What to play next :

Actually, I have already started Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots (started the 29th of June). I was not sure to go for it because I wanted to go back to a fantasy universe but the questions raised with MGS3's story changed my mind
It's the only MGS I made an unique playthrough. So I don't remember a lot of details. I remembered loving the visuals, atmosphere and gameplay. It's the story that I didn't like without remember the details. I just remember the "big reveal" that I really didn't like (major story spoiler : Big Boss being not dead) and a surreal scene about a love declaration or wedding proposal in a middle of fight (which I start to think I misremember because I can't believe this scene really exist...)
And I am now 3h in and I can confirm that I love the visuals, atmosphere and the freaking GODLIKE gameplay. The free camera, Octocamo, the "presence ring" (a genius idea in my opinion), and finally the ability to walk while being crouched are just god's send ! I just love how Snake is moving and it's a lot of fun to play.
THEN Johnny (the joke Diarrhea soldier, present in every MGS) shows up... and I start to remember where the game lost me... I mean the guy shows up and here you're go for farts, shit in pants and diarrhea gags again and again... I was liking the small jokes from previous games but the guy now becomes part of the main story and it's annoying...

But still I love the gameplay so far and the story starts good. So I am curious to (re)discover the rest of it.

 

[VidKid369]

I've already beaten the game before so I dunno if it counts but I speedran through Suikoden I and finished at 8:49:47.

I know I should be playing games I haven't beaten yet but I have a habit of wanting to 100% complete RPGs and do/get everything, so I re-play them a lot.

Right now, I'm playing Suikoden II, which's a fantastic RPG, and attempting to get all 108 Stars of Destiny. I'm thinking about just running through the Suikoden series, anyways...

 

[LegionX]

So while I only updated about Mafia the other day, I actually finished it a few weeks back and was just slack in updating here.. Since then I don't seem to have been able to lock in to any one game so I'm going to try what I did here earlier in the year... post the same list of started but not completed games as I did then (minus GTA3 which was chosen and completed last time), and I'll play whichever game the first person to respond picks. Thanks in advance assuming anybody actually responds!

The games were

Command & Conquer - Tiberian Sun (PC)
Age of Empires - Definitive Edition (PC)
Killzone Liberation (PSP)
Tales of Destiny (PS1) or (PS2)
Medievil (PS4)
Cross Edge (PS3)
Dishonored (PC)
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (PC)
The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind (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 7 (3DS)
Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)

 

[DelireMan7]

So while I only updated about Mafia the other day, I actually finished it a few weeks back and was just slack in updating here.. Since then I don't seem to have been able to lock in to any one game so I'm going to try what I did here earlier in the year... post the same list of started but not completed games as I did then (minus GTA3 which was chosen and completed last time), and I'll play whichever game the first person to respond picks. Thanks in advance assuming anybody actually responds!

The games were

Command & Conquer - Tiberian Sun (PC)
Age of Empires - Definitive Edition (PC)
Killzone Liberation (PSP)
Tales of Destiny (PS1) or (PS2)
Medievil (PS4)
Cross Edge (PS3)
Dishonored (PC)
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 (PC)
The Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind (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 7 (3DS)
Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)

I have yet to try the Tales of series so I would go for Tales of Destiny (PS1)

By the way, what about DunDunDunpachi ? Long time no see ! Did I miss something ?

 

[LegionX]

I have yet to try the Tales of series so I would go for Tales of Destiny (PS1)

Tales of Destiny it is! Thanks.... I've only played one Tales game.. Tales of Phantasia (the first one) and it took me multiple years of starting and then stopping, starting over again.. before it clicked and I then finally played through it. Let's hope things go smoother this time! There's also a fan translation of the PS2 remake of the game in progress right now that I might experiment with and see if it's worth using.. it's 100% translated but still in "Work in Progress" status with fixes and improvements to translation coming in weekly.... but if it's good enough as is I may start it and see how I go

 

[DelireMan7]

I am around halfway through of Metal Gear Solid 4 and overall I like it. Less than the other but still quite a bit.

I am almost done with ACT3 and looking forward Act4 as I remember it being an absolute nostalgic fan service from MGS1. (The game is actually filled with fan service, in both sense of the term)

The gameplay is really good despite being much more action oriented.

I have mixed feeling on the story. Some part are quite interesting with lot of info on lore and connecting every games (but sometimes a bit too much... like they kind of bring back every past characters sometimes for no real reason in my opinion). But they are also silly part which I have a lot of difficulty (the new wife of Campbell, the running joke of Snake and cigarette, the awkward behaviour of Otacon and sunny, Johnny...)

But whatever, I am now questioning myself if I'll go for MGSV or not.
First I wanted to go back to a fantasy universe game because being a bit tired of the "realistic"world of MGS.
Then the main story seems to be 50h long which I am not sure I want to dive into.
Gameplay seems universally praised but opinions on story seems pretty mixed (and more on the bad side).

BUT I just got some interesting info in MGS4 about the creation of the Patriots and the "Les enfants terribles" project which is kind of my jam. So I was thinking since MGSV is occuring a bit after the inception of "Les enfants terribles", it might touch on this subject. And that could convince me to go for it.

So any gaffer could tell me, without spoilers, if these subjects (or stuff like Ocelot story, I do know is in the game)are part of it? Or also is the game's story make some interesting connections with previous games ?

Edit : I am quite easy to content in term of story. So even if the story is not great, it could be enough if these kind of topics are touched.

 

[Halo is Back]

I'm having a lot of fun playing some remastered Xbox 360 games lately.


I'm currently playing:

1. Farcry 3 classic edition
2. Mass Effect Legendary Edition
3. Assassins Creed Rogue Remastered (never played it)

 

[Soodanim]

After a ton of mod curating and experimentation, I committed to a load order and ended up playing a 140 hour save in Skyrim. I’m taking a break for now though, because certain mod authors are in the middle of making new overhauls that I want to play before using up all my character ideas and/or burning out on the game.

It’s going to be 10 years since release in November, and that community is still going very, very strong. There’s evolution in modding practices, and even since I last played 2/3 years prior the way people mod has improved. There’s more of a focus on modularity and compatibility, which makes life easier. Fixes and tweaks and original ideas are still flying in, and it’s expanded to dll plugins which allow for even more to be done. There’s a month old framework for animation changes that will likely result in some impressive stuff that truly overhauls the way the game feels. At the slightly more advanced end, there’s a new mass patching tool that does everything at once.

But the best part for people jumping back in is mod packs. You can take someone else’s curated and patched load order and just install their finished product. If you want to get back into Skyrim (or Fallout 4/NV), look into Wabbajack. You’ll be up and running in a fully modded game in no time. I should have gone this route, there are a couple Wabbajack lists that would have suited my tastes exactly (what they call vanilla+ - enhancing the original game instead of changing everything).

The poorly ported sequel to a game I really really enjoyed. Part way through

After learning first hand how piss poor of a job the port was and never getting over the fact that the GamePass version exists but this never got a patch to fix the atrocious mistakes this port lives with, I started playing with FAR configured.

Knowing Nier but knowing ~nothing about its sequel, I expected some switch ups in gameplay. This game starts with just about every shoot em up style ever made, and I loved it. What a well done intro.

Into the game proper, and it’s a nice mix of the game I remember and a whole lot of new additions that improve the gameplay. I’m enjoying the plug in system, especially as you can get movement speed upgrades and I’m a sucker for those. Helps with my life long behaviour of scouring every area in games I enjoy as much as this one. Being able to sacrifice HUD elements for extra space is great. I of course tried removing my OS chip, that was still slightly scary even though I saved.

I have no objection to the lack of auto save, and it actually saved me from crying myself to sleep when I died twice to a group of enemies in an area I revisited (suicide robots fucked me the second time), then died again because I was stubborn. Alt+F4 in an attempt at escaping what I’d done, and luckily I got to forget it ever happened.

I’ve not seen much of the story yet, and I’m not one to try and figure it out because I’d rather let it tell me it’s story but given the first game I can’t help but wonder what it’s going to do. It may well know that, of course. Really interested in where it goes. I accidentally spoiled a character existing through IMDB, which was a dumb move on my part.

For anyone that knows the game, I’ve just unlocked fast travel. Which is nice, because I had plans of clearing up some side quests. Did some fishing last night for the pod an NPC told me about (and Googling to make sure I was in the right place), and by the time I got what I went for I also had 50,000g in catches. Spending spree next time I play.

One last note for now: the music. Same style as the first game, which really helps remind you that it’s the same world. It’s nothing like any other game series I’ve played, which helps set it apart. Makes me want to play the original again too, and I might dig out the original when I’m done here. I have no emulator to play it on, so let’s hope the visual quality doesn’t melt my eyes off when I get to it.

Streets of Rage 4 DLC soon, it’ll be the only thing I buy and play this year.

 

[Bakkus]

Xenoblade Chronicles on Switch was just finished. I've spent like 10 hours every day now on it with some week breaks inbetween. I loved the setting and the music which is some of the best ever in VG history. The gameplay was alright, but became a bit repetitive towards the end. I loved the game up until you enter the mechonis where the level design started to detoriate. After that, it was still good, but come the last few chapters, there were so many cutscenes with tons of exposition, I got really tired. But I'm glad I stuck with it. Although I doubt I'll ever replay it.

 

[DelireMan7]

My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Physical Backlog :

• Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Done !
• The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
• Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
• Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
• Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) Done !
• Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) Done !
• Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
• Hollow Knight (PS4) Done !
• [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
• [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
• [2021] Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• [2021] Project X Zone (3DS)
• [2021] Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology (3DS)

Games completed :

1. Rayman Origins (PS3) (started in Spring 2020, main story finished 5th of January 2021, coop with my 4 years old daughter, her first video game)
2. Lunar : Silver Star Harmony (PSP) (Started 1st of January, finished 17th of January, 25h56m)
3. Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) (Started 19th of January, Finished the 13th of March, around 67h)
4. Hollow Knight (PS4) (Started 26th of February, Close to platinum the 23rd of April, around 83h)
5. Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) (Started the 25th of April, Finished the 29th of May, around 33h)
6. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid (PC) (Started the 29th of May, Finished the 5 of June, 8h32)
7. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty (PS2) (Started the 7th of June, Finished the 15th of June, 13h29)
8. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater (PS2) (Started the 18th of June, Finished the 29th of June, 22h25)
9. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots (PS3) (Started the 29th of June, Finished the 8th of July, 18h44)

What a happy mess that game is !

This game is made for the fan of the franchise and bring closure to every little story line the previous games created. Even the one you didn't want, or just didn't know needed, one. Even Johnny, the diarrhea joke soldier whom has something like few seconds, 1 minute at best, of screen time in each previous game has now a full story line and an epilogue...

Let's start with the story side. I'll hide the important spoiler but will not hide the one I consider minor (like a certain location and some returning characters).
It's clearly a game made for the fan. The game is a constant throwback to previous games' scene. Also it seems like the dev wanted to bring back most of the characters and give them some importance. But it's hit or miss for me.
Mei Ling for example. I really like her in MGS1. Back then she was a data analyst. And now she suddenly a captain of a warship in the Navy (I will not speak of that briefing scene where she looks completely incompetent for no real purpose except some butt shot). Her appearance is purely a fan service (not in the sexual meaning) since it any other random characters could have filled her role. I am fine with her overall but I fell she just there for the sake of bring back an old character.
Another one is Naomi which is again purely fan service (here in both sense of the word). Let's pass on her first encounter with Snake where she has the strange habit of leaning on her desk constantly and the camera is constantly in her cleavage. While she's part of the main story, I feel she as there just to give Otacon another "woman that he loves die" scene. And the overdramatic cinematography, with Wolf death scene song over it, of this scene makes no sense to me : to my knowledge prior this game's event, they never met each other. Now they met for few hours, she heavily flirts with him, they have sex once then she leaves. And it results in a death scene more intense (in slowmo, music and Otacon's reaction) than Sniper Wolf or Emma ?! But at the same time this scene is laughable : "By the way I have a cancer..." and she dies few second later...
I could go on on few others like the completely fucking WTF wedding proposal scene in a middle of a ridiculous gun fight ? And this scene takes quite some time (and I still don't get how they think it was a good idea) ! And guess what ? You actually see the also WTF wedding in the end game !

The again a game for the fan and the ultimate fan service is Act 4. Which is my favorite part of the game.
Shadow Moses !!!! Man that felt good to go back to it with such good visuals. The MGS remake rumours always let me "Cool ! but nothing crazy" but after replaying Act 4, I realized I'll go completely crazy if a remake is really coming ! I want a remake !!! And there is the end fight of this Act... Which is one of my geek teenage dream becoming true : Controlling REX and you actually get a REX vs RAY boss fight ! Damn! It just too good but unfortunately too short. But good nonetheless.

Overall the story is a mix of good and bad.
For the good, it brings explanation of some major stuff (Creation of the Patriots, inception of "Les enfants terrible"...), add to the lore of the franchise and tie all the games together.
For the bad, the huge amount of silly and awkward moment (Johnny, Sunny, Snake and his cigarettes, Drebin and his monkey...). Also I would say some stuff don't make sense (End game story spoiler like how Liquid reveals at the end that you wanted that you destroy GW and the system from the beginning but kind of try to prevent you to do it from the beginning and that he could have done it by himself since it's Naomi who had the virus... Or the post credit scene where Big Boss come back alive, delivers a huge dump of info to explain his non death and what I would call "pseudo philosophical and unintelligible speech" about Zero, the Patriots and their system)

I think I should stop making long post so let's quickly speak about the gameplay : it's very good.
I like the new control, the new free camera, the octocamo, the Solid eye and the "detection ring".
The shooting is much better than in previous game but has the downside to really diminish the danger of being seen. In previous game Alert mode was really dangerous partially due to the not really user friendly shooting mechanics (for me), but in MGS4, the shooting is really well done so you can easily approach this game as a third/first person shooter for the most part if you want making being discover not really threatening.
Also infiltrating raging battlefield, felt really good. The first act is awesome for this.
Iconic boss fights are kind of a trademark of the franchise (MGS2 being a bit of a letdown on this part) and MGS4 is no exception. I really like the B&B unit and most of their fights are unique (except Raging Raven). The best being Crying Wolf which is again (after "The End" from MGS3) a wonderful sniper battle. I just which their story was told differently than just Codec conversation after their fight.
I already mention the Act4 final fight which is again a complete blast for me. And I couldn't not mention the final duel (Solid vs Liquid hand to hand) which is again a nice throwback to previous games and definitely a memorable and iconic fight in video games history.

So a lot of good things and quite some bad things too... But overall I enjoyed the game, and it's much better than I remembered. A (nice) conclusion to the MGS story line.

What to play next :

On my last post I was questioning myself if I should go for Metal Gear Solid V or not. In the middle of MGS4, I kind of decided that I will go for Final Fantasy X or Dark Souls 3 because I was a bit tired of the realistic setting.
But the 2 last Acts, change my mind. I did some research and I was adviced to play Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker (started 16th of July)before playing MGSV. I've never played it but always heard how good it is. Since I got myself a PSP last year, I just order it and it will be my next game.

 

[Soodanim]

My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Physical Backlog :

• Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Done !
• The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
• Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
• Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
• Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) Done !
• Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) Done !
• Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
• Hollow Knight (PS4) Done !
• [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
• [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
• [2021] Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• [2021] Project X Zone (3DS)
• [2021] Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology (3DS)

Games completed :

1. Rayman Origins (PS3) (started in Spring 2020, main story finished 5th of January 2021, coop with my 4 years old daughter, her first video game)
2. Lunar : Silver Star Harmony (PSP) (Started 1st of January, finished 17th of January, 25h56m)
3. Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) (Started 19th of January, Finished the 13th of March, around 67h)
4. Hollow Knight (PS4) (Started 26th of February, Close to platinum the 23rd of April, around 83h)
5. Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) (Started the 25th of April, Finished the 29th of May, around 33h)
6. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid (PC) (Started the 29th of May, Finished the 5 of June, 8h32)
7. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty (PS2) (Started the 7th of June, Finished the 15th of June, 13h29)
8. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater (PS2) (Started the 18th of June, Finished the 29th of June, 22h25)
9. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots (PS3) (Started the 29th of June, Finished the 8th of July, 18h44)

What a happy mess that game is !

This game is made for the fan of the franchise and bring closure to every little story line the previous games created. Even the one you didn't want, or just didn't know needed, one. Even Johnny, the diarrhea joke soldier whom has something like few seconds, 1 minute at best, of screen time in each previous game has now a full story line and an epilogue...

Let's start with the story side. I'll hide the important spoiler but will not hide the one I consider minor (like a certain location and some returning characters).
It's clearly a game made for the fan. The game is a constant throwback to previous games' scene. Also it seems like the dev wanted to bring back most of the characters and give them some importance. But it's hit or miss for me.
Mei Ling for example. I really like her in MGS1. Back then she was a data analyst. And now she suddenly a captain of a warship in the Navy (I will not speak of that briefing scene where she looks completely incompetent for no real purpose except some butt shot). Her appearance is purely a fan service (not in the sexual meaning) since it any other random characters could have filled her role. I am fine with her overall but I fell she just there for the sake of bring back an old character.
Another one is Naomi which is again purely fan service (here in both sense of the word). Let's pass on her first encounter with Snake where she has the strange habit of leaning on her desk constantly and the camera is constantly in her cleavage. While she's part of the main story, I feel she as there just to give Otacon another "woman that he loves die" scene. And the overdramatic cinematography, with Wolf death scene song over it, of this scene makes no sense to me : to my knowledge prior this game's event, they never met each other. Now they met for few hours, she heavily flirts with him, they have sex once then she leaves. And it results in a death scene more intense (in slowmo, music and Otacon's reaction) than Sniper Wolf or Emma ?! But at the same time this scene is laughable : "By the way I have a cancer..." and she dies few second later...
I could go on on few others like the completely fucking WTF wedding proposal scene in a middle of a ridiculous gun fight ? And this scene takes quite some time (and I still don't get how they think it was a good idea) ! And guess what ? You actually see the also WTF wedding in the end game !

The again a game for the fan and the ultimate fan service is Act 4. Which is my favorite part of the game.
Shadow Moses !!!! Man that felt good to go back to it with such good visuals. The MGS remake rumours always let me "Cool ! but nothing crazy" but after replaying Act 4, I realized I'll go completely crazy if a remake is really coming ! I want a remake !!! And there is the end fight of this Act... Which is one of my geek teenage dream becoming true : Controlling REX and you actually get a REX vs RAY boss fight ! Damn! It just too good but unfortunately too short. But good nonetheless.

Overall the story is a mix of good and bad.
For the good, it brings explanation of some major stuff (Creation of the Patriots, inception of "Les enfants terrible"...), add to the lore of the franchise and tie all the games together.
For the bad, the huge amount of silly and awkward moment (Johnny, Sunny, Snake and his cigarettes, Drebin and his monkey...). Also I would say some stuff don't make sense (End game story spoiler like how Liquid reveals at the end that you wanted that you destroy GW and the system from the beginning but kind of try to prevent you to do it from the beginning and that he could have done it by himself since it's Naomi who had the virus... Or the post credit scene where Big Boss come back alive, delivers a huge dump of info to explain his non death and what I would call "pseudo philosophical and unintelligible speech" about Zero, the Patriots and their system)

I think I should stop making long post so let's quickly speak about the gameplay : it's very good.
I like the new control, the new free camera, the octocamo, the Solid eye and the "detection ring".
The shooting is much better than in previous game but has the downside to really diminish the danger of being seen. In previous game Alert mode was really dangerous partially due to the not really user friendly shooting mechanics (for me), but in MGS4, the shooting is really well done so you can easily approach this game as a third/first person shooter for the most part if you want making being discover not really threatening.
Also infiltrating raging battlefield, felt really good. The first act is awesome for this.
Iconic boss fights are kind of a trademark of the franchise (MGS2 being a bit of a letdown on this part) and MGS4 is no exception. I really like the B&B unit and most of their fights are unique (except Raging Raven). The best being Crying Wolf which is again (after "The End" from MGS3) a wonderful sniper battle. I just which their story was told differently than just Codec conversation after their fight.
I already mention the Act4 final fight which is again a complete blast for me. And I couldn't not mention the final duel (Solid vs Liquid hand to hand) which is again a nice throwback to previous games and definitely a memorable and iconic fight in video games history.

So a lot of good things and quite some bad things too... But overall I enjoyed the game, and it's much better than I remembered. A (nice) conclusion to the MGS story line.

What to play next :

On my last post I was questioning myself if I should go for Metal Gear Solid V or not. In the middle of MGS4, I kind of decided that I will go for Final Fantasy X or Dark Souls 3 because I was a bit tired of the realistic setting.
But the 2 last Acts, change my mind. I did some research and I was adviced to play Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker before playing MGSV. I've never played it but always heard how good it is. Since I got myself a PSP last year, I just order it and it will be my next game.

I think most people had an imperfect relationship with 4. I remember the OT for it when the 2.0 patch came out, adding trophies and the ability to install all chapters at once instead of only holding one at a time. I remember trying to show the game to a friend but couldn’t because I hadn’t played since I finished and needed to install Act 1 again. I even made a Google Spreadsheet for trophy hunting the animal ranks and shared it with GAF, because it was a lot to keep track of. Some of them require you to spend X time in Y status or shoot Z amount of ammo, with each chapter giving you updated stats so you could update the tracker. Getting the Big Boss rank and the platinum was good fun.

I think the gameplay was fantastic, but it was wasted by only 2 Acts plus the final room being proper gameplay with the mechanics in use. The rest is pure tailing, no humans, or bosses.

I definitely recommend Peace Walker, it’s a different presentation and its level design is piecemeal because of its portable home. I played the HD version, which I’d have recommended had you not already ordered the OG version for image quality and framerate if nothing else. But I’m sure the original is perfectly playable, and you could always use PPSSPP if you emulate.

I enjoyed what I remember of FFX and I definitely enjoy DS3, so you can’t really go wrong

 

[DelireMan7]

I think most people had an imperfect relationship with 4. I remember the OT for it when the 2.0 patch came out, adding trophies and the ability to install all chapters at once instead of only holding one at a time. I remember trying to show the game to a friend but couldn’t because I hadn’t played since I finished and needed to install Act 1 again. I even made a Google Spreadsheet for trophy hunting the animal ranks and shared it with GAF, because it was a lot to keep track of. Some of them require you to spend X time in Y status or shoot Z amount of ammo, with each chapter giving you updated stats so you could update the tracker. Getting the Big Boss rank and the platinum was good fun.

Yes I remember the pre patch version, the installation stuff was really bad. I am not really into Trophy hunting and ranks in the MGS... It looks too tedious to be fun for me.

I think the gameplay was fantastic, but it was wasted by only 2 Acts plus the final room being proper gameplay with the mechanics in use. The rest is pure tailing, no humans, or bosses.

Quite true. Act 3 with the tailing mission made me crazy (I had somehow erased it from my memory). And yes the no humans in Act 4 was a big letdown.

I definitely recommend Peace Walker, it’s a different presentation and its level design is piecemeal because of its portable home. I played the HD version, which I’d have recommended had you not already ordered the OG version for image quality and framerate if nothing else. But I’m sure the original is perfectly playable, and you could always use PPSSPP if you emulate.

I hesitate to take the HD version on PS3 but I am all for physical... And I like the idea to play on portable. I don't play often on this format but when I do, I enjoy it quite a lot.

I enjoyed what I remember of FFX and I definitely enjoy DS3, so you can’t really go wrong

Yes I know, I spend several hundreds of hours, across multiple playthroughs, on FFX back in the days. It's been years I say I want to replay it. Now that my PS2 is hooked up again, I'll go for it this year.
Same with Dark Souls 3 : hundreds of hours in it. I want to replay it before Elden Ring

 

[Soodanim]

Yes I remember the pre patch version, the installation stuff was really bad. I am not really into Trophy hunting and ranks in the MGS... It looks too tedious to be fun for me.

Some of it probably was a bit of a grind at times, but it was when I was still into trophies and there was an element of fun in that. Plus there’s the unlockables, like the sunlight gun that you can only reload in daylight. MGS had some fun equipment at times. I can definitely see why you wouldn’t want to trophy hunt, though.

Quite true. Act 3 with the tailing mission made me crazy (I had somehow erased it from my memory). And yes the no humans in Act 4 was a big letdown.


I hesitate to take the HD version on PS3 but I am all for physical... And I like the idea to play on portable. I don't play often on this format but when I do, I enjoy it quite a lot.


Yes I know, I spend several hundreds of hours, across multiple playthroughs, on FFX back in the days. It's been years I say I want to replay it. Now that my PS2 is hooked up again, I'll go for it this year.
Same with Dark Souls 3 : hundreds of hours in it. I want to replay it before Elden Ring

Elden Ring is going to be so good. The core gameplay of souls is good enough that I can confidently say that. The footage makes it look like somewhere between 1 and 3 to me, which is exactly where it would aim.

I will eventually get FFXHD on PC, but my backlog is just too big to justify more purchases. If I put the work in with this thread maybe I’ll treat myself in a future sale. I wonder if the sport mini game is fun as an adult.

 

[DelireMan7]

Elden Ring is going to be so good. The core gameplay of souls is good enough that I can confidently say that. The footage makes it look like somewhere between 1 and 3 to me, which is exactly where it would aim.

I will eventually get FFXHD on PC, but my backlog is just too big to justify more purchases. If I put the work in with this thread maybe I’ll treat myself in a future sale. I wonder if the sport mini game is fun as an adult.

I am also convince Elden Ring will be very good. Can't wait to play it.

I am also curious about Blitzball. I spent hours on it ! Don't know if it aged well xD

 

[Soodanim]

I am also convince Elden Ring will be very good. Can't wait to play it.

I am also curious about Blitzball. I spent hours on it ! Don't know if it aged well xD

I remember the camera angle of the game and the Jecht Shot (which may have just been an attack in battle now I think about it) and that’s it! I might have to encourage you to play it before DS3 so I can see what you think of it in 2021. Do it for NeoGAF

 

[Ryuji Goda]

Finished Rockstar's Table Tennis on the 360. Really cool game. Still looks great and plays so well.

 

[stonedwal]

I said I'd contribute to this thread monthly, but the "big work things" that I mentioned would take up my time in March also took up my time in April and May, and June is always crunch time in my profession. Suffice to say that I passed the exam that I needed to, but some personnel changes and a promotion made work very complicated. I have managed to squeeze some games in here and there. Work should start to ease off in a month, so I'll begin to be able to play a little bit more.

My challenge:
No buying games or playing new games in 2021. I am hanging on, I think the impact of COVID on the industry is making it easier. My wife did buy me Hitman 3 and Mass Effect Legendary Edition for our anniversary, but I have not played them.

Game #9: Trover Saves the Universe (PS4)
Played non-VR because I didn't feel like dealing with the hassle of setting up my room for PSVR. I enjoyed the game, the humour was what I expected given who was involved in the development. It's right up my alley, but I think I may have enjoyed Accounting+ a little more. Being a short game helped me get back into the rhythm of playing games again.

Game #10: Streets of Rage 4 (PS4)
I bounced off this when I played it briefly while I had Game Pass, but I had the intention of going back to it. Glad I did - it really nailed the feel of the old games, and most importantly, had the necessary variety and impact that separates the best beat 'em ups from the crowd. I can see myself replaying this a couple of times to get the various unlocks - I will wait for the DLC to go on sale before I go back.

Game #11: Raging Justice (PS4)
Hot off the heels of Streets of Rage 4, I had a craving for more beat 'em ups, however I wanted something new. This was on sale for 4 bucks on PSN at the time. It had a mixed response, but I've never trusted crowds or critics with beat 'em ups. It was okay - I liked the dumb plot and the vibe of the game, but the actual combat was a bit lacking. Seemed like there wasn't enough variety in your attacks. Attacking downed opponents was a good touch though.

Game #12: [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
I've played through MGS4 probably 5 times prior to this, most of them when it first came out. I started this playthrough when the trophy patch launched, got up to Act 4 and moved on. The intention with the playthrough was to get enough DP to get the stealth camo and infinite ammo bandana. I grinded DP in the areas prior to the microwave hallway in Act 5, forgetting that this was a completely new save and I hadn't unlocked the ability to buy those items. I cleared out Drebin's shop and finished up the rest of the game. I'll return to this soon for a trophy clean up. I still enjoy the game.

Game #13: Halo 2: Anniversary Edition (Xbox One)
I did not like Halo 2 on release. I still liked parts of the game (Chief's first half, basically), but felt it got its head stuck up its arse with its dumb plot. I liked the Arbiter in 3 but not 2. Anniversary did not change my opinion of the plot but it did make me feel better about Halo 2 in general.

In progress:
[Replay] Dead Space (PS3)
Originally played this on the Xbox 360, somewhere along the line got this dirt cheap with the DLC on sale on PSN. This was one of my favourite games of this generation, and going back and playing it again actually made me genuinely excited about playing video games again. For years I thought the problem was me, but maybe I just don't like modern games as much as I think I should? I want to spend some time playing my favourites and I want to have that feeling that I have "mastered" some of them, the way I did when I was younger (before I started playing/buying every damn thing). For a game like Dead Space, that means getting the platinum/max gamerscore, and it was a good excuse to play this one again. Currently on chapter 6 of the first of two runs through. The platinum requires a playthrough on Impossible, not unlocked until you beat the game once.

The Order: 1886 (PS4)
Didn't like it when I first tried it, went back and have been digging it a bit more. Wanted something short and sweet. Up to Chapter 9 but not in a rush to finish up.

Yakuza 0 (PS4)
I like Yakuza 1-4, and even Dead Souls, but I've struggled to get into 0. Everyone I have spoken to about it says it is the best, but the beginning part feels like a slog.

Next candidates:
[Replay] Super Mario Bros 3 (NES)
To this day I've never beaten every individual level in Mario 3. I've always used the whistles. Last year I did an all stages run of Super Mario Bros, and wanted to do the same for 3 and World.

[Replay] Dead Rising (PS4)
The next older favourite I want the platinum for. At least this time I don't need to worry about the RROD with "7 Day Survivor" but finding 14 hours in which to run the challenge may be difficult (unless suspend mode works?). "Transmissionary" remains the major reason I never got the 1000GS on Xbox 360, and I expect to get frustrated trying to get it here.

[Replay] Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut (PS3)
I have not played the Director's Cut or DLC, but counting this as a replay. This is another I want the platinum for. I blasted my way through it on release, didn't really take the time to enjoy it and soak it up like I did with the original back in 2000.

 

[Aurelius]

Completed Katana Zero. Took me a couple of tries to really get going, but man, what a great game! I really had to brush up on my 2D skills to finish it though.

 

[Banjo64]

Finished God of War last night at 1am (platinumed it).

I’ve owned this game since release, but haven’t played it due to my backlog. When I eventually started it on my PS4 last month my PS4 made an unholy noise that it hadn’t ever made before. Probably similar to a Concorde taking off. So I bought a PS5 digital, a little ahead of schedule.

I doubt I can say anything about this game that hasn’t already been said.

I will say that it took me a good few hours to get in to it, but after that, and once the combat clicks, this game is as good as everyone says. I love how the previous games weren’t retconned. 10/10 for sure. If you haven’t played it yet, do it.

 

[VidKid369]

I beat Suikoden II (PS) and got 108 Stars of Destiny/best ending. I really don't want to but I figure I can transfer my save to Suikoden III now.

 

[Soodanim]

Finished God of War last night at 1am (platinumed it).

I’ve owned this game since release, but haven’t played it due to my backlog. When I eventually started it on my PS4 last month my PS4 made an unholy noise that it hadn’t ever made before. Probably similar to a Concorde taking off. So I bought a PS5 digital, a little ahead of schedule.

I doubt I can say anything about this game that hasn’t already been said.

I will say that it took me a good few hours to get in to it, but after that, and once the combat clicks, this game is as good as everyone says. I love how the previous games weren’t retconned. 10/10 for sure. If you haven’t played it yet, do it.

God of War HD Collection killed my first PS3. Kratos needs to calm it down

I beat Suikoden II (PS) and got 108 Stars of Destiny/best ending. I really don't want to but I figure I can transfer my save to Suikoden III now.

I’ve heard lots of praise for S2 over the years, but I’ve never played it. Only part of 1, until my first PS3 died (above). Didn’t feel like returning to it. What does the save transfer get you?

 

[LegionX]

God of War HD Collection killed my first PS3. Kratos needs to calm it down

I’ve heard lots of praise for S2 over the years, but I’ve never played it. Only part of 1, until my first PS3 died (above). Didn’t feel like returning to it. What does the save transfer get you?

This is quite the coincidence.... God of War HD Collection killed my original fat PS3 as well.... twice! It died during GoW... I sent it off and had it repaired.... and it lasted a few days and died half way in to GoW2! I gave up and bought a slim after that.... still to this day the only Console I've ever owned that's died!

 

[VidKid369]

I’ve heard lots of praise for S2 over the years, but I’ve never played it. Only part of 1, until my first PS3 died (above). Didn’t feel like returning to it. What does the save transfer get you?

You should not only give Suikoden II a shot but the entire Suikoden series. It's a pretty good game overall, it really hits all the feels if you're truly into RPGs. I've beaten the game a handful of times and it's still good each and every time.

I'm not entirely sure about the save transfer for Suikoden III I think you just get additional items like trinkets and the name you chose for the heroes appears in the text of the game.

 

[Banjo64]

Platted Astro’s Playroom a few days ago, decent little experience. I wouldn’t place it in the high tier of platformers, but for free it is a good short experience.

Tried to play Gravity Rush 2 for the third or fourth time.

Got an hour in and gave up, again.

The first game was brilliant in my opinion, but the second is just rubbish. Slow starting, ponderous, dull. Uninstalled it.

Not sure what to do next, DS2 is the only From game I haven’t platinumed (need a few more trophies), The Last Guardian or Sekiro are my choices.

 

[DelireMan7]

Quick update:
I started Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker and I am having a complete blast. It's really good. Just had to get use to the control on PSP but I can't put it down.
The base management system really addictive.

It really hypes me up for MGSV

 

[stn]

Platted Astro’s Playroom a few days ago, decent little experience. I wouldn’t place it in the high tier of platformers, but for free it is a good short experience.

Tried to play Gravity Rush 2 for the third or fourth time.

Got an hour in and gave up, again.

The first game was brilliant in my opinion, but the second is just rubbish. Slow starting, ponderous, dull. Uninstalled it.

Not sure what to do next, DS2 is the only From game I haven’t platinumed (need a few more trophies), The Last Guardian or Sekiro are my choices.

Have you played Sekiro before? If I understand correctly, you already platted it? If that's the case, finish off DS2 - that's what I would do. If you haven't played Sekiro yet, absolutely go for it, because it is bloody amazing. My goal is to eventually platinum ALL the Souls-style games. So far I've done Nioh 1 and 2, working now on my first play through of Sekiro.

 

[Banjo64]

Have you played Sekiro before? If I understand correctly, you already platted it? If that's the case, finish off DS2 - that's what I would do. If you haven't played Sekiro yet, absolutely go for it, because it is bloody amazing. My goal is to eventually platinum ALL the Souls-style games. So far I've done Nioh 1 and 2, working now on my first play through of Sekiro.

Sorry, I misspoke there.

I’ve not played Sekiro yet.

I think Sekiro is the one.

 

[Bakkus]

Finished Ape Escape a few days ago. Pretty decent, but as with most games from that generation and being the first game ever to use the dualshock controller, it has a lot of jank in it. Could really use a remake. I've heard the sequels on PS2 are better. Looking forward to getting those.

 

[DelireMan7]

My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Physical Backlog :

• Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Done !
• The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
• Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
• Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
• Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) Done !
• Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) Done !
• Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
• Hollow Knight (PS4) Done !
• [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
• [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
• [2021] Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• [2021] Project X Zone (3DS)
• [2021] Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology (3DS)

Games completed :

1. Rayman Origins (PS3) (started in Spring 2020, main story finished 5th of January 2021, coop with my 4 years old daughter, her first video game)
2. Lunar : Silver Star Harmony (PSP) (Started 1st of January, finished 17th of January, 25h56m)
3. Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) (Started 19th of January, Finished the 13th of March, around 67h)
4. Hollow Knight (PS4) (Started 26th of February, Close to platinum the 23rd of April, around 83h)
5. Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) (Started the 25th of April, Finished the 29th of May, around 33h)
6. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid (PC) (Started the 29th of May, Finished the 5 of June, 8h32)
7. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty (PS2) (Started the 7th of June, Finished the 15th of June, 13h29)
8. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater (PS2) (Started the 18th of June, Finished the 29th of June, 22h25)
9. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots (PS3) (Started the 29th of June, Finished the 8th of July, 18h44)
10. [2021] Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker (PSP) (Started the 16h of July, true ending the 28th of July, 34h46)

When it released, I didn't gave attention to it for 2 reasons : I didn't have a PSP and I was thinking it wasn't a main entry because not numbered...

I've always heard praise about it and several time that it was a main entry because Kojima was fully in charge of it.

Well I can now say that YES, the praise are well deserved and it's indeed a main entry !

A bit of time was needed to adjust to the controls. With no second joystick on the PSP, you control the camera with the face buttons (there are others settings if you want). But after this adjustment time, it had no problem.

The gameplay is really good. I was a bit skeptical about the missions format but it works quite well. A bit weird when it cuts just before a boss fight and you can go back to your base to change equipment or do some management but it works well in the end.
So as I mentioned, you have to manage your base. You have to recruit soldier on the field and then assign them to different unit (Combat, R&D, Food, Medical, ....). Depending on where you assign them, it will unlocked new weapons, or items to develop. To develop items, you need credits that you get with the combat unit. Later you can also send some unit in "outer OPS".
In short, there is a lot to do if you want. I personally found it to be really addictive so I went quite far with it.

The recruit mechanic change quite a bit my stealth approach compare to the other games. In previous entry, my goal was to interact as little as possible with the enemies : sneaking through section without being detected and not taking them done from far. But in Peace Walker, I sneaked up to every guards to stun them and then "recruit" them.
The controls are not as good as in others entry, but the AI is also not as good so in the end everything works. I found myself to use a lot the empty clip to distract guards, a thing I almost never succeed in previous entries.

Combat wise, it's a bit disturbing at first but again enemies are a bit gentle with you (to compensate our slower aim I guess).
There are 2 types of boss fights.
The first are against combat vehicles (tank, helicopter...). They are always with soldiers and there are 2 ways to win the fight : destroy the vehicle but it's quite long or take down the pilot (which will grant you the vehicle to use in outer OPS). I am not 100% sure how it works but it looks like you have to take down all the soldiers (several waves usually) then inflict quite some damage to the vehicle (you can destroy fuels tank to immobilize it a bit) and the leader will came out.
The others boss battle are against "AI weapons" : huge vehicles with many destructible parts. There is a small twist : parts that you destroy unlock "AI board" that you can get at the end of the fight which will make your own AI weapon strong. Put to build your AI weapon, you need the part so to get them you have to avoid damaging too much the different part (but get less AI board).
In the end, you have to farm a bit these fights but I find them quite enjoyable (I love big bosses with parts to destroy).

But overall, the bosses are not at all on the level of other games since they are only machines and no human but I like the AI weapons one.

Let's finish with the story. It's an awesome sequel to MGS3. Might be a bit "WTF" when on some parts but I really enjoyed it. I love the talks about Nuclear deterrence and the reliability of humans for it.
But the thing I love the most in this game is the cutscenes... Comic book like with the art style of Yoji Shinkawa !! The voice acting is quite good and David Hayter's voice send me through the roof. I couldn't get tired of these cutscenes.

The true ending was a tasteless grind (basically do side OPS again and again to unlock "main OPS" which felt like "side OPS"). I will not spoil but this ending came out of nowhere and suddenly through at your face a whole new "conspiracy". Somehow this ending looks to have quite some connection with MGSV (but I only know the trailer from MGSV) so I hope the subjects brought up will be treated in it.

In the end, Peace Walker is very good and is definitely a main entry. Actually it enters in my TOP 3 of MGS game (behind 1 and 3).

What to play next :
Well this is it ! I'll jump into Metal Gear Solid V : Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain (which is actually in my backlog thanks to PSplus) to finish this MGS marathon.

 

[Bakkus]

Finished Super Mario RPG a few days ago. It starts off really good imo, but loses it's lust by a lot by the time you get to Moleville, which was probably the reason I stopped playing the game at that point around 10 years ago. After that it gets pretty repetitive, and i think the prerendered visuals have aged very poorly. The isometric world also got really annoying since it made the platforming really awkward and clumsy. It also has some really bad worlds like the sunken ship with those riddles and cryptic puzzles. The character balance is also pretty bad. Mario - Bowser - Peach is by far the best combo for almost every point in the game. The music is really good though, which is proably the main reason I managed to finish it. That, and it's short length. But how anyone can consider this etter than the first two Paper Marios just blows my mind.

 

[DelireMan7]

My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Physical Backlog :

• Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Done !
• The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
• Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
• Odin Sphere (PS2)
• Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
• Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
• Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) Done !
• Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) Done !
• Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
• Hollow Knight (PS4) Done !
• [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
• [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
• [2021] Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
• [2021] Project X Zone (3DS)
• [2021] Radiant Historia : Perfect Chronology (3DS)

Games completed :

1. Rayman Origins (PS3) (started in Spring 2020, main story finished 5th of January 2021, coop with my 4 years old daughter, her first video game)
2. Lunar : Silver Star Harmony (PSP) (Started 1st of January, finished 17th of January, 25h56m)
3. Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube) (Started 19th of January, Finished the 13th of March, around 67h)
4. Hollow Knight (PS4) (Started 26th of February, Close to platinum the 23rd of April, around 83h)
5. Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3) (Started the 25th of April, Finished the 29th of May, around 33h)
6. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid (PC) (Started the 29th of May, Finished the 5 of June, 8h32)
7. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 2 : Sons of Liberty (PS2) (Started the 7th of June, Finished the 15th of June, 13h29)
8. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater (PS2) (Started the 18th of June, Finished the 29th of June, 22h25)
9. [Replay] Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots (PS3) (Started the 29th of June, Finished the 8th of July, 18h44)
10. [2021] Metal Gear Solid : Peace Walker (PSP) (Started the 16h of July, true ending the 28th of July, 34h46)
11. [2021] Metal Gear Solid V : Ground Zeroes (PS4) (main mission done the 30th of July, 2h06)

I also did the sidemissions and I still want to redo few on hard (and try to unlock the 2 last but I don't know how).

It's a short experience but a pretty good one. I love the rainy, stormy weather during the main mission. I also love how it follows Peace Walker true ending. The plot really got me and hope it deliver during The Phantom Pain.

Then the gameplay... A true wonder. It feels so good to play. It looks like the possibility are endless. It feels really realistic compare to previous entries. I like how when you are spotted, they focus on your last known position (compare to previous games where they knew always where you were during alerts) making it much more easy to escape during alert. Being spotted can know be a legit strategy to distract them and focus their attention on one area of the base while you sneak out into another one.

Reflex mode (slowmo when you're spotted that gives you a chance to neutralize the ennemy to avoid an alert) is nice but I ended up turning it off. The slowmo is really really slow and it felt like cheating to me. So overall it was more a nuisance than anything else.
Another thing that disturb me is the checkpoints. If you're killed, you can restart on the last checkpoint, resetting any alert and putting you somewhere which is often not where you were. It allows some unintentional "bruteforcing or cheating" missions. As an example : 1 of the mission is to eliminate 2 specific soldiers. If you're spotted, they try to escape and you lose. I was spotted and succeed to kill one just before he escapes then I was killed just after. The last checkpoint putted me in the middle of the base, no alert and I had just to go kill the second one. It didn't feel right to me. Of course I could restart the mission if I wanted but the checkpoint system feels a bit wrong to me.
Other little annoying thing is that you can't quit during a mission and comeback to where you were. You have to restart it. This can be annoying for me when I play during the children's nap and stop when they wake up.
Edit : forgot to mention the change of Big boss's voice... I heard about it but was thinking "it's not a big deal". But after having play all the main entries, the change really hurt especially after the amazing voice performance in Peace Walker.

But nonetheless, the game is extremely good to play. But despite the fact I love the gameplay after replaying several sidemissions I am a little bit scared that it might not be enough for me to enjoy 50h of The Phantom Pain. The setting and gameplay might be to "realistic" for me. Let's see...

What to play next :

Let's go for the final chapter of the Metal Gear Solid saga : Metal Gear Solid V : The Phantom Pain (which is actually in my backlog thanks to PSplus, started 2nd of August)

 

[Soodanim]

But nonetheless, the game is extremely good to play. But despite the fact I love the gameplay after replaying several sidemissions I am a little bit scared that it might not be enough for me to enjoy 50h of The Phantom Pain. The setting and gameplay might be to "realistic" for me. Let's see...

What to play next :

Let's go for the final chapter of the Metal Gear Solid saga : Metal Gear Solid V : The Phantom Pain (which is actually in my backlog thanks to PSplus)

For what it's worth, I think you'll enjoy TPP well enough. There are some (rather stupid) "Do more side missions for the next mission" requirements, but I wager that if you just do they as you feel like it you'll have enough fun.

The trade off in TPP is that you lose the closed arena that GZ is, but you gain more options. You get more weapons, tools, ways to get around, etc.

Similarly to you, I ended up turning off the slow-mo. It didn't feel like MGS with it on, and I'd rather fail in full speed then survive with cheat mode enabled. I went further and disabled all HUD elements in TPP except weapon/ammo and grenade arc. I'd play with everything on at first, but you may think, like me, that some of the features of the game become invalidated by extensive HUD. The mechanical arm for example lets you do what's basically a sonar at the risk of making noise, but if you can tag enemies forever silently what's the point in it?

A gameplay tip I didn't know about until I finished the entire game: certain things can be climbed (certain rock/wall types), so look out for those. They would have been handy when I was trying to infiltrate.

TPP's strength is that it offers so many ways to do things.

Oh, and turn off camera shake on sprint. I remember the exact moment I turned it off, because my experience was improved dramatically in an instant.

 

[DelireMan7]

A gameplay tip I didn't know about until I finished the entire game: certain things can be climbed (certain rock/wall types), so look out for those. They would have been handy when I was trying to infiltra

I already figured that out and I am almost overwhelmed by the possibilities this offer. Can't wait to experiment with that.

Oh, and turn off camera shake on sprint. I remember the exact moment I turned it off, because my experience was improved dramatically in an instant.

Hum ok. I didn't notice anything on GZ. I'll see in TPP.

For what it's worth, I think you'll enjoy TPP well enough. There are some (rather stupid) "Do more side missions for the next mission" requirements, but I wager that if you just do they as you feel like it you'll have enough fun.

The trade off in TPP is that you lose the closed arena that GZ is, but you gain more options. You get more weapons, tools, ways to get around, etc.

I am curious about the open area and all the options the game give to tackle missions.
But I am already baffled on how good the gameplay and controls are.

I replayed again some side mission of GZ in hard and the checkpoints really throw me off. It kind of reset the state of the world but not exactly on it was and sometime it puts you really far from where you were. Hope it's better in TPP.

 

[Bakkus]

Finished Silent Hill 2 yesterday (PS2 version). Great atmosphere and interesting story. The gameplay is really dated, though. But the game is short and worth playing still. Even if it's nowhere near GOAT territory in my opinion.

 

[Aurelius]

Finished Return of the Obra Dinn. Managed to deduct most fates by myself. Great game but now my head hurts.

 

[stn]

Finally finished Devil May Cry 3 HD (XBO). Started Devil May Cry 1 HD (XBO).