Yeah i started it today but found some performance issues which annoy me. Also its not got the best controller support so i may refund and wait for a few patches. First hour or so didnt really grab me.
Reviews Rate the game you finished/retired
- Thread starter Ge0force
- Start date
After downgrading from a 3080 to 1070, I find myself finishing a lot more (older) games now. Weird.
Finished:
Ys VIII (Hard): I like the premise and 2/3 through the game I thought, wow, what a refreshing JRPG. No saving the world, just you and other stranded people trying to get away from a mysterious and dangerous island. So I'm kinda disappointed they make it into something bigger and saving the world kinda thing at the end. Even so far to end it with technically, it's all just a dream, neat. Combat is fun, although on the latter stages it's just perfect dodge/block fest to get huge damage, making every encounter and bosses pretty samey. I've heard playing on nightmare makes the boss really challenging, maybe I should've gone for that from the very start. I enjoyed most of my time with it though. 8/10.
Psychonauts 2: Not much to say that others haven't really. It's one of the best games of 2021 for me so far, I like it a lot. The story, the levels, the humor is very well done,. Start to finish I have a smile on my face when playing it. I just hope they finished the 3rd one a little bit faster than 15 years
10/10
XCOM: Enemy Within (Normal): Usually not a really big fan of turn based strategy, but I find this game to be really fun. The early part of the game is pretty rough but once you get better weapons, it's relatively easy. Have a blast playing it. I played the original game when I was in elementary school, I remember watching every shot with anticipation and dreading every encounter, much like this one did in the early game. 8/10
store.steampowered.com
XCOM 2 War of the Chosen (Veteran and Commander): I really love this game. They spice up the challenge with limited time missions now so you can't turtle your way to victory like the first game. I don't play on Ironman though so I can see people get frustrated with this mechanic. I really like the faction heroes, the three chosen bosses and the three alien rulers which provides even more challenges. Finished it on veteran first then commander. Only criticism I had is the challenge curve for veteran and commander peak way to early, just like the first game. By the end my soldiers were too powerful for any alien pod to even make a dent. While the early game feels really hard in comparison. That said, maybe legendary difficulty changes that but for now I've had enough after playing more than 120 hours. 10/10
Singularity (Normal): Short and sweet. A pretty fun FPS. Standard Raven stuff. 8/10
Finished:
Ys VIII (Hard): I like the premise and 2/3 through the game I thought, wow, what a refreshing JRPG. No saving the world, just you and other stranded people trying to get away from a mysterious and dangerous island. So I'm kinda disappointed they make it into something bigger and saving the world kinda thing at the end. Even so far to end it with technically, it's all just a dream, neat. Combat is fun, although on the latter stages it's just perfect dodge/block fest to get huge damage, making every encounter and bosses pretty samey. I've heard playing on nightmare makes the boss really challenging, maybe I should've gone for that from the very start. I enjoyed most of my time with it though. 8/10.
Psychonauts 2: Not much to say that others haven't really. It's one of the best games of 2021 for me so far, I like it a lot. The story, the levels, the humor is very well done,. Start to finish I have a smile on my face when playing it. I just hope they finished the 3rd one a little bit faster than 15 years
10/10XCOM: Enemy Within (Normal): Usually not a really big fan of turn based strategy, but I find this game to be really fun. The early part of the game is pretty rough but once you get better weapons, it's relatively easy. Have a blast playing it. I played the original game when I was in elementary school, I remember watching every shot with anticipation and dreading every encounter, much like this one did in the early game. 8/10
XCOM® 2 Collection on Steam
XCOM 2 War of the Chosen (Veteran and Commander): I really love this game. They spice up the challenge with limited time missions now so you can't turtle your way to victory like the first game. I don't play on Ironman though so I can see people get frustrated with this mechanic. I really like the faction heroes, the three chosen bosses and the three alien rulers which provides even more challenges. Finished it on veteran first then commander. Only criticism I had is the challenge curve for veteran and commander peak way to early, just like the first game. By the end my soldiers were too powerful for any alien pod to even make a dent. While the early game feels really hard in comparison. That said, maybe legendary difficulty changes that but for now I've had enough after playing more than 120 hours. 10/10
Singularity (Normal): Short and sweet. A pretty fun FPS. Standard Raven stuff. 8/10
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- Thread Starter
- #753
Finished XCOM: Chimera Squad
This game is like a more casual version of XCOM 2, with some great and not so great new ideas. I really liked the breach mechanics and the different "heroes" with their unique skills and play styles. I ended up playing with the same 4 heroes throughout the game though, mostly because I'm to lazy to switch loadouts every time. Offering missions for specific heroes could be a solution for this.
I didn't like the city management part; it felt rather useless to me and lacks the tactical consequences of the other XCOM games. I also found the combat areas too small; most of the battles played out the same (kill the strongest enemies first), making the combat feel repetitive after a while. More variation in level layout and/or mission objectives would have helped a lot here.
Despite these drawbacks I had a good time with this game, but I prefer the original XCOM games.
Score: 7.8/10
This game is like a more casual version of XCOM 2, with some great and not so great new ideas. I really liked the breach mechanics and the different "heroes" with their unique skills and play styles. I ended up playing with the same 4 heroes throughout the game though, mostly because I'm to lazy to switch loadouts every time. Offering missions for specific heroes could be a solution for this.
I didn't like the city management part; it felt rather useless to me and lacks the tactical consequences of the other XCOM games. I also found the combat areas too small; most of the battles played out the same (kill the strongest enemies first), making the combat feel repetitive after a while. More variation in level layout and/or mission objectives would have helped a lot here.
Despite these drawbacks I had a good time with this game, but I prefer the original XCOM games.
Score: 7.8/10
Desperados III
Loved it. Such a good tactical/strategy game. Each level is a puzzle to get through using the skills of the cast which are interesting and varied. Liked the story progression, good old revenge tale. Very nice to look at. I would say that i enjoyed the earlier levels the most as i could get through them in one sitting. Later on as the difficulty ramps up each level was taking me more time. You do get a character that is pretty OP but i found some later levels pretty tricky. Satisfying when you complete a level, there is a great timelapse view of your progress. Overall a top game.
9/10
Loved it. Such a good tactical/strategy game. Each level is a puzzle to get through using the skills of the cast which are interesting and varied. Liked the story progression, good old revenge tale. Very nice to look at. I would say that i enjoyed the earlier levels the most as i could get through them in one sitting. Later on as the difficulty ramps up each level was taking me more time. You do get a character that is pretty OP but i found some later levels pretty tricky. Satisfying when you complete a level, there is a great timelapse view of your progress. Overall a top game.
9/10
- Thread Starter
- #755
Finished The Uncertain: Last Quiet Day
Excellent adventure-lite game with an intreging story, decent graphics and beautiful music. Very enjoyable, despite the clunky controls. Be warned that the ending is extremely open, you won't find out what's actually going unless you play the sequel(s).
Score: 7.9/10
Excellent adventure-lite game with an intreging story, decent graphics and beautiful music. Very enjoyable, despite the clunky controls. Be warned that the ending is extremely open, you won't find out what's actually going unless you play the sequel(s).
Score: 7.9/10
Finished
This game is a mastepiece. It tells you a story that at the same time teaches you the importance of good friendships, love, acceptance and having to forgive yourself when things that you didn't want to happen, happens. I shed tears many times, especially during the ending. What a fantasticly told story, a story that reminds us about the good things about life and that life moves on and we need to move with it, otherwise we get stuck in our personal hell. The game is also about depression, anger, hate, sadness and suicide, so be warned.
The graphics and artstyles used makes the game gorgeus, the animations are fantastic and the music is so beautiful and sad at the same time. The level design is great and so is the gameplay. The negative thing is that the game could have used some more enemy varation, a bit odd pacing at times and the movement controls can be a bit annoying as sometimes it can be a bit difficulty to see where I could go.
Other than that, I absolutely loved the game (got the good ending and one of the neutral endings, I could get the bad ending too as I have a save file for it, but I don't want to after the good ending even though I most likely will get a cheevo for it) and heavily recommends it.
Score: 9/10.
This game is a mastepiece. It tells you a story that at the same time teaches you the importance of good friendships, love, acceptance and having to forgive yourself when things that you didn't want to happen, happens. I shed tears many times, especially during the ending. What a fantasticly told story, a story that reminds us about the good things about life and that life moves on and we need to move with it, otherwise we get stuck in our personal hell. The game is also about depression, anger, hate, sadness and suicide, so be warned.
The graphics and artstyles used makes the game gorgeus, the animations are fantastic and the music is so beautiful and sad at the same time. The level design is great and so is the gameplay. The negative thing is that the game could have used some more enemy varation, a bit odd pacing at times and the movement controls can be a bit annoying as sometimes it can be a bit difficulty to see where I could go.
Other than that, I absolutely loved the game (got the good ending and one of the neutral endings, I could get the bad ending too as I have a save file for it, but I don't want to after the good ending even though I most likely will get a cheevo for it) and heavily recommends it.
Score: 9/10.
Finished Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine / Microsoft, 2021)
Three days (thanks to a little detour to the Rhombus of Ruin) after departing from Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, Raz finally arrives at the headquarters of the Psychonauts. But things quickly go off the rails - the captured no-good Dr. Loboto isn't divulging any details of the plot he's involved in, the head of the Psychonauts has fallen ill, and his second-in-command is so stressed out, that Raz is quickly shuffled into an intern program and out of her way. So once again it's up to Raz to find a way to get himself back into the action and to the bottom of these latest mysteries ...
Pro:
I feel it has to be extra appreciated just how dedicated this game is to being a faithful sequel to the original Psychonauts. With such a long time between the games, most other developers would have taken a lot of liberties with styling and gameplay - just look at Valve if you need an example. Not Double Fine though, a studio that famously does not do sequels. But this one, the one that people really wanted, they made properly, by the book, no ifs and buts, no spiritual successor or re-imagination, no nonsense added on top, made to be played on a screen, purely single-player and offline. Huge props for that. It was worth the wait.
4.5/5
Three days (thanks to a little detour to the Rhombus of Ruin) after departing from Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp, Raz finally arrives at the headquarters of the Psychonauts. But things quickly go off the rails - the captured no-good Dr. Loboto isn't divulging any details of the plot he's involved in, the head of the Psychonauts has fallen ill, and his second-in-command is so stressed out, that Raz is quickly shuffled into an intern program and out of her way. So once again it's up to Raz to find a way to get himself back into the action and to the bottom of these latest mysteries ...
Pro:
- Flawless sequel to a 16-year old game. All of the art direction, production, writing, level design and mechanics have been put in service of transposing the experience of the original Psychonauts to the possibilities of today's hardware and game engines, as well as incorporating some quality-of-life improvements that have emerged during all this time, and it turned out perfect.
- Great voice-acting cast and performances.
- Neatly wraps up the story.
- Lots of content: Some 20+ hours of story campaign plus post-ending collectible challenges.
- There is not much competition left these days in the AAA 3D platformer market, very unlike the situation in 2005. Back then, Psychonauts was a real breath of fresh air in the genre. This sequel is not, Nintendo remains the only innovator in the AAA tier of running-and-jumping games for the time being. The platforming in Psychonauts 2 is a successful evolution of and improvement over the original Psychonauts, but nothing more.
I feel it has to be extra appreciated just how dedicated this game is to being a faithful sequel to the original Psychonauts. With such a long time between the games, most other developers would have taken a lot of liberties with styling and gameplay - just look at Valve if you need an example. Not Double Fine though, a studio that famously does not do sequels. But this one, the one that people really wanted, they made properly, by the book, no ifs and buts, no spiritual successor or re-imagination, no nonsense added on top, made to be played on a screen, purely single-player and offline. Huge props for that. It was worth the wait.
4.5/5
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Dropped Super Metroid
There are a number of things I like about Super Metroid. I like the weird, alien and solitary atmosphere which both the art style, level design, music and sound design contribute to. And the almost complete lack of a story also serves to drive that point home.
I like the powerups, some of which somehow feel original to me even in 2021.
The controls are kind of clunky. But I don't mind it. It contributes to feeling that you're not some super hero but a human stuck in a heavy piece of armor. They do mess you up in some of the harder platforming sections and I could certainly live without those sections.
And, to some extent I even like the sometimes obscure way to progress, like bombing every tile of the level to find the path forward. Driving home the point that this is a weird alien world which is not here to make things convenient for you. But this is definitely a double edged sword and also my main issue with this game. There are just too many occasions when I have no idea what to do or I'm stuck morph ball bombing every block hoping to find the way. If they want make hidden bonus secrets, that’s cool. But to block the primary path this way just wears me out and makes me call bullshit.
This improves as the game progresses and you get more abilities and learn how the game works. But since you also have many more areas available now, there's still going to be a lot of aimless searching around. A better map would be a huge help. What's there is functional I suppose but it’s very vague. Even doors are not shown on the map. And of course, there are no teleport rooms so that's not helping either.
I did resort to occasionally using a guide and even save states fairly quickly. I would have dropped the game much sooner without those. But even with those assists, I just feel worn out at this point and would rather go play something else.
I've actually started playing Super Metroid twice before. But neither time did I finish the game. So I don't think this is just a problem with me being old and jaded.
Should Super Metroid and its predecessors be praised for almost single handedly creating a genre? Obviously. Would I recommend the game in 2021? Only to someone who knows what they are getting into.
Rating: Average
There are a number of things I like about Super Metroid. I like the weird, alien and solitary atmosphere which both the art style, level design, music and sound design contribute to. And the almost complete lack of a story also serves to drive that point home.
I like the powerups, some of which somehow feel original to me even in 2021.
The controls are kind of clunky. But I don't mind it. It contributes to feeling that you're not some super hero but a human stuck in a heavy piece of armor. They do mess you up in some of the harder platforming sections and I could certainly live without those sections.
And, to some extent I even like the sometimes obscure way to progress, like bombing every tile of the level to find the path forward. Driving home the point that this is a weird alien world which is not here to make things convenient for you. But this is definitely a double edged sword and also my main issue with this game. There are just too many occasions when I have no idea what to do or I'm stuck morph ball bombing every block hoping to find the way. If they want make hidden bonus secrets, that’s cool. But to block the primary path this way just wears me out and makes me call bullshit.
This improves as the game progresses and you get more abilities and learn how the game works. But since you also have many more areas available now, there's still going to be a lot of aimless searching around. A better map would be a huge help. What's there is functional I suppose but it’s very vague. Even doors are not shown on the map. And of course, there are no teleport rooms so that's not helping either.
I did resort to occasionally using a guide and even save states fairly quickly. I would have dropped the game much sooner without those. But even with those assists, I just feel worn out at this point and would rather go play something else.
I've actually started playing Super Metroid twice before. But neither time did I finish the game. So I don't think this is just a problem with me being old and jaded.
Should Super Metroid and its predecessors be praised for almost single handedly creating a genre? Obviously. Would I recommend the game in 2021? Only to someone who knows what they are getting into.
Rating: Average
- Thread Starter
- #759
Retired Project Hospital
Project Hospital is a more realistic hospital simulator. While not as good as Two Point Hospital, I had plenty of fun with it. There are much more rooms to build, you can determine which examinations the patients get based on their symptoms, and managing your staff is a must.
The game is not without flaws tho; modifying or moving existing rooms is VERY frustrating, because there's no way to close a room, and objects in use by staff or patients can't be moved. Rooms also can't be easily shared between different departments, and once you're done building there isn't much left to do but watching the game running. This is the major reason why I've stopped playing after completing the 3 scenario campaigns and 2 out of 6 challenges. More unexpected challenges and variation in campaign objectives could have helped a lot here.
Score: 7.1/10
Project Hospital is a more realistic hospital simulator. While not as good as Two Point Hospital, I had plenty of fun with it. There are much more rooms to build, you can determine which examinations the patients get based on their symptoms, and managing your staff is a must.
The game is not without flaws tho; modifying or moving existing rooms is VERY frustrating, because there's no way to close a room, and objects in use by staff or patients can't be moved. Rooms also can't be easily shared between different departments, and once you're done building there isn't much left to do but watching the game running. This is the major reason why I've stopped playing after completing the 3 scenario campaigns and 2 out of 6 challenges. More unexpected challenges and variation in campaign objectives could have helped a lot here.
Score: 7.1/10
The big ol' spreadsheet
On the occasion of the 777th post indexed in the big ol' spreadsheet, here's a reminder that it exists and is ready for quickly looking up opinions of your fellow MetaCouncillors on games.
Click this direct link to get to the default filter view that lets you quickly re-sort the sheet.
And of course the embed:
Click this direct link to get to the default filter view that lets you quickly re-sort the sheet.
And of course the embed:
Ge0force Can we maybe get this linked in the OP? I do occasionally check it out but it's always hard to find.
- Thread Starter
- #763
I have added the link to the OP as well
LEGO® Batman™ 3: Beyond Gotham
It's a LEGO game, so there isn't really much to say about it.. If you've ever played one you know more or less how they play.
Compared to its predecessor it's a huge improvement (that said they released a few games in between). The open world areas don't have insane framerate jumps that make me a bit dizzy. That said it's not really comparable since this game doesn't have an open world per se but rather a bunch of hub areas.
The roster of this game is insane there're over 200 characters (including DLC characters), they even got Adam West to cameo as himself.
It's probably my favorite Lego game of the once I've played.
7.5/10
It's a LEGO game, so there isn't really much to say about it.. If you've ever played one you know more or less how they play.
Compared to its predecessor it's a huge improvement (that said they released a few games in between). The open world areas don't have insane framerate jumps that make me a bit dizzy. That said it's not really comparable since this game doesn't have an open world per se but rather a bunch of hub areas.
The roster of this game is insane there're over 200 characters (including DLC characters), they even got Adam West to cameo as himself.
It's probably my favorite Lego game of the once I've played.
7.5/10
So, a bunch of games I played and finished last month:
Resonance of Fate:
This is to me a very strange game. I absolutely loved its combat. It's the first sensible JRPG that does away with all the weird weapons, like swords and sticks or whatever, and just gives everyone guns. And instead of the normal turn-based affair, where you tell your characters what do do, and let them worry about how to move around, in RoF it's all about positioning and movement. While your character moves around, they can target various enemies. They need some time to aim before they can get a shot in, and the farther away you are from the target, the longer this takes. Thus you want to move towards your enemy. Of course, you also need to consider where you come to a stop, as you don't want to stop right next to a dangerous foe. That's one level of strategic thinking. The next level is how the path of your characters cross. Each such cross point gives you resonance points, which enable attacks where all your characters move at the same time, which can be quite devastating if used correctly.
There's a bunch of other stuff on top of this, but choosing how your characters move in combat is the main thing.
I absolutely fell in love with that combat system initially. I do think the game kinda wears out its welcome, since there's only so many times the same encounter can lead to different outcomes. But overall, the gameplay itself was great. What really confused and bored me was the story, and the characters. I have no idea who these people are, even after playing the game. Vasheron makes some lewd jokes, but he's clearly got some pretty complex history, but what precisely happened is left completely open, just until the ending of the game, and by then I just stopped caring long ago. The actual story cutscenes feel so out of place and random.
It really reminded me a lot of Star Ocean 4, which was also a Tri-Ace game. Just weird, and boring writing overall.
Overall the game is a mixed-bag to me. I wouldn't have minded a much shorter game, focused just on dungeon crawling. As it stands, the game just gets way to tedious near the end.
Yakuza 3
This one felt very weird coming in from Kiwami 2. First there's the PS3 level graphics and especially animations that just take a long while to get used. I think it's ultimately the pretty bad animations that bother me more. The character model of Kiryu in the Remaster isn't half-bad for what was originally a PS3 game.
The other big thing about this game is the pacing. It's incredibly sloooooooow. It takes ages for things to happen. Thing is, I didn't mind this initially. I am a Trails fan. I dig slow starts to a story. Issue is, at some fucking point, things should speed up. If hour 1 of your game has the same pacing as hour 40, then maybe you should think about editing down the plot and story to get to the point. This game honestly doesn't have a much more complex plot than Kiwami 1 did. But where that game had the decency to finish its main story in maybe 20 hours, this one took me nearly 40. Way too much padding. Aside from the padding, the actual events are pretty great. Even if I wonder how the Tojo clan continues to be in any way a functioning organisation, given how it seem to face the brink of annihilation like every 5 minutes.
My biggest let down in Yakuza 3 is the side content. The hostess minigame in this one is just abysmally boring, and most side quests are incredibly simple and hardly ever rewarding, the way they were in Yakuza 0. Honestly, this seems like a trend at this point. Even Kiwami 2 was a major step down from the consistently amazing substories you had in Yakuza 0. I really hope future games improve in this respect and at least reach the level in Kiwami 2.
So far my second Yakuza game that just felt ok, and not particularly great, after Kiwami 1. Wonder how Yakuza 4 will turn out.
Halo 3
The last of the original trilogy. Definitely a step up from Halo 2, which I also ended up liking actually. The campaign starts out very strong, but gets bogged down a bit in its second half. Fighting the Flood just never gets very interesting, and this game is probably the worst about this, maybe just a bit better than Halo 1 was. I liked the additions to the overall world building and the final level was good fun, a nice callback to the first game.
Overall a decent, if unremarkable game. Which honestly, is probably my overall verdict for the Franchise, after having played Reach ,CE, 2 and 3. of course, I am just speaking about the single player games, I'm sure the multiplayer aspect is more interesting. And arguably Halo 2 was essentially the first popular online FPS game.
Metroid : Samus Returns (replayed in preparation for Dread)
Still as good as I remember. The only issue I have with it, is that the overall plot of Metroid 2 (which Samus Returns is a remake of) is incredibly boring. You kill some Metroids, then you kill more Metroids, and more Metroids, yada, yada, yada.
The exploration is very well done, and the addition of the counter mechanic is great . This time I played it emulated on Citra, instead of a real 3DS, and god is it nice to finally have a decent thumbstick to play it with. Citra also allows to nicely map the touch controls to individual gamepad inputs, I mapped the 3 points on the touchscreen to three axis of the right thumbstick, which ended up working very nicely.
The final boss still feels very over the top. Took me a few trieds, and by then I had memorised almost the entire fight. Do not think this ends up making it more interesting, honestly. The appearance of mecha Ridley feels unnecessary, though it did make for a nice combat sequence.
Overall, I'd only recommend this to people who already like the series, though. Metroid Zero Mission, and Super Metroid make for far better introductions to the series.
Next I'll be playing Metroid Fusion, as Dread is a direct sequel to it.
Resonance of Fate:
This is to me a very strange game. I absolutely loved its combat. It's the first sensible JRPG that does away with all the weird weapons, like swords and sticks or whatever, and just gives everyone guns. And instead of the normal turn-based affair, where you tell your characters what do do, and let them worry about how to move around, in RoF it's all about positioning and movement. While your character moves around, they can target various enemies. They need some time to aim before they can get a shot in, and the farther away you are from the target, the longer this takes. Thus you want to move towards your enemy. Of course, you also need to consider where you come to a stop, as you don't want to stop right next to a dangerous foe. That's one level of strategic thinking. The next level is how the path of your characters cross. Each such cross point gives you resonance points, which enable attacks where all your characters move at the same time, which can be quite devastating if used correctly.
There's a bunch of other stuff on top of this, but choosing how your characters move in combat is the main thing.
I absolutely fell in love with that combat system initially. I do think the game kinda wears out its welcome, since there's only so many times the same encounter can lead to different outcomes. But overall, the gameplay itself was great. What really confused and bored me was the story, and the characters. I have no idea who these people are, even after playing the game. Vasheron makes some lewd jokes, but he's clearly got some pretty complex history, but what precisely happened is left completely open, just until the ending of the game, and by then I just stopped caring long ago. The actual story cutscenes feel so out of place and random.
It really reminded me a lot of Star Ocean 4, which was also a Tri-Ace game. Just weird, and boring writing overall.
Overall the game is a mixed-bag to me. I wouldn't have minded a much shorter game, focused just on dungeon crawling. As it stands, the game just gets way to tedious near the end.
Yakuza 3
This one felt very weird coming in from Kiwami 2. First there's the PS3 level graphics and especially animations that just take a long while to get used. I think it's ultimately the pretty bad animations that bother me more. The character model of Kiryu in the Remaster isn't half-bad for what was originally a PS3 game.
The other big thing about this game is the pacing. It's incredibly sloooooooow. It takes ages for things to happen. Thing is, I didn't mind this initially. I am a Trails fan. I dig slow starts to a story. Issue is, at some fucking point, things should speed up. If hour 1 of your game has the same pacing as hour 40, then maybe you should think about editing down the plot and story to get to the point. This game honestly doesn't have a much more complex plot than Kiwami 1 did. But where that game had the decency to finish its main story in maybe 20 hours, this one took me nearly 40. Way too much padding. Aside from the padding, the actual events are pretty great. Even if I wonder how the Tojo clan continues to be in any way a functioning organisation, given how it seem to face the brink of annihilation like every 5 minutes.
My biggest let down in Yakuza 3 is the side content. The hostess minigame in this one is just abysmally boring, and most side quests are incredibly simple and hardly ever rewarding, the way they were in Yakuza 0. Honestly, this seems like a trend at this point. Even Kiwami 2 was a major step down from the consistently amazing substories you had in Yakuza 0. I really hope future games improve in this respect and at least reach the level in Kiwami 2.
So far my second Yakuza game that just felt ok, and not particularly great, after Kiwami 1. Wonder how Yakuza 4 will turn out.
Halo 3
The last of the original trilogy. Definitely a step up from Halo 2, which I also ended up liking actually. The campaign starts out very strong, but gets bogged down a bit in its second half. Fighting the Flood just never gets very interesting, and this game is probably the worst about this, maybe just a bit better than Halo 1 was. I liked the additions to the overall world building and the final level was good fun, a nice callback to the first game.
Overall a decent, if unremarkable game. Which honestly, is probably my overall verdict for the Franchise, after having played Reach ,CE, 2 and 3. of course, I am just speaking about the single player games, I'm sure the multiplayer aspect is more interesting. And arguably Halo 2 was essentially the first popular online FPS game.
Metroid : Samus Returns (replayed in preparation for Dread)
Still as good as I remember. The only issue I have with it, is that the overall plot of Metroid 2 (which Samus Returns is a remake of) is incredibly boring. You kill some Metroids, then you kill more Metroids, and more Metroids, yada, yada, yada.
The exploration is very well done, and the addition of the counter mechanic is great . This time I played it emulated on Citra, instead of a real 3DS, and god is it nice to finally have a decent thumbstick to play it with. Citra also allows to nicely map the touch controls to individual gamepad inputs, I mapped the 3 points on the touchscreen to three axis of the right thumbstick, which ended up working very nicely.
The final boss still feels very over the top. Took me a few trieds, and by then I had memorised almost the entire fight. Do not think this ends up making it more interesting, honestly. The appearance of mecha Ridley feels unnecessary, though it did make for a nice combat sequence.
Overall, I'd only recommend this to people who already like the series, though. Metroid Zero Mission, and Super Metroid make for far better introductions to the series.
Next I'll be playing Metroid Fusion, as Dread is a direct sequel to it.
- Thread Starter
- #766
Finished Death's Gambit: Afterlife
I'm really into metroidvania's this year, and this is definitely one of the best games in the genre. The vanilla gamer was already great, but the free Afterlife update made it even better by adding a huge amount of new area's, weapons, secrets and upgrades. Very, very recommended!
Score: 9.0/10
I'm really into metroidvania's this year, and this is definitely one of the best games in the genre. The vanilla gamer was already great, but the free Afterlife update made it even better by adding a huge amount of new area's, weapons, secrets and upgrades. Very, very recommended!
Score: 9.0/10
Something about the way the camera moves in this game and the 30 fps makes my head hurts after playing it for a while on Citra. Too bad because I'm enjoying the game before this.
Finished:
Titanfall 2 single player campaign on hard. I like it, enjoyable set pieces and blockbuster style story a la Infinity Ward past CoDs. The fast movement, parkour and player combat is so satisfying. The giant mechs combat section is so so for me. Would love it if they made a sequel to this but I guess Apex Legends is too successful for it too happen at the moment. 9/10
Sunset Overdrive main campaign and both DLCs. I like this one a lot. Any game that makes traversal this fun in a small open world deserved credit. I think i only use fast travel once because the game literally force me to use it. Although I can't understand why they lock air dash until halfway through the game (I think). Literally the move that ties the whole movement and combo together. And I don't mind the edgy and cringey humor in this one, since it matches the world and wacky gameplay. Like Titanfall 2, I would like a sequel. Please Insomniac. 9/10
Resident Evil HD Remaster, Chris on very easy, Jill on normal. The prerendered graphics still holds up today, great atmosphere and the sound and music design is fantastic. The 2nd best RE for me behind RE2R. 9/10 (10/10 with the door skip mod)
Headlander. Double Fine's take on Metroidvania. It's okay I guess. The concept is unique but the gameplay falls short since the bodies you can attached your head into isn't really different at all, just soldiers of different color and npcs that can only walk. Storyline and the characters fails to grab me as well which is surprising when it's usually the bright spots in a Double Fine game. The 60's/70's sci-fi art style is great though. 7/10
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Finished Little Nightmares (Tarsier Studios / Bandai-Namco, 2017)
Pro:
Great little spooker of a game. Gonna revisit this for the DLC for sure, just waiting for a sale.
4/5
Pro:
- Maximum creepy atmosphere and intriguing world-building out of some pretty minimalist art direction and level design. Sound design and music does a lot of the heavy lifting here and it's great. The character design of the NPCs is amazing, really something else and quite terrifying.
- Good mix of stealth, escape-the-monster and platforming gameplay.
- The platforming is a bit too imprecise and too happy to let the player fall prey to typical 3D-platforming hazards such as misjudging distance and depth, even though this game is mostly side-scrolling. I want to say 80% of me failing was due to this, and only 20% due to not being stealthy enough.
- Somewhat short.
Great little spooker of a game. Gonna revisit this for the DLC for sure, just waiting for a sale.
4/5
Finished Lone Echo 2 (PCVR - Oculus Client)
I loved the first game, it is on my top 3 best VR games I've played alongside with Alyx (1) and Saints & Sinners (3), so I was quite excited for the sequel, especially I wanted to explore a more uncharted alien world and wanted to go even deeper in to the story.
I was...dissapointed. Lone Echo 2 feels like Lone Echo 1.5, like a long (took me around 9-10 hours) story expansion to the first game with just a few new gameplay mechanics, otherwise it feels just like the first game, which was dissapointing. There isn't any sort of "uncharted alien planet" or anything "alien mysteriousness" in this game, you basically follow the orders of 2 humans (Olivia from the first game and a new character) and soem A.I.s going around fixing stuff and trying to avoid dangerous alien mold.
I really wish there was more to the story and the game. The best part of the game is the relationship between Jack (my character, Im an adroid) and Olivia Rhodes (Jack's boss, basically) who continues to cooperate from the first game, some of the graphics and nice and the physics like throwing objects and stuff is fun. Otherwise, there wasn't more to the game. The game ends in sorta a cliffhanger, meaning there isn't much confirmation of anything other than Olivia and Jack being alive together, nothing of what else has happened (I assume their accomplished the mission).
So yeah, I wanted morre alien mysteriousness, more creepy and uncharted alien places, more variety in the gameplay, level design was exactly the same as the first game, more variety and changes in everything. The first game worked great, I loved it, but it's many years since the first game and I have played a lot of other VR games since, so Lone Echo 2 didn't feel any new or fresh, just more of the same which I found boring.
Scor: 7/10
I loved the first game, it is on my top 3 best VR games I've played alongside with Alyx (1) and Saints & Sinners (3), so I was quite excited for the sequel, especially I wanted to explore a more uncharted alien world and wanted to go even deeper in to the story.
I was...dissapointed. Lone Echo 2 feels like Lone Echo 1.5, like a long (took me around 9-10 hours) story expansion to the first game with just a few new gameplay mechanics, otherwise it feels just like the first game, which was dissapointing. There isn't any sort of "uncharted alien planet" or anything "alien mysteriousness" in this game, you basically follow the orders of 2 humans (Olivia from the first game and a new character) and soem A.I.s going around fixing stuff and trying to avoid dangerous alien mold.
I really wish there was more to the story and the game. The best part of the game is the relationship between Jack (my character, Im an adroid) and Olivia Rhodes (Jack's boss, basically) who continues to cooperate from the first game, some of the graphics and nice and the physics like throwing objects and stuff is fun. Otherwise, there wasn't more to the game. The game ends in sorta a cliffhanger, meaning there isn't much confirmation of anything other than Olivia and Jack being alive together, nothing of what else has happened (I assume their accomplished the mission).
So yeah, I wanted morre alien mysteriousness, more creepy and uncharted alien places, more variety in the gameplay, level design was exactly the same as the first game, more variety and changes in everything. The first game worked great, I loved it, but it's many years since the first game and I have played a lot of other VR games since, so Lone Echo 2 didn't feel any new or fresh, just more of the same which I found boring.
Scor: 7/10
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A Short Hike
A short (no pun intended) and wholesome game.
The gist of the game is you're on an island in the summer and you had to reach the top. You can't directly do it since you need a few upgrades (so you can actually climb) but not much.
Other than that you can explore the island and find some treasures, do some fetch quests and also fishing.
7/10
A short (no pun intended) and wholesome game.
The gist of the game is you're on an island in the summer and you had to reach the top. You can't directly do it since you need a few upgrades (so you can actually climb) but not much.
Other than that you can explore the island and find some treasures, do some fetch quests and also fishing.
7/10
played gleylancer(genesis stg) on switch. fantastic port for what it costs, and the addition of shot formation switching means i can never go back to the original. also has a crt shader that isn't half-assed:
big recommendation to genre fans and retro enthusiasts
big recommendation to genre fans and retro enthusiasts
Seems like it's only available on the Switch? Hope they port it to PC too.
Maybe I'll look into this once I'm done with Metroid Dread.
Finished Draugen (Red Thread Games, 2019)
A walking simulator about chasing ghosts, set in early 20th century rural Norway.
Pro:
Pretty good chillout game for the spooky season with a story and storytelling that is considerably better than most of the horror-ish walking simulator competition out there, but only recommendable with some serious discount from the suggested retail price.
3.5/5
A walking simulator about chasing ghosts, set in early 20th century rural Norway.
Pro:
- Pretty good presentation all in all, despite the Unreal Engine 4 powered virtual village being not particularly good looking, especially for a 2019 game. Music and character animation make up for it though.
- Good story that shuffles up well known horror / mystery tropes into something that at least I did not find entirely predictable, which is pretty rare for me with horror mysteries these days.
- No jump scares.
- Very short (< 4 hours).
Pretty good chillout game for the spooky season with a story and storytelling that is considerably better than most of the horror-ish walking simulator competition out there, but only recommendable with some serious discount from the suggested retail price.
3.5/5
AI: The Somnium Files
Can't write a review without major spoilers. Nothing is perfect, but it deserves the score. Just play it.
10/10
Can't write a review without major spoilers. Nothing is perfect, but it deserves the score. Just play it.
10/10
Finished DARQ: Complete Edition (Unfold Games, 2019)
A spooky puzzle platformer.
Pro:
I feel this game might be a lot better if it had two or three times the number of levels and a cutesy cartoon design rather than the spooky horror design. Still fun to play for the couple hours it lasts, but only recommendable at a massive discount (70%+). I got it at 60% off and still feel a little overcharged.
3/5
A spooky puzzle platformer.
Pro:
- Interesting art style - somewhat reminiscent of Tim Burton movies - and good sound effects.
- It tries hard to be a horror game - there's jump scares, monsters, every sound effect is purposefully louder than necessary - but ultimately fails. There was one single jump scare that got me, other than that the game doesn't even manage to create a tense atmosphere.
- The puzzling is super straightforward, there's almost no challenge here. Despite the fact that there's an inventory system and the developers pretty much using every puzzle concept under the sun at some point in the game (even a Tower of Hanoi shows up in one of the DLC levels). The only times where I got stuck and had to pause and look something up were when the game failed to explain a control feature to me (which happened twice).
- Too short. You can (and for some achievements are meant to) breeze through this game in 3-4 hours, including all DLC.
I feel this game might be a lot better if it had two or three times the number of levels and a cutesy cartoon design rather than the spooky horror design. Still fun to play for the couple hours it lasts, but only recommendable at a massive discount (70%+). I got it at 60% off and still feel a little overcharged.
3/5
The Long Dark - Episode Four
With the latest episode dropping recently i jumped back into The Long Dark. Its a really good survival game set in the snowy Canadian wilderness. The story mode sees you play as a pilot who agrees to fly someone but ends up crashing in a storm and then you must survive and progress through different areas with different goals to accomplish on your quest to find your passenger and unravel a mystery. So far its been good. Episode Four moves you to a new location and has a few new characters. Basic gameplay involves looting stuff like cars/houses to find equipment, crafting stuff like clothes and tools so that you can hunt/fish/scavenge. You have to manage temp/food/water/stamina and there is a decent weather system which can bring in a storm. The game also has challenge mode where you have to complete specific tasks and an endless survival mode. I really enjoy it, it has a beautiful art style and can be a very peaceful game walking around the snowy landscapes. Think ive put about 80hours into it so pretty good value for money.
8/10
With the latest episode dropping recently i jumped back into The Long Dark. Its a really good survival game set in the snowy Canadian wilderness. The story mode sees you play as a pilot who agrees to fly someone but ends up crashing in a storm and then you must survive and progress through different areas with different goals to accomplish on your quest to find your passenger and unravel a mystery. So far its been good. Episode Four moves you to a new location and has a few new characters. Basic gameplay involves looting stuff like cars/houses to find equipment, crafting stuff like clothes and tools so that you can hunt/fish/scavenge. You have to manage temp/food/water/stamina and there is a decent weather system which can bring in a storm. The game also has challenge mode where you have to complete specific tasks and an endless survival mode. I really enjoy it, it has a beautiful art style and can be a very peaceful game walking around the snowy landscapes. Think ive put about 80hours into it so pretty good value for money.
8/10
Just finished Metroid Dread (almost 16 hours). Outstanding game -- everything from art design to animations to controls made it a joy to play. The level design was perfect. The E.M.M.I. sections ended up being only a tiny percentage of the game, and although they broke up the pacing, it wasn't all a bad thing. I enjoyed them overall for what they were. I wouldn't want an entire game made up of that, however.
I'm selling my cart right away. This game was just too hard. There's a much higher focus on combat than exploration, which isn't really what I'm looking for these days. It almost seemed like a boss rush game at times. I rarely had a session where I didn't fight a boss or try something many times in order to progress. The minute by minute gameplay was so enjoyable, however, that I'm really glad I played the entire thing. But I'll probably never replay it.
I'm selling my cart right away. This game was just too hard. There's a much higher focus on combat than exploration, which isn't really what I'm looking for these days. It almost seemed like a boss rush game at times. I rarely had a session where I didn't fight a boss or try something many times in order to progress. The minute by minute gameplay was so enjoyable, however, that I'm really glad I played the entire thing. But I'll probably never replay it.
The Riftbraker (Steam version)
Huge surprise for this one. It’s has its fair amount of jank (voice acting, story, some interfaces issues and bugs) but in the end what matters is that it’s very fun.
The game is a mixture of base building, very light twin-stick shooter and tower defense. You go around exploring the maps, mining resources, building and upgrading, and sometimes there are waves that attack your base.
They can come from any direction from the border of the map and I think always go to the closest building, so after a while you learn to manage (and even “cheat”) a little. There are both random attacks and ones triggered by milestones like completing objectives or upgrading your headquarters.
The Campaign is more “relaxed” in terms of timing. In the beginning you probably struggle with the first attack waves but after a while you can go at your own pace, building, researching, upgrading and jumping between maps to manage your outposts.
Because of that it’s hard to estimate the length of the game. I think you can probably rush it to maybe… I don’t know, 15-20 hours? I took my time and finished it in about 30 hours.
Survival mode is a different beast. Here you have a timer (little more than an hour) and it’s way harder because you have to really rush. Can’t really comment much on it as I only played very little.
Summary:
Again, there is jank, and the game could use some quality of life improvements like managing pipes through your base, but overall, the blend of gamestyles works really well. And since I enjoy all of them I ended up having a very good time. It takes a while to learn to balance between trying to automate defenses and helping out with your mech (at least in the first half of the game) but that really is part of the fun.
Highly Recommended.
8.8/10
Technical notes (24-October-2021):
There were a couple of stutters and slowdowns when there was a lot on screen or when I dropped a bomb and destroyed a lot of vegetation, but in general the game ran very well for me.
I did start having some crashes after about 10 hours that were related to using Raytracing. Disabling it fixed them. There have been a couple of stability patches since launch, at least on the Steam version.
Huge surprise for this one. It’s has its fair amount of jank (voice acting, story, some interfaces issues and bugs) but in the end what matters is that it’s very fun.
The game is a mixture of base building, very light twin-stick shooter and tower defense. You go around exploring the maps, mining resources, building and upgrading, and sometimes there are waves that attack your base.
They can come from any direction from the border of the map and I think always go to the closest building, so after a while you learn to manage (and even “cheat”) a little. There are both random attacks and ones triggered by milestones like completing objectives or upgrading your headquarters.
The Campaign is more “relaxed” in terms of timing. In the beginning you probably struggle with the first attack waves but after a while you can go at your own pace, building, researching, upgrading and jumping between maps to manage your outposts.
Because of that it’s hard to estimate the length of the game. I think you can probably rush it to maybe… I don’t know, 15-20 hours? I took my time and finished it in about 30 hours.
Survival mode is a different beast. Here you have a timer (little more than an hour) and it’s way harder because you have to really rush. Can’t really comment much on it as I only played very little.
Summary:
Again, there is jank, and the game could use some quality of life improvements like managing pipes through your base, but overall, the blend of gamestyles works really well. And since I enjoy all of them I ended up having a very good time. It takes a while to learn to balance between trying to automate defenses and helping out with your mech (at least in the first half of the game) but that really is part of the fun.
Highly Recommended.
8.8/10
Technical notes (24-October-2021):
There were a couple of stutters and slowdowns when there was a lot on screen or when I dropped a bomb and destroyed a lot of vegetation, but in general the game ran very well for me.
I did start having some crashes after about 10 hours that were related to using Raytracing. Disabling it fixed them. There have been a couple of stability patches since launch, at least on the Steam version.
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- Thread Starter
- #779
I've finished The Riftbreaker as well
This is definitely my game of the year so far! It takes elements from lots of different genres, and combines them into a survival game you've never played before. Explore an alien planet filled with hostile environments and enemies, build and defense multiple bases, develop tons of new buildings and equipment using several huge tech trees, and blast your way throughout hordes of enemies in your mech suit.
Anyone complaining that modern games are uninspired, boring and/or repetitive should buy this game immediately. These devs truly deserve our support!
Score: 9.2/10
This is definitely my game of the year so far! It takes elements from lots of different genres, and combines them into a survival game you've never played before. Explore an alien planet filled with hostile environments and enemies, build and defense multiple bases, develop tons of new buildings and equipment using several huge tech trees, and blast your way throughout hordes of enemies in your mech suit.
Anyone complaining that modern games are uninspired, boring and/or repetitive should buy this game immediately. These devs truly deserve our support!
Score: 9.2/10
Yesterday I've finished this game
There's a very sad story behind: not one, not two but three failed tentatives to bring a sequel of these little, unknown gem. The game it's a space RTS Homeworld style but with a focus only on battleships. The things that really surprised me were the story, the narrative (a lot of very good briefings missions that reminds me the golden age of Space Sim and very good written dialogues). Of course there are some problems: the game it's literally a rogue-like: You failed a mission? Retry and retry again, until you find the key strategy. Also the stealth missions are useless and stupids because the game doesn't have a good movement system (you can't move manually your ships but need to choose some defaults nav point) and there are very boring. Another sad note it's that a lot of questions probably they'll never have an answer, but life it's pain and sufferance.
Anyway, this game has very gorgeous graphics and scenes, and I wonder where the hell they taken the money, Jesus look these:
8/10
There's a very sad story behind: not one, not two but three failed tentatives to bring a sequel of these little, unknown gem. The game it's a space RTS Homeworld style but with a focus only on battleships. The things that really surprised me were the story, the narrative (a lot of very good briefings missions that reminds me the golden age of Space Sim and very good written dialogues). Of course there are some problems: the game it's literally a rogue-like: You failed a mission? Retry and retry again, until you find the key strategy. Also the stealth missions are useless and stupids because the game doesn't have a good movement system (you can't move manually your ships but need to choose some defaults nav point) and there are very boring. Another sad note it's that a lot of questions probably they'll never have an answer, but life it's pain and sufferance.
Anyway, this game has very gorgeous graphics and scenes, and I wonder where the hell they taken the money, Jesus look these:
8/10
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That's badI couldn't access the link
But you can find a lot of astonishing photos on Internet about this game.- Thread Starter
- #783
Finished Ring of Pain
Very unique card battle game, where winning is determined by insight and strategy instead of complex deck building. Each turn can be an attack or a stealth sneakby, so it's up to you to decide if a certain risk is worth it to get more souls or better equipment. Definitely one of the best games in the genre; very, very recommened!
Score: 9.0/10
Very unique card battle game, where winning is determined by insight and strategy instead of complex deck building. Each turn can be an attack or a stealth sneakby, so it's up to you to decide if a certain risk is worth it to get more souls or better equipment. Definitely one of the best games in the genre; very, very recommened!
Score: 9.0/10
I'm not sure what to say about this game. There's a reason everyone is saying to not read about it on the internet, and that is correct, so I won't write anything detailed here. Just if you like card games and you're up for an interesting and unexpected time, play this one. 10/10.
So just a heads up before I talk about this: If you have arachnophobia, you should probably never play Northern Journey. This game has like, 20 different variations on spider enemies, and some of them are freaky as hell. Now, time for too many words about a game almost nobody will play.
Wrapped this up last night. It's a good game, but it falls off in the back half. Early on, the gameplay switches back and forth between slow-paced exploration and more linear, action-driven levels. The rhythm created as you switch back and forth between the two modes results in some great pacing. The exploration-focused levels are peppered with enough enemies to keep you on your toes, but they're never too overwhelming, letting you focus on trying to figure out where to go next. Even in these areas, the combat is pretty interesting.
You're working with a bunch of old ye olde weaponry: a sling, a bow, some crossbows, throwing hatchets, etc., and the way they're balanced is interesting. The sling is your infinite-ammo starter weapon, but instead of being a garbage, low-damage thing you abandon immediately, the sling balances for its infinite ammo by being clunky. You have to load a stone, wait for it to swing around (and you want at least 2 rotations, or you only get half damage), and then when you finally click to fire, it won't launch until the stone swings around to its release point. Then the projectile you fire has travel time and drop-off to account for as well. The result is a weapon that requires a lot of focus and attention to use well, but the upside is that you can use it reliably for probably the first 2/3rds of the game, as long as you can get the hang of it. The higher tier weapons usually aren't that much more damaging, but are more convenient to use in a pinch, with faster travel times, less drop-off, less reload time, etc. It's an interesting arsenal that really emphasizes your ability to lead targets and account for aggressive drop-off arcs.
The game has a lot of bespoke assets, especially when you consider it's the efforts of a solo dev. You've got a creepy monster in a lake that magically draws you closer to it. A gorgeous ravine full of plant life and ziplines to let you ride across and see the landscape from up high. A troll that summons weird troll body parts, a kraken in an underground lake that you distract by tossing chunks of meat into the water, a horde of creepy, pale, cave spiders, and a fight with a massive troll, all in the same level. It's a wild ride, and for me, it peaks in the Sourwood.
With how much video games love to include spiders as enemies, I thought I was over being afraid of them. But Northern Journey casually renewed my fear. Some of the game's spiders are silly, but the ones in the Sourwood got to me in a way spiders haven't in a long time. First are the red, tick-like spiders. Some are in egg sacks along the ground waiting for you to get close, while others are hiding in the tops of trees. At the start, that's fine, you can see and pick them off from a distance. But as you go deeper in, the trees get closer together, you can no longer see the canopy clearly, and suddenly you're at risk of these little bastards silently dropping down behind you, sneaking up, and leaping on you, complete with a gross animation where they latch onto you for a bite. Later, you encounter full on swarms of spiders that look kind of like daddy-long-legs. But cleverly, the dev places them in these narrow corridors where the wind is constantly blowing the plants. The foliage shifting in the wind looks remarkably similar to the bobbing movements the daddy-long-legs make as they approach, and the result is a lot of moments where I couldn't tell if I was looking at grass or another spider. Creepy as hell.
Unfortunately, I think the game gets a lot weaker past the Sourwood. The exploration-focused levels are done, and the action-focused levels just don't have enough room to breathe anymore. There's a sequence with a decently fun crawl up a mountain that abruptly turns into a goofy fight with shadowy spider-troll hybrids that summon more spiders, immediately followed by a kind of dull fight with giant spiders, immediately followed by running around in a valley shooting dudes manning little catapults. Most of these sequences would have been fine, but they're just too compressed, and so even the good levels towards the endgame feel a bit disappointing. There's just not enough downtime between them.
Overall, I had a good time with it. The first half is fantastic and full of cool levels with memorable encounters and some interesting and fun combat to tie it all together. The second half is full of cool levels with memorable encounters that are just poorly paced and didn't resonate with me as a result. My big takeaways here are:
A. I'm looking forward to another game from this dev. If they can improve on this formula, they could make a real classic.
B. Spiders are fukken creepy
Just finished Unmetal...
Its alright! Quite fun. Its a sort of parody game to the first couple of Metal Gear games. Some old skool type graphics/mechanics. You are Jesse Fox, captured for a crime you didnt commit and you have to escape a military base. Overhead view gameplay with a few gadgets and weapons. Has a decent story with some humour that had me chuckling a few times. It dragged a bit at times and i did a lot of backtracking when i couldn't figure out what to do next. Clocked just under 10 hours but i reckon 2ish of those were when i was stuck. Maybe it was me being a bit dumb. Overall though i liked it and its worth a play. I like the way the story was told.
7/10
Its alright! Quite fun. Its a sort of parody game to the first couple of Metal Gear games. Some old skool type graphics/mechanics. You are Jesse Fox, captured for a crime you didnt commit and you have to escape a military base. Overhead view gameplay with a few gadgets and weapons. Has a decent story with some humour that had me chuckling a few times. It dragged a bit at times and i did a lot of backtracking when i couldn't figure out what to do next. Clocked just under 10 hours but i reckon 2ish of those were when i was stuck. Maybe it was me being a bit dumb. Overall though i liked it and its worth a play. I like the way the story was told.
7/10
UnMetal is basically one giant buildup to the gag at the end. As a Metal Gear fan, I really enjoyed it.
- Thread Starter
- #788
Finished Kathy Rain: Director's Cut
Excellent point & click adventure, with charming characters, a great story and beautiful pixel art. Most of the puzzles are clever and intuitive, only once I had to use a guide to continue. Very recommended for all adventure fans, you'll get a 50% discount if you own the original game (which has been given away for free last year).
Score: 8.9/10
Excellent point & click adventure, with charming characters, a great story and beautiful pixel art. Most of the puzzles are clever and intuitive, only once I had to use a guide to continue. Very recommended for all adventure fans, you'll get a 50% discount if you own the original game (which has been given away for free last year).
Score: 8.9/10
Wow, this is out? I wanted to play the original which I have in my library, but I decided to wait until this released for the enhancements.
Ok I haven't posted impressions in quite a while so I'm just going to rapid fire this I'm afraid
Psychonauts 1 = 8/10
Psychonauts 2 = 8/10
Life is Strange: True Colors = 9/10
To The Moon = 9/10
A Bird Story = 5/10
Finding Paradise = 8/10
Impostor Factory = 7/10
Deltarune Chapter 1 = 8/10
Deltarune Chapter 2 = 7/10
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes = 7/10
Going to play Metroid Dread next, and at some point I need to finish Chaos Child!
Psychonauts 1 = 8/10
Psychonauts 2 = 8/10
Life is Strange: True Colors = 9/10
To The Moon = 9/10
A Bird Story = 5/10
Finding Paradise = 8/10
Impostor Factory = 7/10
Deltarune Chapter 1 = 8/10
Deltarune Chapter 2 = 7/10
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes = 7/10
Going to play Metroid Dread next, and at some point I need to finish Chaos Child!
- Thread Starter
- #791
Yeah it was released last week. I haven't played the original, but the DC seems to be a decent update with widescreen support, extra dialogues, new locations and new puzzles. It took me about 10 hours to complete.
Finished Metroid: Dread (Nintendo Switch)
A very good game, had a lot of fun with it. Took me nearly 10 hours to finish (didn't really bother using much of my time to collect stuff). Interesting story, nice graphics, design and music. Gameplay was good, but felt a bit "outdated" to me at times, like I have played this a lot before. Still, thanks to all the upgrades to Samus during the game, the gameplay was still fun. Much better game than Samus Returns, which I did not like.
Took me far too long to beat it though, basically the only game I have been playing for the last 2 weeks or so and it is not that long (took me 10 hours). Back to PC gaming again.
Score: 8/10
A very good game, had a lot of fun with it. Took me nearly 10 hours to finish (didn't really bother using much of my time to collect stuff). Interesting story, nice graphics, design and music. Gameplay was good, but felt a bit "outdated" to me at times, like I have played this a lot before. Still, thanks to all the upgrades to Samus during the game, the gameplay was still fun. Much better game than Samus Returns, which I did not like.
Took me far too long to beat it though, basically the only game I have been playing for the last 2 weeks or so and it is not that long (took me 10 hours). Back to PC gaming again.
Score: 8/10
Finished Grim Fandango Remastered (Double Fine / Lucasfilm Ltd., 2015)
Something's rotten in the land of the dead, and you're being played for a sucker. Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four-year journey to eternal rest. But there's trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation.
Pro:
Since the Day of the Dead is approaching, I played this in one sitting today and I had a great time doing it. Having beaten this some four or five times before (even though the last time I did was more than ten years ago), the solutions for even the most absurd of the puzzles came to me pretty easily, so it was just a matter of enjoying the ride. True video game comfort food, and not one that rots your brain either.
I'd still recommend it to players who have never played it before - at 25% discount or better, and with a guide or a hint database like the one at UHS-Hints ready to go.
4/5
Something's rotten in the land of the dead, and you're being played for a sucker. Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four-year journey to eternal rest. But there's trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation.
Pro:
- Art direction and setting still hold up. You just don't get to see a mix of film noir and mexican folklore like that too often. Or really, ever, outside of this game.
- The original soundtrack was in a different universe compared to anything else on the market in 1998 and was rerecorded from scratch for this remaster. It's still the standout bit of this game, although it no longer stands head and shoulders above the rest of the game soundtrack landscape. Shows how far games have come.
- The voice acting performances are great, the audio quality however is 'only' the maximum you can get from remastering the original recordings from the late 90s.
- Tim Schafer really could have used an editor when it came to some of the the puzzle designs, and to be fair, he admits as much on the developer's commentary. Anybody playing this blind should either have a hinted guide ready or be prepared to spend weeks on this game. Not so much because the puzzles are all absurdly hard or obtuse, but mostly because the game is very happy to overload the player with tons of NPC dialogue, items and locations. Thus every time the player takes a break from the game and forgets a little detail here and there, it just makes it harder to get back into it, since the game does not contain any hinting outside of NPC dialogue at all, and also lacks any other modern quality of life comforts such as fast-travel. The one comfort feature that the remaster adds is an unstructured dialogue log.
- The game's graphics remain in 4:3 aspect ratio and they are the original graphics, just upscaled. You do not get a completely new look like you get with the Monkey Island Special Editions. You do however get some nice mayan-art-deco borders, which even change from scene to scene to better blend with the rest of the image instead of black bars. Optionally you can have black bars instead, too. You can even choose to play the game in the wrong aspect ratio and squeeze the image to fill a 16:9 screen.
Since the Day of the Dead is approaching, I played this in one sitting today and I had a great time doing it. Having beaten this some four or five times before (even though the last time I did was more than ten years ago), the solutions for even the most absurd of the puzzles came to me pretty easily, so it was just a matter of enjoying the ride. True video game comfort food, and not one that rots your brain either.
I'd still recommend it to players who have never played it before - at 25% discount or better, and with a guide or a hint database like the one at UHS-Hints ready to go.
4/5
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Played through Golf Club Wasteland
Nice little simplistic golf game set on a post apocalypse earth. Basic mechanics, just set the power and angle of your shot. I enjoyed it, there is a bit of a story. Looks pretty nice.
6.5/10
Nice little simplistic golf game set on a post apocalypse earth. Basic mechanics, just set the power and angle of your shot. I enjoyed it, there is a bit of a story. Looks pretty nice.
6.5/10
- Thread Starter
- #795
Retired Darkwood
Darkwood looks like an interesting horror survival game, but I didn't enjoy playing it after several tries. The user interface is terrible, and the pixel art is very low res, making it really hard to see what an object actually is. I also didn't like the melee combat, because it's very hard to determine where your attack will hit. Meh.
No score
Darkwood looks like an interesting horror survival game, but I didn't enjoy playing it after several tries. The user interface is terrible, and the pixel art is very low res, making it really hard to see what an object actually is. I also didn't like the melee combat, because it's very hard to determine where your attack will hit. Meh.
No score
Finished
Coming from the makers of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA it did dissapoint me a bit. Story wasn't really interesting, the puzzles were mediocre and it wasn't anywhere near as frightening as the other games I named. Felt like a walking simulator where you were mainly trying to avoid some monsters and finding out how to open certain doors. It's a decent game, but could have been much better.
Score: 6.5/10
Coming from the makers of Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA it did dissapoint me a bit. Story wasn't really interesting, the puzzles were mediocre and it wasn't anywhere near as frightening as the other games I named. Felt like a walking simulator where you were mainly trying to avoid some monsters and finding out how to open certain doors. It's a decent game, but could have been much better.
Score: 6.5/10
Finished Uncharted - The Lost Legacy (Naughty Dog / Sony, 2017)
Nathan Drake's treasure-hunting days may be over, but some people can't retire yet - such as Chloe Frazer, who previously appeared in Uncharted 2 and 3, and Nadine Ross, one half of the antagonist duo from Uncharted 4. Nadine Ross has left her career as a mercenary head-honcho behind (not entirely voluntary) and joined up with Chloe in India on the hunt for the Tusk of Ganesh. But, of course, they are not the only ones out for it...
Pro:
5/5
Nathan Drake's treasure-hunting days may be over, but some people can't retire yet - such as Chloe Frazer, who previously appeared in Uncharted 2 and 3, and Nadine Ross, one half of the antagonist duo from Uncharted 4. Nadine Ross has left her career as a mercenary head-honcho behind (not entirely voluntary) and joined up with Chloe in India on the hunt for the Tusk of Ganesh. But, of course, they are not the only ones out for it...
Pro:
- It's more Uncharted 4, minus Nathan Drake and half as long.
- It's more Uncharted 4, minus Nathan Drake and half as long. It used to be half the price, too, but these days it's the same price as Uncharted 4 - weird. But it goes on sale pretty regularly, just like Uncharted 4 itself.
5/5
I am pretty bad about popping in to cover when I finished/retired a game, but I absolutely had to say something here as I just finished Guardians of the Galaxy and I have to say...
How? Seriously how did this game go from being a skip to being my favorite (non-indie) game of the year? I still remember seeing the trailer and had it penned down as a skip. I am not sure what made me reconsider outside of a few last minute gameplay streams that did not feature the combat.
Speaking of the combat, its the game's worst feature. It is not the worst combat I have experienced in a game by any means. In fact, I think it is serviceable, though if I was just reviewing the game off the combat, it would be a skip. It feels like a beat 'em up with special moves and an added huddle mechanic. The huddle mechanic was okay, but did not push the combat to the next level. As the game progresses I think the combat becomes better until it gets to the end where it outlives its fun again.
Beyond the combat, the story, graphics, design, characters, dialogue, music, and sound were absolutely phenomenal. Full disclosure, I am not big into superhero themes, and I largely ignore Marvel properties, but I sometimes make an exception for Guardians. This game was better than anything else I have read/watched Guardians related. Seriously, I liked this version of Guardians way better than the MCU ones. Everything just felt so authentic without becoming a parody of itself. So many subtle touches all throughout the game that feels like the game acknowledges the source with the decisions you make.
I could gush for many more paragraphs, but I will say do not be too quick to write it off.
Easily a 9.5 out of 10, but maybe even higher, the combat just holds it back.
How? Seriously how did this game go from being a skip to being my favorite (non-indie) game of the year? I still remember seeing the trailer and had it penned down as a skip. I am not sure what made me reconsider outside of a few last minute gameplay streams that did not feature the combat.
Speaking of the combat, its the game's worst feature. It is not the worst combat I have experienced in a game by any means. In fact, I think it is serviceable, though if I was just reviewing the game off the combat, it would be a skip. It feels like a beat 'em up with special moves and an added huddle mechanic. The huddle mechanic was okay, but did not push the combat to the next level. As the game progresses I think the combat becomes better until it gets to the end where it outlives its fun again.
Beyond the combat, the story, graphics, design, characters, dialogue, music, and sound were absolutely phenomenal. Full disclosure, I am not big into superhero themes, and I largely ignore Marvel properties, but I sometimes make an exception for Guardians. This game was better than anything else I have read/watched Guardians related. Seriously, I liked this version of Guardians way better than the MCU ones. Everything just felt so authentic without becoming a parody of itself. So many subtle touches all throughout the game that feels like the game acknowledges the source with the decisions you make.
I could gush for many more paragraphs, but I will say do not be too quick to write it off.
Easily a 9.5 out of 10, but maybe even higher, the combat just holds it back.
I had the feeling this would be the case after seeing some cutscenes they published before release. I like this cast a lot.
I bought it yesterday but didn't get to play it yet. Can't wait.
Of course, regardless of how much I will end up loving it, it is still a fucking Marvel and I still want Eidos to go back to Deus Ex and prioritize that as the next project
So uh... finished on gamepass
10/10
Less you know about it, the better. Just play it. This is my first 10/10 since 2018.
10/10
Less you know about it, the better. Just play it. This is my first 10/10 since 2018.