|OT| X games/year or Let's document our MetaGaming addiction (where X is a positive integer)

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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14:55 to beat Bloodstained? Okay. I'm about 97% sure I'm going to buy this soon.
If you're a completionist there's plenty more that could be done, too. The game has a great in-game collection screen that tracks all items, gear, enemies, etc. And I believe there's achievements related to finding everything if you really want to go that route.
 

bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
1,665
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I had a real good time with Crackdown 3 earlier this year. I went through it on the hardest difficulty and I think that actually helped me enjoy it even more since getting more powerful felt necessary and often really influenced how I could make it through areas. It helped that death wasn't that punishing. I did end up completely cheesing the last boss after a couple attempts, though, by finding an area high above the arena to stand that nothing could hit me and I could take shots at the boss as it flew past. I ended up getting 100% of all the side stuff excluding orbs and vehicle stuff.
I just played on normal and it became pretty ludicrously easy by the end. I finished with 3 explosive weapons, the homing RPG, the explosive poisonous gauss rifle and the multi rocket thingy. I did all the side content apart from the orbs and the highest level of races, couldn't be bothered grinding to the last level.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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I just played on normal and it became pretty ludicrously easy by the end. I finished with 3 explosive weapons, the homing RPG, the explosive poisonous gauss rifle and the multi rocket thingy. I did all the side content apart from the orbs and the highest level of races, couldn't be bothered grinding to the last level.
On the hardest difficulty even with being relatively well leveled up it was rough. The mech boss took like ten attempts until I found a way to get through it and even then it was risky as I constantly had to hide to let my health recharge. It does get to be a bit damage spongey as bosses took a ton of damage, but I still had fun because it meant I had to figure out how to survive longer. I'm guessing you won't be replaying it but if you do I'd try the harder difficulty. And since your character and its levels would carryover you'd at least not have the frustrating first couple hours I had where you feel extremely weak.
 
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Spamlynguist

I can never decide on an avatar
Dec 31, 2018
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25
Managed to hit my goal of 52 games with Tacoma and missed messages., now to sink my teeth into some bigger games! Maybe I'll finally make a sizable dent into Assassin's Creed: Odyssey? :thinking-face:
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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56. Gato Robato - 06/22/19
100% in 2:36. It's totally fine and competent but it feels quite simple and lacks anything that makes it all that interesting. It's still fun and made well enough but for a bite-sized Metroidvania I think Super Skelemania is a better choice. I did enjoy all the different palette options and there were two or so things to collect that took actual thought/skill and wasn't just a matter of going back through an area again and blowing open a wall to go through.
 
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Flips

Overwhelmingly Positive
May 12, 2019
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#25: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (XGP) | 8.7h | 25 June | ★★★


First game I played with Xbox Game Pass PC and also the worst of the new Wolfenstein games so far. The whole first part was utterly boring and the fact that you weren't able to walk and only had half of your life made it even more annoying. The gunplay was fun but the level design was weak for most of the game. Can't remember any highlight. The story itself was alright, I guess. I didn't care much about any of the characters and sometimes the game was just a bit too melancholic for my taste. Especially when B.J. started with his monologs. Also, the pacing felt a bit off towards the end.
 

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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#25: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (XGP) | 8.7h | 25 June | ★★★


First game I played with Xbox Game Pass PC and also the worst of the new Wolfenstein games so far. The whole first part was utterly boring and the fact that you weren't able to walk and only had half of your life made it even more annoying. The gunplay was fun but the level design was weak for most of the game. Can't remember any highlight. The story itself was alright, I guess. I didn't care much about any of the characters and sometimes the game was just a bit too melancholic for my taste. Especially when B.J. started with his monologs. Also, the pacing felt a bit off towards the end.
I think all of you are insane. It's a great time and I think I even liked it more than the first game. I definitely felt a greater push to keep going to see what was next.
 
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Milena

Lost in VR
Jan 4, 2019
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I liked Wolfenstein 2, admittely I didn't love it as much as The New Order or The Old Blood. The story was fine, the characters were great, but something about the gameplay didn't completely click :blobnerd:

I haven't played the DLCs yet, because the idea of having to play them with just one power at a time is... ugh.

I'm still looking forward to Youngblood, though.
 

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,096
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57. Horizon Zero Dawn - The Frozen Wilds - 06/28/19
Took around 14 hours with me completing most everything the expansion offers and exploring the map thoroughly. All collectibles picked up and if I spent another couple hours on it I could clean up the last errands I have left. Horizon has continually been the game I point out as possibly my favorite of this generation and after getting back into the groove after an hour this expansion didn't change my mind. I just really enjoy the combat, it still looks quite great, and the setting and story are fantastic. I look forward to an eventual sequel because I'd love to see what they could do with building on top of what they created.

June was my PS4 focused month so there's still a little time for me to dig into some other games but with the Steam sale I bought 50+ titles and redeemed around 20 other codes I had sitting around so I'm flush with PC titles to get to. I do have a handful of short experiences I'll knock out soon so I'll line those up probably this coming weekend.
 

Milena

Lost in VR
Jan 4, 2019
532
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10. Hidden Saga: Xamadeon Stone: I wanted a similar game to Hidden Folks and well, this is exactly that, but not as good. The art is meh, the game is in early access and unfinished at the moment and the environment is not as interactive as the one in Hidden Folks. But it did scratch my itch for that genre, so it was fine. It took 1,5 hours to finish the current story levels.
 

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,096
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58. Plug & Play - 06/28/19
A whole eight minutes to complete. Glad I got it in a bundle instead of impulse purchased like I nearly did many times. It's less a game and more an interactive toy (think Windosill) with art that reminds me of George Plympton mixed with Don Hertzfeldt. There's likely a deeper meaning of happiness, light and dark, and sexuality, but it was mostly just amusing seeing the silly art and how things interact. Worth checking out if you don't mind paying for a small experience that feels like it's something you'd see on an iPad at an art museum.

59. KIDS - 06/28/19
This lasted nineteen minutes. From the same creators of Plug & Play. The animation of the art was better and with it being more than double the length it provides plenty to do, but I didn't really grasp as much of what the symbolism was aiming for. Conformance and group herding? It's more repetitive than Plug & Play and despite the better animation of the people the actual visuals weren't nearly as interesting. If the shorter experience for the same price doesn't bother you I'd suggest picking Plug & Play between the two if you only played one.

I thought both of these were meant to be around thirty minute experiences, which still would have been short for marking as completions, but this was really something else as the total was less than what I expected from one of them.

But one goal I had for this weekend was to knock out a few of the shorter games I got during the Steam sale so I guess mission complete here.
 
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Panda Pedinte

Best Sig Maker on the board!
Sep 20, 2018
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Pikuniku
Started: 02/10/2019
Finished: 05/05/2019
Total Playtime: 4h


Yakuza Kiwami 2
Started: 05/10/2019
Finished: 06/01/2019
Total Playtime: 35h

Another great Yakuza game. The Dragon Engine made Kamurocho and Sotembori feel more alive than ever.



Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Started: 06/18/2019
Finished: 06/29/2019
Total Palytime: 29h

It's a new Igavania! If you enjoyed SotN and the Nintendo DS Castlevania games you're most likely to enjoy Ritual of the Night. It feels like a proper spiritual sequel from these games!
 

Kuro

"Oh yeah? Aren't you gonna punish me?"
Dec 22, 2018
597
806
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5. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - 9½/10

Finally a worthy successor to SOTN. Koji Igarashi breaks the curse of JPN Kickstarter games and delivers on every possible front with this Action-packed Exploration RPG. Iga is back!
Beat Bloodstained, 100% map and enemy completion, still missing items but might go back later to do that once multiplayer comes.
Masterpiece in its genre.
 

bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
1,665
4,288
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Game #38 Done - Epic Car Factory - Like it's namesake, promises much, delivers very little. Barely a game, almost a clicker. Make car, hire people, improve workers, research parts, tune parts, enter races and awards, rinse repeat forever. The whole game could probably be automated by one of the dunking birds from The Simpsons.
 
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bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
1,665
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Game #39 Done - Jettomero - Help a misunderstood robot save humanity from itself in this gorgeous cell-shaded adventure. Mixes 3D space travel, stomping across planets, giant robot fights and solving shifting cyphers.
 
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Kuro

"Oh yeah? Aren't you gonna punish me?"
Dec 22, 2018
597
806
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6. Detroit: Become Human - 7½/10

Interactive movie video game by David Cage. The game has some brilliant moments, but is dragged down by 2 of main characters. If this game was all about future Robocop AKA Connor, the score would be lot higher.
Finally finished Detroit: Become Human and it was definitely worth the time. It's weird since there are moments the game doesn't know what it wants to be, but if you were to play it for some futuristic detective drama then it's perfect game for that, Connor is awesome character no matter which route you take.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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60. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn - 7th Umbral Era - 07/10/19

Finished the original portion of the story with a level 50 bard in 59:20. Mostly plowed through from around level 20 onwards to focusing on story quests while also finishing the hunter log and all the bard quests. Oh, and ran every dungeon at least once. There's something about the game that makes me want to keep playing but I can acknowledge that it's not the best MMORPG or anything. Combat is kind of slow but it does improve towards the end (and should keep getting more interesting). The quest design is real rough, too. But the story and characters are good stuff. And I want to see more. I'm hoping to see improvements as I get into the expansions but don't really know if there will be many (though I've heard it does get much better).

Now that I'm into it I kind of want to just jump in and keep going through more. With Shadowbringers there's 659 main scenario quests and this comprised the first 188 quests. There's a lot more to do. And at the same time I'm tempted to start screwing around with more like crafting, gathering, and leveling alternate jobs. I'll probably start going between this and other stuff to make progress across other games, too.
 
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bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
1,665
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Game #40 done - BOOR - Beautiful platformer where you make copies of yourself to solve puzzles and fool BOOR, the oppressive AI hunting you. Clever puzzles, challenging bosses and platforming make this a must play.

Game #41 done - Book of Demons - I think I've played enough of this now. Great little rouge-like deck building ARPG. Beautiful art style but I think I've gone deep enough at this point. Be interesting to see what they come up with next seeing as they seem to have another 6 games planned.
 
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Milena

Lost in VR
Jan 4, 2019
532
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11. Hero of the Kingdom III: it was very relaxing with a bit too much grinding for my taste. Overall I preferred the first 2 games. All three are super relaxing, though, which was exactly what I needed these past couple of days.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,096
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11. Hero of the Kingdom III: it was very relaxing with a bit too much grinding for my taste. Overall I preferred the first 2 games. All three are super relaxing, though, which was exactly what I needed these past couple of days.
If you're in the mood for another casual, relaxing game check out the Heart's Medicine games. I haven't gotten deep into it but it sure is satisfying when I want something simple but keeps me engaged:

 
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Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,120
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Huh. As always I was silently updating my list and it turns out that the Zero Escape Trilogy were my games 50-52. Neat.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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61. Dishonored - 07/13/19
Finished on Hard in 15:42 without killing anyone and getting spotted only once in the first mission before I realized there was an achievement for it. Even though I couldn't get the achievement I played to not get caught and not kill anyone through the rest. For some reason I didn't get the achievement for not killing anyone but I checked each level's stats and all have it checked showing I didn't kill anyone. Well, fuck. Anyhow, fantastic game and especially for the time it came out this was a real standout. It's still fun to play now! I did feel a little limited not killing since that removes half the abilities and most the weapons but that seems like it would have been way too easy. Also, the voice cast has Susan Sarandon, Carrie Fisher, Chloe Grace Moretz, Brad Dourif, and more? How did that happen?

62a. Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall - 07/14/19
Good DLC! Finished in 5:54 on the hardest difficulty. I complained a bit last night that the AI was a little buggy and that continued for the most part. But a fine follow up to the main game and it seems the The Brigmore Witches continues this story so curious to see where it goes. I got through collecting everything, not getting spotted, and somehow having one kill. I have no idea where it happened but I'm assuming somehow someone I knocked out must have ragdolled over the edge high up when I didn't notice and died from the fall. That's annoying! Anyhow, solid stuff all around and the three levels were nicely sprawling and allowed plenty of freedom in execution.

62b. Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches - 07/15/19
On the hardest difficulty, not spotted, no kills in 6:06. Combining this with The Knife of Dunwall as it's really just part one and part two as the save continues and it finished the story. With a fairly comparable length to the main game I'd say the main game was an overall better experience but if this had released without the main game to compare it to it would still be regarded fairly well. I really enjoyed how this tied together to the events of the original game, too. Great DLC and now I'm ready to see how things change in Dishonored 2.

63. Dishonored 2 - 07/20/19
Completed on hard difficulty with no kills and no detection in 27:40. That also includes collecting everything (except all coins). Played through as Emily and mostly entirely relied on the blink move and domino. I would have used some of the other stuff more, like mesmerize, except it used more mana than I wanted. Fantastic game. It never really felt like it dragged and I genuinely had a great time going around collecting everything. For me it's a 10/10 game.

64. Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - 07/24/19
Completed in 10:23 on hard with no detections but killing just about everyone that's an enemy. I made it a point to try not to kill any NPCs (though a couple got caught in explosions). And with that I'm done with all the Dishonored games. Fantastic series! A shame I don't believe Dishonored 2 and this sold as well as they should have since I don't expect we'll be seeing more of them. I'm sure they could find a way to make the story continue but this does really tie everything up at this point. This was probably my least favorite game in the series but I'd still give it an 8/10 so it's not bad, just below the others. I will admit that despite loving all the games I'm ready to play other stuff.

Finished the Dishonored series. Fantastic games and if they got around to making another one eventually I wouldn't complain. I wanted to get through all the games in July and glad I made it, though I will admit I went pretty slowly with that last one. Prey and Mooncrash are lined up for August games but I also need to get through Recore, Yakuza Kiwami, and Wandersong by the end of August for a Backlog Blitz. I'm not sure what I'll play next but I definitely need something else before I start up Prey since I've done a lot of Arkane the past couple weeks.

Oh, and I first wrote up The Knife of Dunwall as a separate completion but it was apparent right away that it really was just half of a full story so in the end I combined it with The Brigmore Witches to be a single completion.
 

bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
1,665
4,288
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Game #42 Done - IIN - Decent little puzzle platformer. Move the right cube to the right place using other cubes with various abilities to help you. Not that difficult, probably could have been more ambitious.

Game #43 Done - Doom - As much fun as the PS4 version but at 1440p 120fps+ ultra all round it's stunning. Hopefully they don't fuck up Eternal.
 

Milena

Lost in VR
Jan 4, 2019
532
1,628
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12. Deus Ex Human Revolution: third playthrough overall, but first time I played this on PC. Still awesome! I played the original version, as I played like an hour of this version years ago and I had already some achievements unlocked.
I might play the Director's Cut in the future, if I decide to replay the game again.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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65. Wolfenstein: Youngblood - 07/28/19
Finished in 9:40 with around 50% side missions complete. Played about half the story with random co-op partners with more positive than negative experiences. Had a fun time outside of the last boss that felt like bullshit with an annoying checkpoint for when you die. For a budget side game I liked what this game did and had a great time just being a fast paced action title. The game isn't without faults but it's easy to look past them and just have fun. The story makes me real curious what they'll do with the next title in the main series.

66. Touhou Luna Nights - 07/29/19
Finished in 3:54 getting just the main ending for beating the last boss. I'm aware there's an extra area after beating it with an optional boss but I really had to push myself to finish the game that I'm not going to bother doing extra shit. Why do so many people like this game? Touhou fans? It's barely a Metroidvania, too, and I see it called that. The environments are extremely bland and it's not interesting to explore (what little there is), the attack/mana/graze system is infuriating, and there's far too much just sitting and waiting for meters to fill or going in and out of rooms to graze an enemy near the entrance just so you can fight. I got far enough when I really started questioning if I should continue that I just pushed through it but glad to be done.

67. Wandersong - 08/01/19
Completed in 9:12. A really great game but also a tough recommendation. It ultimately feels like an adventure game as there's loads of dialogue and it's all done fairly well. There's also plenty of platforming and some fun stuff done with the music wheel but ultimately that part of the game feels much more simple and more just a means to mix things up between story segments. Really enjoyable and the writing is really what had me hooked and kept me going. Also, maybe has one of my favorite music-based endings with how everything comes together. Good stuff!

Another handful completed. Wandersong was on my backlog blitz so it was nice getting that completed and it helps that it was a really solid game. I have Recore and Yakuza Kiwami remaining on the Blitz that ends at the end of the month and my August games are Prey and Mooncrash. Beyond those I'm sure I'll knock out some others. I've purchased a ton of games from the Winter Sale and through the Summer Sale (probably 125ish?) and I've honestly barely touched most of them so I need to get to more of those. I'm sure I've got a handful of short games I could complete over a weekend or something.
 

Milena

Lost in VR
Jan 4, 2019
532
1,628
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13. Deadlight: had this game since forever it seems. Meh. The controls are pretty iffy with mouse + keyboard, there was a certain part in the second chapter that had me dying over and over again because the game simply didn't want to accept my input... not sure if I'll go for the final achievement, the one about finishing the game on Nightmare.

14. Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure: loved it. It's a very good P&C adventure that reminded me a lot of the old Lucasarts games, although it was on the easy side. Great art style, interesting story and weird characters. I'll keep an eye out for the devs' future projects. Took about 9 hours to complete the game and replay certain parts to get all the achievements.
 

Flips

Overwhelmingly Positive
May 12, 2019
207
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#26: Songbird Symphony (PC) | 4.8h | Aug 15 | ★★★★½


Incredibly cute and wholesome game with a suprisingly challenging rythm part. Some puzzles can be frustrating but that doesn't make the game any less enjoyable.




#27: DARQ (PC) | 2.2h | Aug 20 | ★★★½


The atmosphere and visuals were great but unfortunately the puzzles were a bit lacking. DARQ has some new and interesting mechanics but they were too easy overall even though there are literally no hints, tutorials, etc. Also, the game feels a bit short considering its price.

But it's still a good experience and I'd recommend it to everyone who enjoyed Limbo, Inside, and/or Litlle Nightmares. But you might want to wait for a sale unless you want to show support for the dev's decision to decline an EGS deal.
 

Gevin

Watch Madoka
Nov 16, 2018
1,046
3,194
113
26. Tengai Makyou Zero. RPG thread writeup
27. Saya no Uta. Urobutcher doesn't disappoint in one of the best VNs out there
28. 428 Shibuya Scramble. Incredibly fun and full of surprises, I recommend this VN to every fan of the genre, though it could use a few QOL improvements
 

bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
1,665
4,288
113
Haven't finished much in a while, been down a Fallout 76 rabbit hole.

Game #44 done - Perchang - Fantastic action puzzle game. Move the balls from start to finish using flippers, gravity flips, fans and more. Difficulty ramps up and it's gets challenging to get gold and access to the bonus level.

Game #45 done - Darq - While not super challenging, this puzzle-platformer shows a masterful understanding of atmosphere and setting. Manipulate reality in the dream state to get the main character back to bed safely.
 

Panda Pedinte

Best Sig Maker on the board!
Sep 20, 2018
4,623
13,017
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The Adventure Pals

Started: 08/03/2019
Finished: 08/26/2019
Total Palytime: 15h*

According to Steam it took 15 hours to finish though thats not the real time as I had to reinstall Windows and I forgot to check if the game support cloud saves (it doesn't).

In short you're a kid, the villain kidnap your father and transform him on a hot-dog. It prompts you to go on an adventure with your friends to save your father and all the other elders who were kidnapped. The gameplay is simple, you can jump, attack and use items. The humor may be a bit hit or miss for some folks, though I enjoyed it through the game.
 
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Kuro

"Oh yeah? Aren't you gonna punish me?"
Dec 22, 2018
597
806
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7. Remnant: From the Ashes - 9/10

Great Souls-inspired 3rd Person Shooter RPG. Every weapon is a joy to use, they've managed to nail the gunplay perfectly. Loads of different builds to use and experiment with, sleeper hit of the year!
Another one for the year, next up: Control.
Will definitely come back to Remnant with updates.
 
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Flips

Overwhelmingly Positive
May 12, 2019
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#28: Metro Exodus (XGP) | 20.5h | Sep 02 | ★★★★


I still don't think going open-world was the right move but despite being open world, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Especially since the areas are rather small and you get your typical dark and narrow passages occasionally.
The gunplay is still great and scoring headshots when trying the stealth approach is still one of my favorite things in the Metro series. The sound design and graphics are top notch and the game performed quite well overall.
But there are still some annoying bugs like you lose your suite upgrades after every level which can get kind of annoying.
 

Kuro

"Oh yeah? Aren't you gonna punish me?"
Dec 22, 2018
597
806
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8. Control - 7½/10

While it doesn't reach the heights Alan Wake did, it certainly holds up and is fresh in it's own way. Not enough variety is the biggest issue, which might or might not be fixed with the post-launch DLCs.
And another one, not sure what to play next but have to choose from:
Astral Chain, Fire Emblem TH, Blasphemous and GreedFall.
 
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bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
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Game #46 Done - Middle Earth Shadow of War - No way was I doing the true ending and the dude DLC bored me. It definitely feels improved since release and the forced micro transaction edition. The Orcs have even more personality this time and are quite entertaining at times, though the Elf DLC goes a little too far into the absurd. My favourite Orc was one that questioned my motives when it came to killing every Orc I saw, maybe I was the problem he said not the orcs!

Game #47 Done - Far Cry New Dawn - Doesn't outstay it's welcome like most Far Cry games, the perfect length though the final boss was trash. Still didn't bother doing everything. Some great weapon and car design and I love the nostalgia from 5. Already have my money's worth from UPLAY+.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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I knew it had been a while since I updated this but I didn't realize I was so far behind:

68. 1 Screen Platformer - 08/02/19
In 29 minutes I completed the game on normal with all four characters and ran through one of the character's hard modes. Since the map doesn't change per character I have no reason to bother with the other characters. And there's two bugged achievements. If they fix those maybe I'll finish runs with the other three on hard just to get all achievements. I think it was like $0.50 and for around half an hour of entertainment it's worth it. And it was a nice throwback to the Xbox Live Arcade Platformance series.

69. Overchunked - 08/03/19
Counting this as completed as I got every achievement in 95 minutes. It's just a score attack style game but since I got the max score achievement that's good enough for me. It's not a particular great score attack game but I put on music and it was kind of nice to just zone out and aim for the score achievements. This goes on sale frequently for under a dollar and it's fine but there's honestly more entertaining options around the same price.

70. Do Not Feed the Monkeys - 08/04/19
Finished in 3:03 with the Enlightened Ending. And 15 minutes of that time was me restarting after getting a good grasp of how the game played. It's weird addicting but also kind of fiddly and frustrating at times. And I guess I expected the ending to be better but whatever. Neat game that is actually more of a detective style game than I had expected. If you like games with fake OSes and use the game's systems to figure out story stuff (similar to the Orwell games). Just add in more time management and minimal life sim elements.

71. Pantsu Hunter: Back to the 90s - 08/04/19
Finished with 100% completion in-game and all achievements in 3:54. Fun adventure/visual novel sort of thing. The first three stories were amusing with some good humor because of all the ridiculous different endings. Most the game is clicking things in the environment with light dialogue and a smattering of choices to be made. Finding the right path to the true ending is the fun part. The last story was pure visual novel with just loads of writing and only a small amount of choices. Anyhow, silly game but despite the rough translation the humor is what helped keep me going.

72. Rose of Winter - 08/04/19
Finished both the good and bad paths for the Fae storyline in 46 minutes. There's no true ending to work towards so I'm not sure if I'll bother checking out the other paths. What's better than making out and having sex with a little man that's six inches tall? Just a real quick visual novel from the folks that did Ghosts of Miami, which was ultimately much more interesting in the time I spent with that. The only reason I may go through the other paths is for the achievements but the setup and obvious payoff for the other paths doesn't really feel like it'll be worth it.

73. Yakuza Kiwami - 08/08/19
Completed on normal in 17:18 with Majima rank E and 35.94% completion points. I did a smattering of extra stuff but largely I was rushing through the game since I spent so much time on Yakuza 0 earlier this year. Kiwami is still a solid game but I'd say 0 was overall better in most ways. One thing I did like more in Kiwami was how boss characters would power up and you had to have the matching style and heat to stop them. Added a small layer of strategy from zero. But ultimately, in terms of design and content, 0 felt like a successor to this game (for good reasons, of course).

74. Prey - 08/13/19
Finished on hard in 29:44 with only human powers and no human kills. Fantastic game! Arkane is easily one of my favorite developers after going through all the Dishonored games and now Prey. Prey is a really complete experience with it feeling well designed and incredibly dense. If I had to make any sort of complaint it would have been nice if a few more characters were fleshed out more but I really didn't even think about that while playing and it's more just fishing for ways it could have been different. Oh, and fuck the Nightmare. Anyhow, great game and I'm looking forward to checking out Mooncrash for something different in the same world.

75. Prey Mooncrash - 08/18/19
Finished in 12:57 with all contracts complete. A couple spots that required in the mid-to-late game was a little annoying but ultimately a really good game that was a smart compliment to the main game. It's more combat focused and fast paced which was interesting and I got to sample more typhon powers. Completing all the unique stories and then the final run to get all five characters to escape in a single cycle was fun to work out. Probably one of my favorite expansions/DLCs for a game.

76. Recore - 08/31/19
Finished in 8:40. Went from me having a fairly good time with some occasional frustrations and complaints and then the last dungeon came along. Oh man, fuck that. And this is after all the great changes made with the Definitive Edition. I can’t even imagine playing through it before that. I would have given it a 7 up to that point but now it’s like a 5 out of 10 and I never want to touch it again. Thankfully that last dungeon got easier around halfway through and I was able to blaze through the last half. Some solid ideas if they somehow made a Recore 2 with a bunch of sequel refinements it could be a really great time. But ultimately this felt like what I’d expect a (higher budget) Xbox Live Arcade game would be like for the current generation.

77. Ghosts of Miami - 09/01/19
Was surprised I got the ending when I did since I thought there were five cases but there were only four. Finished in 4:06 which included playing cases multiple times until I found the right paths and options to close the case. Got the romance ending with Tala and the story ending with Lucho. There may be something like a true ending but it's kind of unclear in the achievements and it seems I'd have to unlock every romance option which largely means replaying every level with every path and it's not the friendliest game in tracking all that. I liked the writing and tone but not the best VN. Relies on trial and error occasionally, replaying cases isn't as quick as I'd like, and since you pick which locations to search when the game does a bad job adapting. I'd meet a character in one location and have a whole scene to run into them again and the game not recognize we had met so we act like complete strangers that go through introductions and nonsense again. It's still decent and a nice change of story/tone from other VNs but it's not without problems.

78. Gears of War 4 - 09/05/19
Finished in 9:41 with 29/50 collectibles. Played on Hardcore with the first two acts solo and the last three acts in co-op with bbq of doom. It was a pretty good time! Nothing amazing, and I imagine improved by being in co-op, as these games tend to. A few areas of frustration, and a computer issue with Nvidia drivers (I think that was the case?) that made it so textures would get progressively more crazy the longer a game session went, but otherwise I had fun in what was otherwise Yet Another Gears of War. It didn't really feel like it did much new and I expected way more weather stuff. Instead the reliance on horde mode sections felt a little like filler to get the game out and mechanically nothing really changed. The one-off things did add some nice variety but it was just a solid shooter and a nice return after having not played the series since Gears of War 3. And now a new one awaits!

Big post but I've been posting less so this slipped my mind and I thought I was only behind by like four games. Right now I've got two different Backlog Blitzes I'm in, so that's ten games over four months (completed one above already), my own monthly list of games I picked (though many overlap in the Blitz), and then all the new stuff coming out. I'm juggling Control and Gears 5, though neither are on the aforementioned lists. And this month I still need to go through Watch Dogs 2 (and maybe Watch Dogs). So much stuff!
 

Samson

Junior Member
Aug 2, 2019
396
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Heraklion
holy shit ... that's AWESOME!!!
Haha, thanks!

Honestly I just ripped a page out of a game magazine PDF I bought years ago and just added some text boxes and image placeholder spots, and voilà! I might try messing around with making the template more my own once I catch up on all the games I've finished so far.
 
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lashman

Dead & Forgotten
Sep 5, 2018
30,372
85,148
113
Haha, thanks!

Honestly I just ripped a page out of a game magazine PDF I bought years ago and just added some text boxes and image placeholder spots, and voilà! I might try messing around with making the template more my own once I catch up on all the games I've finished so far.
still - looks great ... love the idea! :D
 
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Panda Pedinte

Best Sig Maker on the board!
Sep 20, 2018
4,623
13,017
113

Retro/Grade

Started: 09/14/2019
Finished: 09/14/2019
Total Playtime: 3 hours

Retro/Grade was one of the first games I bought on Steam back in the day but to this day I didn't have finished it. I was looking around my library and decided to finally finished it.

This game is better described as a rhythmically shooter game in reverse, the notes you have to hit are the shots you did before having to coming back in time and fix the mess caused by destroying the enemies.
 

Flips

Overwhelmingly Positive
May 12, 2019
207
1,072
93
Main Post

#29: Gears 5 (XGP) | 12.2h | Sep 15 | ★★★½


Yeah, it's "just" another Gears of War game which isn't necessarily a bad thing but everything about it felt a bit stale; no innovations, etc. Sure, the gameplay is still fun and while the graphics aren't amazing they are definitely more than serviceable. The story is what you expect from a Gears of War game: entertaining but forgettable.

And I'll never understand why every game has to be semi-open-world now. Especially when you end up with such an incredibly empty and boring open world as in Gears 5. Also, the AI sucks. They get stuck, get in your way, and I ended up getting killed more than once because of them. So it might be better to grab some friends and play the game in co-op.

This all might sound more negative than I intended it to be. The game is still fun to play and it was exactly what I was looking for when I had to decide what to play this weekend: just killing some stuff without thinking about it.
 
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Rockin' Ranger

Rangers With Candy
Nov 7, 2018
501
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Also, the AI sucks. They get stuck, get in your way, and I ended up getting killed more than once because of them. So it might be better to grab some friends and play the game in co-op.
This is my biggest complaint with it so far. The jumping in front of my line of fire while I was shooting or going forward for no good reason to be downed and carried off by a snatcher was bad enough, but the worst was the escorting Jack segment. He can't do anything and if what he's carrying takes too much damage you fail, so of course Jack would charge ahead of me to be right next to the Scion and then explode.
 
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Gevin

Watch Madoka
Nov 16, 2018
1,046
3,194
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29. Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3 V Generation: More Nep, can't go wrong.
30. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13: Worst of the trilogy, writeup.
31. Analogue: A Hate Story: pretty good short VN

I'm sure I missed a game in the middle of everything but I can't remember which.
 
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