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BPHusker

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,126
Nebraska
Finally opened the FF15 Royal Edition that I've had on my shelf since last Black Friday. I worked through the DLC Episodes over the last few days.

#8 Final Fantasy XV - Episode Gladiolus | 2/14/2020 - 1.5 hrs | 3.5/5
The story on this one was probably the worst of the three episodes, though I did like the boss fight with
Giglamesh
.

#9 Final Fantasy XV - Episode Prompto | 2/15/2020 - 1.5 hrs | 4.5/5
Prompto's story was pretty cool. It offered a good backstory about what happened when he left the party midway through the game. It was interesting how they tried to make it into a 3rd person shooter.

#10 Final Fantasy XV - Episode Ignis| 2/16/2020 - 1.5 hrs | 5/5
The best of the DLC story episodes in the Royal Edition. Like Prompto, it gives meaningful backstory about what happened to Ignis in the later parts of the story. The boss fight was cool as well as the alternate "non-canon" ending that you can get if you make a different choice before the boss fight.

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON DLC
Why didn't they have these in the main game?! It would have made the game a hell of a lot better!

Main Post
 

Lobotomaxx

Member
Dec 30, 2019
56
Nebraska
9/52

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#9: Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition (beaten 2/16/20) | Steam | 5/5 | 112 hours | Played co-op with Whimsicalish
Well this is obviously a masterpiece of a game. The strategy of the fights and the amount of different ways to kill stuff can be overwhelming. The amount of choices that can be made during the story which seem to alter the course of the game make for different options if you choose to play multiple times. While we only played through once and were taking our time, I assume there are many ways to "break" the game in and out of combat. The co-op was easy to set up just plugging the characters you wanted to play next to the player in a menu. A couple of gripes were in combat sometimes it would say a skill would hit an enemy and then it would hit a wall or the ground near the enemy and do nothing. And the NPC's would remember who talked to them, so if my low persuasion character had to talk to someone to accomplish something, we would be out of luck. We thought we were getting close to the end of the game and it turned out there was about another 30 hours after that point. If you're an RPG fan you really owe it to yourself to at least give this game a try.

Main Post
 

Whimsicalish

Member
Dec 30, 2019
185
Midwest
12 | Divinity Original Sin 2
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PC Steam | Feb 16 | 112 hrs | 5/5


One of the best games I have ever played. Not just in the RGP genre; one of the best ever. Amazing voice acting, animations, music, freedom of choices, story line, side quests, etc. I mean the list goes on... I played with Lobotomaxx in coop and this was one playthrough. All 112 hours of game time. Now we did all the side quests we could gather. It was super entertaining how many different ways you can complete quests.

My only grip is minor: the achievements didn't always work and give you credit. But there wasn't anything game breaking that we found. It's definitely worth the store price. We could easily make multiple playthroughs with different choices and characters.

Main Post
 

LonestarZues

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,050
Master Post

Weekly Update 7 - No games finished this week. Hope to finish at least 1 next week.

Currently Playing:
1. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge - Having a lot of fun with the game. It's also my first Ninja Gaiden game and has made me download Ninja Gaiden Black which I've owned for awhile, but never played.

2. Pillars of Eternity: White March - Loving the setting and looking forward to seeing where it goes.

3. Dead Island - Despite my love for all things zombie related I've never played this game. Still early on, but enjoying it more then I thought I would.
 

Tizoc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,792
Oman
38. Peggle Nights
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Good ol' Peggle gaming goodness~ I relied on luck and my totally calculated and thought out shots to clear all 12 main stages.
 

dreams

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,796
9/52

ARBmVre.jpg


#9: Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition (beaten 2/16/20) | Steam | 5/5 | 112 hours | Played co-op with Whimsicalish
Well this is obviously a masterpiece of a game. The strategy of the fights and the amount of different ways to kill stuff can be overwhelming. The amount of choices that can be made during the story which seem to alter the course of the game make for different options if you choose to play multiple times. While we only played through once and were taking our time, I assume there are many ways to "break" the game in and out of combat. The co-op was easy to set up just plugging the characters you wanted to play next to the player in a menu. A couple of gripes were in combat sometimes it would say a skill would hit an enemy and then it would hit a wall or the ground near the enemy and do nothing. And the NPC's would remember who talked to them, so if my low persuasion character had to talk to someone to accomplish something, we would be out of luck. We thought we were getting close to the end of the game and it turned out there was about another 30 hours after that point. If you're an RPG fan you really owe it to yourself to at least give this game a try.

Main Post
12 | Divinity Original Sin 2
hM2IDrs.png

PC Steam | Feb 16 | 112 hrs | 5/5


One of the best games I have ever played. Not just in the RGP genre; one of the best ever. Amazing voice acting, animations, music, freedom of choices, story line, side quests, etc. I mean the list goes on... I played with Lobotomaxx in coop and this was one playthrough. All 112 hours of game time. Now we did all the side quests we could gather. It was super entertaining how many different ways you can complete quests.

My only grip is minor: the achievements didn't always work and give you credit. But there wasn't anything game breaking that we found. It's definitely worth the store price. We could easily make multiple playthroughs with different choices and characters.

Main Post
How funny, I was just coming to say my husband and I just finished co-oping the first game and are very much looking forward to co-oping this one next. I'm excited to see that you both really loved it! This was my first time playing an RPG like this and actually any type of multiplayer RPG in any sense (I've only really ever played like Final Fantasy, SMT, basically JRPGs), and while sometimes frustrating due to the decisions of your partner (haha...), it was a really great experience. On to Divinity: Original Sin 2!
 

Whimsicalish

Member
Dec 30, 2019
185
Midwest
How funny, I was just coming to say my husband and I just finished co-oping the first game and are very much looking forward to co-oping this one next. I'm excited to see that you both really loved it! This was my first time playing an RPG like this and actually any type of multiplayer RPG in any sense (I've only really ever played like Final Fantasy, SMT, basically JRPGs), and while sometimes frustrating due to the decisions of your partner (haha...), it was a really great experience. On to Divinity: Original Sin 2!
Yes! We both recommend it. We were both free and easy with our spells, lol. I have set him on fire and he has stunned me multiple times. Still fun though! Looking forward to your review once you both get a chance to play.
 

Whimsicalish

Member
Dec 30, 2019
185
Midwest
13 | Mini Metro
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PC Steam | Feb 17 | 6 hrs | 4/5

Fantastic minimalist puzzle game. Your objective is to get passengers from one metro stop to another. You "fail" the level when one stop becomes full.You build as you go and it becomes more difficult the longer you play. There are options to play free mode and competitive.

I appreciate the fact I can pause the game and give myself some time to think. I have played other puzzle games that are similar but without a pause option; they quickly become stressful. This avoids that issue. It was more mellow. I am a designer, so I'm a sucker for the minimal design in the game.
I absolutely love it.

Main Post
 

Spyware

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,455
Sweden
Update 7!

Woah, this took a LONG time. And the game that has held me up the most I'm basically just halfway through at 70+ hours. I have also spent some time with The Sims 4 and started reading books again for the first time in about four or five years. Even tho I am blazing through the books it still takes up a lot of time that I previously spent on especially handheld games. Anyway, still five more games done now!

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31. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (PC) | 31st Jan - 10hrs | 3/5| 100% Completion

Prior knowledge:
I had played about 2 hours near release but it didn't click with me. Tried again now thanks to the 52 Games Community Game Club (come join us in the Discord!)​

The positives:
Everyone probably know about the audio design, the voice actors and everything else that has to do with sound in this game. The characters are expertly portrayed (especially Senua) and they tackle some heavy themes with care and without making it feel cheap.​

The negatives:
Basically everything else, sadly. I didn't have a good time since I never liked how it felt to play. Not the combat, not the puzzles and not even just moving around really. The FoV was a big issue and there was no way to make it better without extreme fisheye. It sucks to feel this way and I really wish I liked it better.​


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32. Planet Alpha (PC) | 7th Feb - 3hrs | 4/5 | 100% Completion (by "mistake"!)

Prior knowledge:
I think I had seen a single screenshot and it was pretty.​

The positives:
It feels like these devs sat down and said "I know what makes a game like Inside work well" and then made their own similar game in terms of gameplay and how it doesn't explain anything. There are no prompts, no tutorial whatsoever. You are thrown into this sometimes gorgeous 2D platform world and then have to figure everything out yourself. I loved it! Inside has a better theme but this freaky alien world was fascinating in a way too.​

The negatives:
The pacing is not perfect but that's basically it.​


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33. Plasticity (PC) | 8th Feb - 1hr | 2/5 | Both endings

Prior knowledge:
I added this to my library ages ago but don't really know why. So none I guess!​

The positives:
It's free. It has a nice little story to tell. It's short (30 mins or so). Uhh, that's it I think.​

The negatives:
It's just not good. It's janky and wonky in every way imaginable. I want to like it because I like the "your actions have effects" kinda thing but the game is so bad. It's a walking sim where the walking looks bad and the interactions bend you character into impossible positions. Legs inside the chest, arms going all over, you get it. I still replayed it since it's so simple and I wanted to see what would happen if I didn't miss some things I did the first time. But no I wouldn't recommend it, sadly.​


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34. Subnautica (PC) | 14th Feb - 42hrs | 3/5 | 100% Completion (achievements and PDA)

Prior knowledge:
I knew it was an underwater survival game but had avoided more info like the plague.​

The positives:
My first impression was so good! I loved the early game a lot. I think the way they tell the story and how the game progresses is superb. It's very fluid (pun intended) in how it guides you through it all. I love the different biomes and the game can be both very pretty and freaky. All the logs and different info things you can find in the PDA are great, I made sure to scan absolutely everything I saw just to read about it. It's (thankfully) quite moddable!​

The negatives:
The game quickly turned into inventory juggling and long boring treks to and from things. It felt like so many things could have had upgrades to make the game better. A Fabricator that you can queue up at least 5 items at a time, bigger storage/more compact storage and so on. The base building was something I spent way too much time on. I usually love base building and I am very proud of some builds I have made in other games, but I tried over and over to make something that didn't look terrible and it just doesn't work with the extremely limited structures. My base ended up being a couple of cylinders with lockers on all the walls and some other things I couldn't make anywhere else. I tried decorating it a bit but it just takes up space without looking good so I gave up. I ended up modding a couple of things that made the game a lot more fun for me which is why I finished it after being so disappointed by a lot of things.​


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35. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PC) | 16th Feb - 33hrs | 5/5 | All bosses solo in main game and DLC

Prior knowledge:
I have played this one around 5 times before I think. Maybe 6? I have all the achievements. I wanted to do a replay for two reasons, one was to try a different kind of build and the other was to finally beat every single boss solo (including the co-op areas of the DLCs)​

The positives:
I'm a huge fan of Dark Souls 2 and would put it in the middle of the Soulsborne games in my rankings. I love the areas and most bosses. I had really fun trying out a new kind of build but I will probably not play that way again. I have never played a strength based build in any of the games in the series before because I really like the agile dex playstyle. I have played with quick weapons in all games and dabbled in different magic builds too but never the big slow heavy hitting stuff. I had some issues getting used to it but I didn't have a problem with any of the bosses. Really enjoyed most fights.​

The negatives:
I really don't like the DLC areas, both the layouts of the places and the enemies with way too much poise and health are just frustrating (most of the bosses makes it all worth it tho). Funnily enough I didn't think the Frigid Outskirts was that bad this time around even tho I played it solo but I almost rage quitted Frozen Eleum Loyce, haha!​

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Deleted member 1265

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
339
Updating since I've beaten a few games.

fatyoshi - 10/52 games (7 new, 3 replays)

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Game 6 – Tacoma (XB1) – 1h 54m – 3.5/5

Looks like Fullbright is 2 for 2 with me after this and Gone Home.

They truly have a way with conveying narratives in fluid/natural ways. The pacing, exploration, atmosphere, and the like are all on point.

I wasn't as big on the mechanics involving the playing through memories and flashbacks but other than that this was pretty great across the board.

Perched for their next game.

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Game 7 – Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES) – 2h 17m – 3/5

My favorite 2D Mario game in terms of atmosphere and aesthetics. Love how unique everything about this feels. The platforming itself isn't as satisfying as found in the best of the series but it makes up for it in the depth brought in by the character variety.

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Game 8 – Baldur's Gate – Enhanced Edition (PC) – 33h – 3/5

Not bad for my first exposure to D&D and CRPGs in general. The high fantasy (as always is the case with me) was a bit of a struggle but other than that this clicked with me pretty well. I played on the story difficulty because I didn't want to have to deal with the systems on my very first run but I'm looking forward to returning to this one and playing on a higher difficulty or playing the sequel on one.

Minsc is the love of my life.

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Game 9 – The Sexy Brutale (PC) – 6h – 3.5/5

A great little puzzle adventure game. Absolutely loved the map layout/exploration, characters, and story in this one. There was some overlap here with some of my favorite gameplay loops in regards to path optimization and shortcut finding in mostly enclosed spaces (along the lines of Resident Evil games or Luigi's Mansion even) so it all came together pretty well.

Shout out to the hidden ending for really being something as well.

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Game 10 – Resident Evil (2002) (PC) – 3h 34m – 5/5

Playthrough nineteen (!!)

Gonna have to do something special/break out the wine for playthrough twenty or something lmao. Not my favorite game of all time (it's second) but for all intents and purposes this is the most satisfying game as a full package in terms of gameplay experience in addition to the other stuff.

I guess me having so many runs through says it all?
 

MRYEAH

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,089
The hall across the room
6 games so far completed putting this post here to add reviews

January
1.A Wolf Among Us Episode 1 Faith (XB1 Jan 3 4/5)
2.Donut County (PS4 Jan 5 3/5)
3.Gorogoa (PS4 Jan 6 3/5)
4.Madden 20 (Face of The Franchise) (XB1 Jan 22 2/5)
February
5.Control (PS4 Feb 15 5/5)
6.SlayThe Spire (Switch Feb 16 4/5)
7. Blood and Truth (PS4 March 17 3/5)
8. A Plague Tale:Innocence (XB1 March 28 4/5)
 
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Tizoc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,792
Oman
39. Megaman 5
Mega_Man_5.jpg


So apparently I was SUPPOSED to get Beat so that the final Castles were less tedious to deal with their bosses.
The main 8 stages were quite good IMO and while the Castles' stages offered a nice challenge, they were straight up back to back meaning inbetween stages there's no energy re-charge :V
 
Oct 27, 2017
497
Main Post

10. Braid - PS3
Completed 2/7/20
Score - 8/10

Started this up years ago and glad to finally cross it off the list. The gameplay grew on me a bit but it was really the puzzles that interested and excited me. I expected a bigger bang from the story, especially after avoiding spoilers for years. It's clever and after reading up on it, I get it. It just didn't leave a big impact on me like the puzzles did. They realy had me scratching my head at the end. I also never found one of the stars so not sure if I missed out on a different ending from that.

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11.Battletoads - Xbox One
Completed 2/13/20
Score - 6/10

I really don't think this is a good game. As a kid I played the first 2 levels with my buddy and in my head they seemed like long levels. Replaying it now...they are incredibly short and easy. The speed bike level if infamous for being super hard...but it turns out to be one of the easiest levels in the game. This game is a fast decent into hell and you never really get out. Each level is harder and more menacing as you continue. The rewind feature helps a lot but it won't do much in the final few levels, which happen to me amounst the hardest as well. Screw that Winger Clinger level!!!

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12. Jetpac - Xbox One
Completed 2/14/20
Score - 6/10

Put this on after Battletoads. It's incredibly simple and not too much fun in this day and age. For it's time, I bet it was a blast and the graphics were probably really good. It doesn't really hold up...but it's fine for what it is. I was able to land in each world for the achievement, but every level looks and acts the same. Don't expect much.

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13. Super Mario Maker 2 - Switch
Completed 2/15/20
Score - 9/10

Decided to start up the campaign Saturday night and I never looked back. Every time I wanted to quit and head to bed, I just told myself 1 level more. I had a blast playing through their designed levels and putting the castle back together. The final level was a lot of fun as well. Crossing this off my list but I intend to continue playing user levels for a long long time. Maybe I'll try and make one myself one day.

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14. Super Princess Peach - DS
Completed 2/17/20
Score - 7/10

Don't remember how I got this game but it's been sitting around forever. Glad I decided to knock it out. It's fairly simple for the most part and has some unique boss fights and platforming. I got to the last level and was met with a cruel joke. You have to save EVERY TOAD in the game if you want to fight the final boss. Since I collected more than I originally thought, I went for it. Glad I did because the final boss was a lot of fun. I really wish the regular Mario games would take inspiration from unique boss battles. They weren't all the hardest but they were fun.

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15. My Mom Hid My Game! - iPad
Completed 2/17/20
Score - 7/10

Absolutely bonkers. I learnd about this game from a past challenge year and since it was free I just decided to play it. I had a good time with it and found it got more absurd as I went on. I will definitely play the next games at some point in the future.

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KtotheRoc

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
56,638
20: Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & The Secret Hideout. End: 2/18/2020. 33 Hours. Liked-A-Lot.

This was my first Atelier game, and I found it utterly delightful. Charming characters and an interesting little world can do that.
 

newmoneytrash

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,981
Melbourne, Australia
Master Post

Update #004

15. Florence | PC | Completed 16/02/2020 |

Florence is my all time favourite mobile game, so purchasing and playing it again on the PC was really a no-brainer. It's a little bit more clunky with a controller because the game is obviously built around a touchscreen, but it's still one of the best, most personal video game stories I've ever played. Also it's set where I live so it's fun to see landmarks that I see all of the time show up in a video game. Florence is great, everyone should play it.

16. Batman: Arkham VR | PC | Completed 16/02/2020 |

Last year I played through the Arkham games again but I didn't have a VR headset at the time and was frustrated that I missed out on this but, after playing it, that frustration was kind of misplaced. This game just isn't that fun. It's cool to see the familiar Arkham world and characters in VR, but the way you interact with that world is so boring. It ends with a prolonged impossible space hallucination bit that you can see what it's trying to do immediately and goes on for way too long despite the game only lasting like an hour. I got this heavily discounted and I still feel pretty burned, but if I had paid the full retail price for it I would be pretty upset with it. It's just not good.

17. Where the Goats Are | PC | Completed 17/02/2020 |

This is sort of a prequel/proof of concept to The Stillness of the Wind which is a game I've been meaning to play for a long time but just haven't. You just spend a stretch of days on your isolated goat farm doing daily activities until you reach the end. It's calm and meditative and ultimately very sad in all of the ways you think it's going to be the second you start it. I liked it but I don't think it's really going to stick with me and in a weird way it made me feel less excited to jump into The Stillness of the Wind even though it's undoubtedly a lot better

18. Final Fantasy VII | PC | Completed 19/02/2020 |

I thought I would just quickly blast through this before the remake comes out to refresh myself on it but I kind fell deeper into this world than I thought I would. The original Final Fantasy VII absolutely holds up, it's a good game. It's ugly in the way a lot of early polygonal games were and there are some mini-games that feel almost broken, but the core of this game, the world, the characters, the story, and the turn based combat are all still very, *very* good. Before playing this I felt I had a solid grasp on what the main story beats of Final Fantasy VII were despite not finishing it since about 1999/2000, but I was surprised both by how clear my memory of it really was, and how much of the pacing and structure of the game I had forgotten. I know that seems contradictory, but there are scenes that I can vividly recall in my memory that played out the exact same way re-playing it. Just moments like approaching Hojo in Midgar at the end of Disc 2 is seared onto my brain. But then there were other things like the length of the first disc that really took me by surprise. So much of the back half of that disc (Rocket Town, Cosmo Canyon, even Mt Corel) felt like they first showed up way later.

Anyway it's still an incredible game and, even though it's one of the games I'm the most nostalgic for, I do think that it's perfectly accessible and fun to play today for people who have never touched it before.
 

Bing-Bong

Banned
Feb 1, 2019
797
5Ou5fFp.png


I played more game this month, but this is the one i want to truly talk about and the one that i recommend to absolutely anyone.
You can play it on Ps Vita, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

It's a dungeon crawler solving puzzle game that requires some quick thinking to get through. It's fun, beautiful and even addictive. And that's all I'm gonna tell about it.

This is one of those games that people should enjoy blindly. Play it without searching for extended reviews, videos or even gameplay pics. Is one of those games that easily gets inside you and you should let it do that.

Just play it. It's awesome.

Since i started this challenge i played more game than ever (and yeah, my game count it's only 13 at this point). And, idk, thanks. Thanks for this thread. It made me play games that, otherwise, wouldn't even touched. Games that i enjoyed a lot.
 

LonestarZues

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,050
5Ou5fFp.png


I played more game this month, but this is the one i want to truly talk about and the one that i recommend to absolutely anyone.
You can play it on Ps Vita, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

It's a dungeon crawler solving puzzle game that requires some quick thinking to get through. It's fun, beautiful and even addictive. And that's all I'm gonna tell about it.

This is one of those games that people should enjoy blindly. Play it without searching for extended reviews, videos or even gameplay pics. Is one of those games that easily gets inside you and you should let it do that.

Just play it. It's awesome.

Since i started this challenge i played more game than ever (and yeah, my game count it's only 13 at this point). And, idk, thanks. Thanks for this thread. It made me play games that, otherwise, wouldn't even touched. Games that i enjoyed a lot.

13 games is a great pace to have this early in the year! This thread has also helped me find hidden gems I never would've tried otherwise.
 

Tizoc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,792
Oman
Master post

40. Mega Man 6
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Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Granted the game is overall rather easy but it did have a few annoying sections in the final castles (seriously 7-8 back to back stages, yeesh).
The 2 new forms Megaman can use merely helped me with the traversal and getting around pits and spikes, so I didn't use them much outside of that, although it is a shame such a concept wouldn't be explored further in any later Megaman games.
 

Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
Playing catch up, posting about games I beat in January.

1. Assemble with Care (iPad) 4/5

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On the surface, Assemble with Care is a simple but beautiful puzzle game about fixing things. You play as Maria, a young repairwoman who is traveling. Along her journey, she meets people who have items in need of repair. You are treated to glimpses inside these people's lives and relationships, and the game goes far beyond simply fixing a few simple items.

The presentation is wonderful. The puzzles are straightforward, but in the end that's not really the point of the game. I really enjoyed my time with this one.

1. World War Z (PS4) 3.5/5
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World War Z is a third-person shooter in the vein of Left 4 Dead. There are four cities to play through, each with three levels, some multiplayer modes that were already dead by the time I picked this game up, and horde mode. The game's strong point is its ability to present dozens of zombies on screen at time, all scrambling over each other and rushing towards to you, seeking to overwhelm and devour you. It's pretty incredible and not something that many games have managed to pull off. The zombies also do cool things like form giant piles to reach you on top of a wall, stack up on fences to destroy them, etc. All of these elements require you to respond quickly by shooting the base of the stack, mowing down the cluster, or tossing some explosives in for good measure, to stop the problem before it gets out of hand.

The campaign was very enjoyable, but my friends and I beat it in a few afternoons. The game offers a number of difficulty settings to extend replayability, but my friends weren't very interested in this. We went through it once on Normal, which was pretty easy unfortunately.

Horde mode is where I've gotten most of my enjoyment out of this game. There's a lot to do here if you enjoy grinding and getting stronger. There are 6 or 7 classes you can choose from, each of which has its own skilltree and can be prestiged. Weapons can also be leveled up through use, though the same currency is needed to buy new skills and to level up guns, and the currency is fairly slow to earn, meaning that each upgrade must be carefully chosen.

Unfortunately, there is only one map for horde mode. Additionally, the game suffers from a lot of technical issues and glitches. A number of post-launch content hasn't worked on release. Horde mode glitches out if you get too far. Sometimes I can see zombies my friends cannot, even though these zombies can still hurt them. What's worse is that the developers have made some pretty bad choices in regards to patches, and a lot of the community has been put off by this treatment.

I love this game, but there's no way to justify giving it a good score when it falls as short as it does. With that having been said, I still play it from time to time, and am still watching for future developments.

Master List
 
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Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
3. The Pinball Wizard (iPad) 3/5

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The Pinball Wizard is a simple pinball game where you are trying to defeat monsters and break barrels while climbing a tower. Instead of a ball, you use the paddles to smack around the eponymous pinball wizard. If you get hit by an enemy's attack or fall down the well, you lose HP instead of losing a life, and when all your HP runs out its game over. Death comes pretty easy as you climb, but every five floors is a checkpoint which you can start from when you get a game over, making the trek to the top much more manageable than would be otherwise.

Experience points and gold earned along the way make your wizard stronger, grant more HP, and give new abilities which make the climb much easier. A few of these are pretty cool, such as being able to throw a pinball out of the wizard, or being able to make the wizard dash in a given direction to get more control over your trajectory. However, these abilities are pretty difficult to pull off on a touch screen, and most of the things you can buy with your points are just number increases.

The Pinball Wizard is a fun game that can be beaten in a few hours. I found the length to be just right, but I can see how some might be turned off by how fast it is over.

Master list.
 

Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
4. Costume Quest 2 (XB1) 2/5

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The only good thing I can say about it is that it's pretty cute. Combat is slow and boring with no interesting choices. Level up doesn't give anything cool, so I avoided fighting as much as possible. Most of what you're doing outside of combat, such as looking for a hidden item or making deliveries, is also pretty boring. It's only 6~8 hours long but I couldn't be done fast enough.

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Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
5. Life is Strange 2 - Episode 1 (XB1) 3.5/5

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LiS 2 starts off as somewhat of a mixed bag for me. As always, the digital actors are spot on and the emotional weight is gripping. On the other hand, I found myself rolling my eyes on more than one occasion. As a 30-something, my patience is running thin on playing as a dumb high school student who does stupid high school shit. I'm not interested in running the risks of getting caught smoking, going to parties to get wasted, or lying to my parents about my stupid decisions. I'm also a pretty political (left) person, but some of the stuff about 2016 also had me rolling my eyes. This included some subtle things and some not so subtle things.

I also find it pretty weird how many opportunities the game gives you to be a dick to your brother once the journey begins. What kind of a monster would do this? I feel like these options are there just to make you feel good about being nice. Very rarely did any of these choices feel difficult.

However, even with these critisims I found the game to be very engrossing. I'm looking forward to picking up Episode 2 after I get through Captain Spirit.
 

Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
6. Journey to the Savage Planet (XB1) 3/5

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I had high hopes for Journey to the Savage Planet. Co-op sandbox games are something of a sweet spot for my and my best gaming buddy, plus this looks somewhat like a favorite of ours, Astroneer. Space is also a common theme we are drawn to, as are bright visuals and weird, wacky humor.

Of course, Journey to the Savage Planet isn't a sandbox game at all. It gives a good first impression of being an open, non-linear exploration game, but it isn't really that either. Instead, this is a game about exploring relatively small areas, scanning elements out of the environment as you search for materials to fix your crashed spaceship. That sounds pretty good on paper, but in reality the game plays more like a first-person collect-a-thon. Combat is basic, and you never move too far beyond the simple pistol you start with. You get a few new moves for exploration, but its the standard fair double and triple jump. Nothing that you can find in the environment adds much to the gameplay beyond expanding your HP or giving you a new item you will barely use.

I wouldn't have completed this if I was playing it solo, but as a co-op adventure it was pretty fun. We stretched it out by 100% the game, but you could probably crit path this game and be done in 6 hours. A pretty big disappointment, but still an ok ride.

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Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
7. Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD (XB1) 4/5

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I used to love the Monkey Ball games on Gamecube, so this was a no brainer for me. The campaign is short but sweet and gets devilishly hard by the end. I don't get into high scores or speed runs, so a Monkey Ball game doesn't last me very long, but its super fun to spend an afternoon just running through this game.

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Rhaknar

Member
Oct 26, 2017
42,568
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Game #11 - Wolcen Lords of Mayhem
Time: 80 hours

I'm so torn on this one. As you can see by my time spent with it, I like the game. In fact, I would say I like it quite a bit. It's a fantastic arpg, diablo-style with great visuals (easily the best looking of the genre, well I havet played Lost Ark), great gameplay, a cool class and skill system, amazing sound design, just everything about it is great... except it's plagued by one of the worst launches I've ever seen, it's plagued with bugs, from servers not working, passives not working, items disapearing, just a whole mess that leaves me incredibly disapointed because at its core its really good and I hope they can fix it, add to it, and I will keep coming back to it. But as it stands, as much as I love it, it's hard to recomend. Maybe in a few months we'll see.

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Rirse

Member
Jun 29, 2019
2,016
I played some more games. Think I am going to drop the pictures since they are annoying to edit from my tweets.

Anyway here the games I played from February 12 to 19th.

Vagrant Story - February 12

Still a fun game action rpg that just turned 20 around this time.

Spy Fiction - - February 13

Swery's interesting take on Metal Gear before Deadly Premontion.

Asura Wraith - - February 14

The really excellent Capcom interactive story with shooter and melee combat mix in with cutscenes with excellent use of QTEs.

Mega Man 2 - - February 15

The classic which I beat once more

X-Com 2 - - February 16

Excellent squad game that I intend on play more of.

Mega Man 3 - - February 17

More Mega Man, finished this as well.

Trapt - - February 18

Rather fun game where you in a mansion and set up traps to kill people out to murder you while you get revenge on your step mother.

Witcher 2 - - February 19

The second entry in the Witcher series that I really want to finish after managing to finish the original. I not played much of 3 due to wanting to beat this game first.

Mega Man 4

And more Mega Man. Beat this as well.

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Whimsicalish

Member
Dec 30, 2019
185
Midwest
14 | Pokemon Let's Go: Eevee
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Switch | Feb 19 | ~40 hrs | 5/5


I had more fun in this remaster(?) version of Pokemon Yellow than I did in the newer Pokemon game last November. I loved the fact that you could see the Pokemon in the wild and you could choose a Pokemon to follow you. It felt more true to the anime, like seeing Pikachu always following Ash. It was fun seeing them run, fly, and some you could ride like a mount. (Rydon is one of my favorites. Your character is perched on their back.)

I forgot how much fighting is in these older games. There are areas you're back to back battling Team Rocket grunts that felt like dungeons. Your rival does not heal you in these older games, lol. I was using items left and right at times.

There were so many battles on routes that I am so happy and relieved they switched up the catching mechanics. Similar to the Pokemon Let's Go app, you don't battle Pokemon to catch them. You simply toss a ball. This helped break up the game positively instead of monotonous battle. Even after battling the Elite Four, there's more to do in the game. I don't have any real negative feedback? It was a solid experience and trip to nostalgia town.

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Lobotomaxx

Member
Dec 30, 2019
56
Nebraska
10/52

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#10: Apotheon (beaten 2/20/20) | Steam | 4/5 | 10 hours
A fun little sidescroller. It isn't really a "metroidvania" but there is a little backtracking for side quests which makes it fairly linear, but that's okay. You can craft bombs, use throwing items, heal and slice stuff up. Sometimes the combat would get a little frustrating where you would be trying to hack down some goons and they would be able to jump and move around and change directions mid-swing when they attack and I never could replicate it. I could just be Bad at Videogames, but I think it's maybe just some cheesy bullshit to put the player at a disadvantage. It unlocked a harder difficulty once you beat the game which I had no interest in exploring. Slay your gods!

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watdaeff4

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,451
Updated Main Post:
www.resetera.com

52 Games. 1 Year. 2020.

5. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - 18/01/2020 SotN is always going to be fantastic but losing the extremely cheesy voice acting in the PS4 version is a crime.

6) Steam World Dig
Rather short Metroidvania game. I'm a fan of the genre so I enjoyed the game, but it doesn't do anything to set itself apart from a somewhat crowded field of games in said genre.
7) Forza Horizon 4
This game doesn't have a typical "end race" like previous Forza Horizon games so counting it as done after putting in 15+ hours and doing all the showcases. Really great game and will play the expansions as I'm sure they will deliver.
8) My Friend Pedro
Games like this is another reason to love GamePass. I'm not for sure if I would have played this game if it wasn't for GamePass and I would have missed out on a great game.
9) Detroit: Almost Human
Not a pick fan of *my name for this type of game* interactive movie games, but this one I enjoyed a lot. Feels like your choices actually have some weight unlike other similar games *cough* TellTale *cough* and the story was pretty well done.
10) GRIS
Relaxing game to play for a few hours. Also am a big fan of the art style. Would recommend to anyone wanting to just sit and chill with a game for a bit.
11) Outer Worlds
Was really into this game for about 15 hours then it started to wear on me just a tad. At that point decided to go ahead and just blow through the main story quests to finish the game. I do like how there were often multiple options to complete quests and if you built your skills the right way and choose to find other means, you could complete much of the game without much aggression.
12) Assassin's Creed Revelations
Completed the Ezio Trilogy as I clean up the remaining AC games I haven't played. Even got the platinum trophies on all three (which is a big deal for me as i have very few plats) as I thoroughly enjoyed all three games. I went into Revelations with tempered expectations as I heard a lot of negativity towards the game, but it's a damn good game.

Currently Juggling:
Dream Drop Distance
Mario + Rabbids
Mass Effect 2
Baldur's Gate
Mortal Kombat 11
 

BPHusker

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,126
Nebraska
#11 Final Fantasy XIV: Patch 5.2: Echoes of a Fallen Star | 2/19/2020 - 5.5 hrs | 5/5
This is the latest patch of Final Fantasy XIV. Holy crap! This game is amazing! This patch answers some things as well as makes you ask more questions. The story is great and the main story dungeon is actually really fun too. I highly recommend!

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Whimsicalish

Member
Dec 30, 2019
185
Midwest
15 | The Last Door: Collector's Edition
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PC Steam | Feb 20 | 3 hrs | 3/5


An interesting story driven pixel point and click. Following the main character you run into situations that scream "something is definitely wrong." The game does open up to a suicide taking place and there's mention of murder and gore. So if that's not your thing, avoid it. The atmosphere is done well for a pixel game. I had a sense of dread and certain areas I felt I was being watched.

The soundtrack is A++. The lovely instrumental music tracks fit the era and the eerie sounds when necessary. The sound effects and music was the strongest point in the game.

I do wish there was a save option instead of replaying an entire chapter for achievements. I just didn't have it in me. It was a dark ride but I did enjoy the game.

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FRANKEINSTEIN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,145
AZ
Quantum_Break_cover.jpg


13. Quantum Break (Xbox One) Feb 20 8 Hrs ★★
Absolutely loved this game. Don't know why it took me so long to play. Action was tight, had a good story and performances across the board were great. Would love a sequel.
 

Whimsicalish

Member
Dec 30, 2019
185
Midwest
16 | Cheeky Chooks
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PC Steam | Feb 20 | 5 hrs | 3/5



I found this free game by a curated Steam account I follow. It's a simple clicker/idle game. Something I could see as a phone game app. There's 52 tasks to do in game and I did earn all the achievements. It's very laid back, silly, and plain adorable.

You have a farm to raise chickens; you can sell their eggs to buy new stuff in the market. You have a happiness bar to watch over so they don't leave. I didn't have any chickens leave.

It's a really simple, easy game to play. There's different types of chickens to collect and their animations are hilarious. The picture is one of their dance parties. :)

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KtotheRoc

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
56,638
21: Yakuza 0. End: 2/20/2020. 39 Hours. Loved.

Last year I tried to fill some of the holes in my gaming backlog. DMC was something I mostly caught up on last year. And it seems like this year Yakuza will be the series I spend a lot of time catching up on.

I quickly discovered why this series has become so popular, particularly thanks to this entry. Amazing game all around. Although I wasn't as wild about the combat in comparison to just everything else that I absolutely loved.

I'm gonna have fun with this series.
 
Oct 26, 2017
3,201
Belarus
Main Post

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4. PURE - 4 hours
Honestly, this arcade racing game didn't age that well, and garbage PC port made it hard to enjoy this game. Yeah, at first it was fun to drive around and do tricks (after I figured out which buttons I should press and how to make tricks combos because in the tutorial it doesn't explain that), but it becomes repetitive very quickly. It's just the same maps and pattern over and over again, there's simply not enough content, and without working online mode there's no replayability. Thankfully it didn't take much time to complete the campaign, but I literally forced myself to finish it.
 
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Lobotomaxx

Member
Dec 30, 2019
56
Nebraska
11/52

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#11: The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human (beaten 2/21/20) | Steam | 3/5 | ~5 hours
A fun little metroidvania game. The music is pretty good (and rockin' on boss fights) and the length of the game is just right. The art style is pretty slick too, but sometimes sailing around without paying attention was bad news. I would cruise into an underwater mine and die immediately. While there are powerups to collect, including a shield which render a hit of damage null, you can still be one shotted by multiple things. I get that it adds to the games' difficulty but it was still a little disheartening.

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Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
8. Quantum Break (XB1) 2.5/5

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I found the story boring. Didn't care for the time-travel stuff and I wasn't attached to any of the characters (maybe the main character a little). The digital actors were pretty impressive, but the live-action "tv show" cutscenes were more distracting than anything.

Gameplay is a linear trek with limited exploration. Shooting mechanics are okay--not great--and enemies are way too spongy. Time combat abilities are cool, but you get them all early on and they never go anywhere new or exciting. By the end, combat is a chore that I did not enjoy.
 

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,001
Wrexham, Wales
#17 - Kentucky Route Zero: Act 4 (PC) - 8.5/10. This was I think my favourite chapter yet. Gonna get through Act 5 later or tomorrow, such a unique and relaxing series.

Feb 22 - Kentucky Route Zero Act 4 (PC)
Feb 21 - Kentucky Route Zero Act 3 (PC)
Feb 20 - Kentucky Route Zero Act 2 (PC)
Feb 18 - Kentucky Route Zero Act 1 (PC)
Feb 15 - Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD (Switch)
Feb 12 - Dreams (PS4) - Art's Dream "campaign"
Feb 12 - Life is Strange 2x05 (Xbox One)
Feb 10 - Life is Strange 2x04 (Xbox One)
Feb 9 - Life is Strange 2x03 (Xbox One)
Feb 5 - Life is Strange 2x02 (Xbox One)
Feb 3 - Life is Strange 2x01 (Xbox One)
Jan 21 - Kind Words (PC) - got every sticker
Jan 19 - Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot (PSVR)
Jan 13 - The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets (PC - Rift)
Jan 13 - Pistol Whip (PC - Rift)
Jan 11 - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Switch)
Jan 4 - Astral Chain (Switch)
 

Tizoc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,792
Oman
41. Portal
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Been some time since I played this game, and it still holds up. Really great Puzzle game with a great atmosphere.
 

KiDdYoNe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,284
Main Post

Haha it's the end of February and I only completed 2 games. No surprises here.

1. What Remains of Edith Finch - January 21st

I had this installed for about a year now or maybe more. And the first thing I've decided to complete was What Remains of Edith Finch. Damn, I should've played this earlier. Such an amazing game. Art, story, the storytelling itself. It's just great. If you haven't played it yet, go do yourself a favor.

2. Need for Speed Heat - February 22nd

It's been a while since I've played an NFS game. I wanter to try Payback but something went wrong. Heat howewer got my attention and suddenly appeared in office so I've decided to give it a go. Can't say I had a blast, but I guess it was alright. It kinda sucks that there's a lot of grinding for the story but now that I finished it I see why - there's like 10 story missions with the rest being "side stories". Ended up just grinding the "glitch" for money and rep and got through the game in a few hours. Don't have any intentions to keep playing, but I guess it scratched my need (want? I know there's a word in english but I can't remember it lol) for an arcade race game.
P.S. Very nice surprise at the end.

Playing now: Doom.... or Untitled Goose Game.

EDIT: Holy shit some people are already 40 games +
 

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
14. Pikmin 3 - 22/02/2020

Goddamn this fucking game. Equal parts enthralling and infuriating. A constant timer is ticking down, you're constantly being judged for every Pikmin lost, it is stupid easy for your day to be completely ruined forcing a restart of the day, and all this combines to create... probably the WiiU's best original title.
 

TheOneJat

Member
Oct 1, 2018
559
Whimsicalish Great to see someone else have The Last Door down as one of their 52. Do you plan on completing Season 2? It's on PC Game Pass just so you know :)
 

TheOneJat

Member
Oct 1, 2018
559
Master Post edited. 32/52.

29. Typing of the Dead - Nice mix up to usual games. The humor really carries this through - 3/5.

30. Super Mario 3D Land - After years of having this in my backlog I finally got around to it. Really enjoyed and can see myself going back through it again to finish up collecting all the star coins. 4/5

31. New Super Mario Bros 2 - Probably my 4th time playing through this and it's just nice and relaxing to speed through (Son loved playing it too!) 3/5.

32. Gears of War 3 - This concludes me finishing every GoW game in the last 8-10 months and this was probably my second favorite in the whole series. I've grown to love the story even more with time and with another playthrough. Going to miss not having these games to run through! 4/5


Should probably conclude Valiant Hearts tonight or in the coming week and I plan on starting Tales From The Borderlands!
 

Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
9. Banjo-Tooie (XB1) 3.5/5

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Good game, but not nearly as good as Banjo-Kazooie. The port's controls are mostly pretty good, but trying to aim in first person with any sort of finesse is pretty munch impossible. The level design was a major step down from BK, to the point where it was often difficult to understand the layout of these levels and how one area connected to the next. But I liked most of the bosses and a lot of the expanded moveset, especially Gun Kazooie and moments when Banjo-Tooie turns into Goldeneye.

Master Post
 

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
15. Earthbound - 23/02/2020

Earthbound's been picked to pieces over the last 25 years and I'm not going to ad anything new to it. I will say that playing it now gave me an appreciation for the games as a whole (well, the latter two anyway) and how they differ and complement one another. Playing it now for the second time made me more aware of the clever, and sometimes not so clever, subversions of the RPG formula.
 

Aniki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,794
Main Post
#5 What Remains of Edith Finch | PS4 | 11th Feb | 5/5

Another narrative driven game that captured my mind in a way i didn't expect. You play as Edith, a young woman who's returning to her old family home in search for answers. The house, where the game takes place, is probably the most well designed house i've ever explored. It has a lot of charm and personality. I've learned quite a bit about some of Edith's family members by just carefully examining the interior. It made me really pay attention to my surroundings so i could spot every little detail.

Your objective is to learn more about your families past and you do this by searching the house for ways to get into the sealed rooms of your relatives. In each room you will the get to experience a short memory of that persons past. And it is these memories that are the highlight of this game. The creativity on display here is truly astounding. You will get take control of Edith's relatives and relive their memory. In one such memory you will have to fly a kite for example. The gameplay here is always very simple but it was still very enjoyable because these sections are so imaginative.

The only negative thing i have say about this game is that the performance on a base PS4 could have been better.

After finishing the game i had a lot of questions and thought a lot about what i had experienced. I think this game will stay in my memory for a long time and that's the best praise i can give.



#6 Until Dawn: Rush of Blood | PSVR | 20th Feb | 3/5

Rush of Blood is really just a shooting gallery if one is being a bit reductive. While riding on a roller coaster you have to shoot targets with your dual wielding weapons. Using the move controllers i had no problems hitting my targets, though i had to re-centre a few times which was really no big deal. At first my body was feeling like it was moving, and i was trying to enhance this by leaning into the curves but sadly it didn't last too long until my brain knew what was going on. It was still fun while it lasted. In the beginning i was really into the shooting but it didn't take long until the repitition set in. And even though this is a short game i still felt it did go on for too long. It offers some short lived fun but nothing really memorable.
 
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LonestarZues

Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,050
Master Post

Weekly Update 8 - 1 game finished this week. Bringing my total up to 11.

11. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge - The last two days/chapters dragged, but all in all really enjoyed my time with the game. I quickly came to love Ryu Hayabusa and look forward to playing more entries in the franchise.

Currently Playing:
1. Metro Exodus: Sam's Story - Should be done in the next day or 2. Love the series and enjoying learning more about the characters and it's always a joy to explore and uncover more lore about the series.

2. Pillars of Eternity: White March - Finished up the 1st part of the White March expansion and will count it as complete when I finish the 2nd part.

Looking to start The Sexy Brutale shortly and dropped my 1st game of the year in Dead Island as it got to repetitive and the story wasn't good enough to keep me engaged.
 

Azriell

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,109
10. Torchlight 2 (XB1) 2.5/5

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I love isometric dungeon crawlers like Diablo and Gauntlet, but I found this game to be pretty boring. I played as a mage and found combat to be very flat. A dodge button, twin stick aiming, or even a larger focus on elemental advantage would have gone a long way to keeping things more interesting, but as it is it's just 20 hours of move and shoot. The difficulty sharply increases in the last third or so, which made it less mindless, but the lack of player agency means that there's only so much you can do to respond to the difficulty.

Master Post
 

Tizoc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,792
Oman
42. Gatling Gears
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A rather ho-hum Twin-Stick shooter, with an underwhelming upgrade system that hardly seems to give you much of a beneficial boost in stats. Esp. when the bloody small human enemies take a few hits from your main machine gun to die from!