52 Games. 1 Year. 2018.

[Larrikin]

Main Post, activate.

Finished:

1. Metroid Prime

January. 6.5/10
Detailed thoughts here

2. Snipperclips - Replay with friend

January. 6/10
Just as fun the second time, although it was hard not to quarterback.

3. Steamworld Dig 2

January. 9/10
Exactly as long as it needed to be. Very smooth game with incredible flow and progression.

4. Oxenfree

January. 6/10
The story just didn't resonate with me. Geddit?

5. Limbo

January. 4/10
Unlike Braid I feel like this doesn't hold up after its initial hype. It came at a time when games like this just didn't exist, but now in a world where there are dozens of indie games exploring all sorts of weird things, this game fails at really doing anything particularly unique.

6. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

January. 8.5/10
What a wonderful mix of Pokemon and FF12 style combat. And the characters an world is absolutely charming. Falls short on the narrative front for me a little bit, but not moreso than any Ghibli movie does in delivering a really coherent plot. Thoroughly enjoyable form beginning to end

7. What Remains of Edith Finch

February. 8/10
A very interesting story, and one that can only really be told in our medium which is something I'm always happy to see. I'm loving this evolution of what is essentially the video game equivalent of Short Stories.

8. Gorogoa

February. 6/10
I think I just didn't get it. Puzzles were kinda meh, didn't really challenge me. Very few "a-ha" moments that gave me that clicking-into-place feeling I look for in puzzle/adventure games. Still glad I played it, and I enjoyed for the most part. Just unfulfilling. Maybe that was the point?

9. 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors

February. 4/10
My god the unskippable dialogue and puzzles on repeat playthroughs just kills any sense of narrative clarity this game could've had. I ended up enjoying the story it was telling, but just barely after wading through the quagmire that is the gameplay. Unlike Edith Finch I feel like this would've been a story better left to a choose-your-own-adventure novel.

10.Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

February. 7.5/10
More Shovel-Knight goodness, although I felt it lacked the precision and skill of the previous two iterations. Most boss fights became trivial after a few abilities were unlocked.

11. Celeste

February. 9/10
Narrative reinforced by gameplay isn't something that is done often, and when it is it isn't necessarily done well. Celeste absolutely nails what it is trying to do. The main campaign was enough for me, I have no desire to do B-Sides or anything more difficult. I did beat Pico-8 though.

12. Demon's Souls

February. 7/10
Thoughts here

13. Skate 2

February. 5/10
Thoughts here

14. Doki Doki Literature Club

February. 9/10
Thoughts here

15. Bravely Default

March. 8/10
Thoughts here

16. Night in the Woods

March. 3/10
Thoughts here

17. Toki Tori 2+

March. 6/10
Thoughts here

18. Monster Hunter World

March. 10/10
Thoughts here

19. flower

March. 7.5/10
Thoughts here

20. Pokemon Platinum Version

March. 8/10
Thoughts Here

21. Shadow of the Colossus (2018)

March. 3/10
Thoughts here

22. West of Loathing

March. 7/10
Thoughts Here

23. Horizon Zero Dawn

April. 8/10
Thoughts Here

24. Game Dev Tycoon

April. 8/10
Thoughts Here

25. Florence

April. 8.5/10
Thoughts Here

26. Pokemon Gold Version

June. 9/10
Thoughts Here

27. Hollow Knight

July. 10/10
Thoughts Here

28. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

July. 6.5/10
Thoughts Here

29. Beyond Good and Evil

July. 6.5/10
Thoughts Here

30. Gunman Clive 2

July. 7/10
Thoughts Here

31. Kamiko

July. 5.5/10
Thoughts Here

32. Steamworld Heist

July. 8.5/10
Thoughts Here

33. Octopath Traveler

August. 8.5/10


34. Just Shapes and Beats

August. 10/10

35. Ninja Five-O

August. 8/10


36. Overcooked 2

August. 7.5/10

37. Inside

August. 5.5/10
See Above with Limbo, except a slightly better premise.

38. Life is Strange

September. 8/10

39. Marvel's Spider-Man

September. 7.5/10

40. Final Fantasy VI

September. 8/10


41. Okami HD

October. 7.5/10

42. Castlevania

October. 8.5/10

43. Minit

October. 9/10

44. Subsurface Circular

October. 8/10


45. Super Castlevania IV

October. 9/10

46. Into The Breach

November. 10/10

47. The World Ends With You: Final Remix

November. 9.5/10

48. Super Mario Party

November. 8/10

49. Thumper

November. 8.5/10

50. Astro Bot: Rescue Mission

November. 9.5/10

51. Super Smash Bros. UIltimate

December. 10/10


52. Minecraft

December. 10/10

 

[Phendrana]

9. Gorogoa [31/01/18 - 01/02/18]

~2 hours. 7.5/10

Enjoyed it, but I do think they could have taken the concept a lot further. Would love to see a follow up in the future! The handrawn art really gave the game a lot of charm, and I enjoyed how the simple story came together through gameplay.

10. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia [4/6/17 - 02/02/18]

~66 hours after finishing DLC. 8.5/10

I've been kind of down on the Fire Emblem series for the last few years. I'm one of the old purists who isn't liking the direction the series has been trending towards with Awakening and Fates, while also recognising that it's the only reason we're getting new games at all. This game alleviated some of those concerns though, and I now have a much more positive outlook on the series again.

The artstyle is perfection. I would love for the series to stick with this artist permanently. The story was actually surprisingly solid, and this is easily one of the best cast of characters in years. I would say it's stronger overall than Path of Radiance, although to be fair I think the voice acting plays a huge part in that. It's a goddamn revelation. This is one of the best voice casts I've ever heard. Almost everyone is fantastic, and it really elevates the material.

Yes, the maps are absolutely terrible, but a Fire Emblem game lives or dies on its characters being interesting imo. If the next game is the perfect marriage of Echoes and Conquest, we'll be in for a real treat.

 

[InquisitorAles]

Main Post part 1

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16. Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek - 5 hours
Welp, this one is more like regular HOGs i've played long time ago. It's okay, but not as good as Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride, gameplay and puzzles are very simple, and you need to search through same hidden object scenes A LOT, which is a little frustrating. Game starts good enough, but falls short in the end and overall story and gameplay is just mediocre, it's okay if you like this genre, but Enigmatis clearly is not good starting point if you want to try to get into HOGs. Personally i'm not that hyped about HOGs anymore and not willing to immediately jump to next one, like it was after Grim Legends: The Forsaken Bride, maybe i'll play more HOGs from my backlog later but i'll take a little break from this genre for now.

 

[laoni]

Main Post!

I've been busy these last weeks, buuuut...

8. FFXIV Patch 4.2 - Rise of a New Sun (2/7/2018, 9hrs)

I'm an avid FFXIV player, so, this has been taking up most of my gameplay time of late. In the hour count, I only counted the plot + the time to run all the new casual stuff for the unlock, not any of the time learning harder content, idling around, levelling, or spending time with my friends. I wasn't sure on if I should include it, but, it has been the game I've been playing the most of late.

9. Picross e8 (2/17/2018 - 22hrs)

I mentioned I fucking loved Picross, right? Well, between Picross e8 and Pictopix on PC, I've had my Picross fix for the last few months while I've been really busy with life. After Pictopix though...I think I'll need a break for a bit. Just hitting critical mass.

 

[NHale]

2015: 52 games
2016: 42 games
2017: 49 games
2018: 36 games (28/12/2018)

Games finished:

Game 1 - Squareboy vs Bullies ★★
Game 2 - Madden NFL 17 ★★★
Game 3 - Little Adventure on the Prairie
Game 4 - Nex Machina ★★★★
Game 5 - Slyde ★
Game 6 - InkSplosion ★★★
Game 7 - Hex Tunnel Touch ★★
Game 8 - Minefield ★
Game 9 - Super Destronaut DX ★★
Game 10 - Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 ★★★
Game 11 - LawBreakers ★★★★
Game 12 - WRC 5 ★
Game 13 - Pic-a-Pix Color ★★★★
Game 14 - Hue ★★
Game 15 - Licky The Lucky Lizard Lives Again
Game 16 - King Oddball ★★★
Game 17 - Dying Reborn ★
Game 18 - Squares ★★
Game 19 - NBA 2K19: The Prelude ★★
Game 20 - DrawFighters ★
Game 21 - F1 2017 ★★★★
Game 22 - inFamous: Second Son ★★★★
Game 23 - Call of Duty: WWII ★★★
Game 24 - Laser League ★★★
Game 25 - Overcooked ★★★★
Game 26 - FullBlast ★
Game 27 - Jack N' Jill DX ★
Game 28 - F1 2018 ★★★★
Game 29 - Warface ★
Game 30 - NASCAR Heat Evolution ★★
Game 31 - NBA 2K17 ★★
Game 32 - Fallout Shelter ★★
Game 33 - FIFA 19 ★★★
Game 34 - Peggle 2 ★★★
Game 35 - NBA Live 18 ★★
Game 36 - Trials Fusion ★★★

January Update
Game 1 - Squareboy vs Bullies ★★
Short and sometimes fun but at the same time a game that makes you furious because of some difficulty spikes.

Game 2 - Madden NFL 17 ★★★
"Finishing" this game after playing Madden NFL 18 wasn't a great idea to either game because it showed some flaws in the gameplays while also showing how Madden 18 hasn't improved a lot on franchise modes.

 

[Bosh]

MAIN POST

11: Celeste (2-16-2018) | 8/10 | Switch | ~ 10 Hours
Overall - 8 | Great platformer that climbs together with challenge and fun throughout the experience.
Gameplay - 8 | Tight controls & interesting level designs and interactions. Controls are tight minus the feather
Sound - 9 | The game plays to a fantastic soundtrack and homage to its past.
Story/Online - 8 | For its genre it was fairly deep, also giving great insight into the feelings of a human side.
Asking Price- 9 | 100/175 strawberries and 2 more sides to complete, there is plenty to keep me coming back!

This is a game I could see bumping up the score while I delve deeper into the B & C side. Overall the game is fantastic, although I never got the same feeling of satisfaction completing an area as I did with The End Is Nigh (Not finished yet). This of course could still be filled on those sides which is why I note it, but the score above is based off of the A (story) side. This game is a lot more accessible though as The End is Nigh throws you into the deep end with a large stone tied to your legs. The controls felt tight up until close to the end where I felt with some of the added features (The Feather) felt a little loose and a good or bad outcome was not always in my control. Overall though an easy recommend and 100% is worth its price and more.

Best 2018 Title So Far: Iconoclasts
Best Non-2018 Title So Far: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

 

[Weiss]

9. Bloodborne - 16/02/2018

It's Bloodborne and it's amazing. What else is there to say?

The only boss that was too hardcore for me was Crow of Cainhurst.

 

[Kidou_rex]

7. Dragon Ball FighterZ - 02/05
As an anime and fighting game fan picking up this game was a no-brainer. I prefer 1v1 fighters rather than tag games, but this one does a good job of making characters still feel unique even with a lot of shared moves. The story took me roughly 10 hours to get through. It was neat seeing interactions between some of the Dragon Ball characters that haven't been relevant in the show for a long time, but it did drag a bit due both to the number of battles and that the three story routes shared a lot of the same plot points. Either cutting out the battles entirely or condensing the story to one route would have been better. Overall the focus of the game is on the versus though, and in that aspect the game is quite well done.

8. Titanfall 2 - 02/12
Having heard a lot of people talk up the campaign of this game and knowing of its Sci-Fi setting I decided to go through this earlier in the week. It took me around 6 hours to get through the campaign. The movement has a nice feel to it that allows you a lot of control and feels different from other vertical shooters on the market. Controlling the Titans feels appropriately clunky, but the firepower given to you when in them compensates for it nicely and never feels frustrating. I enjoyed that one mission near the end of the campaign a lot and would be interested in seeing how it was made. BT the Titan was also a highlight of the story for me. Seeing him point into the sky like Babe Ruth calling out a home-run always brought a smile to my face. I do think that the campaign may be a little over-hyped, but it was a nice way to spend a few hours. I'm on board for the third game when it comes out and hope it continues off where this one left off.

Currently Playing:
Doom
Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix

Up Next:
Will be going through Stein;Gate and Steins;Gate 0 before the anime of the latter begins airing. Also in the near future, I plan on going through Phantasy Star Online 2's episodes 2 and 3 stories since they are apparently being removed at the end of March.

Main Post

 

[Phendrana]

STATUS: 12/52

12. Red Dead Redemption [10/02/18 - 16/02/18]

~26 hours. 8/10

I just made a LTTP thread about this, but might as well post my thoughts here as well.

To continue my recent trend of finishing games with sequels (hopefully) coming this year, I finally crossed Red Dead Redemption off my list. I really enjoyed it, although it was definitely a bumpy ride at times. I want to preface this by saying it's probably going to sound far more negative than positive. There's very little that I enjoyed about this game without reservation, but I think it speaks to how strong the overall experience is that I still ultimately loved it in spite of these complaints. For the record, I'd give it an 8/10.

Okay, so one of my biggest issues with the game is that it really didn't take long for everything to start feeling very repetitive. Story missions repeat the same general structure time and time again, and outside of the animal and treasure hunting I didn't find the other types of quests to feel significantly different either. Bounty Hunts were a fun occasional challenge for the first several hours, but given that nothing about them every really changes, I wasn't even halfway through the game before they'd more or less lost their appeal entirely. The vast majority of the Strangers weren't especially interesting either, usually amounting to little more than a few cutscenes and fetch quests. This would have been much more of a problem for me if the world wasn't inherently fun to explore and exist in, but there really is a lot of room for improvement in this regard, which makes me very excited for the possibilities in Red Dead 2.

I also have some criticisms to make when it comes to the story. I honestly find it to be pretty overrated. The plot is pretty straightforward, and most of the characters are quite shallow imo. The Mexico stuff in particular was a major low point. The pacing completely tanks here, and aside from Landon Rickets (who was criminally underutilised), I found all of the characters in this section to be incredibly one-note. The story surrounding them wasn't very interesting at all either, and the ways in which Marston was roped into helping these people also felt consistently contrived. Even Marston himself took a little hit as a character for being both annoyingly naïve and stupidly frank in his dealings with them.

Speaking of Marston - I remember hearing so much praise for him back in the day for being an incredible character with one of the best arcs in all of gaming, and I just don't see it at all. He's charismatic, sure, and his voice actor does a phenomenal job, but...how is John any different at the end of the game than he was at the start? I can see him being in the conversation for most likeable protagonist, but I wouldn't say he's a particularly well written one. I'd love to see the counterargument here.

Spoilers from here on.

Spoiler

The stretch from Blackwater onwards was easily my favourite part of the game. I found Dutch to be a fairly interesting if short-lived character, and his final speech really hit on the themes of the entire game. I do think he probably should have been introduced much earlier tbh, so a lot more time could be spent building up to that final confrontation.

As for the ending...well that's one thing that I did love wholeheartedly. I could see it being foreshadowed for a fair while beforehand, which made me feel super on-edge the entire time I was at the Marston Ranch. It was a brave decision of Rockstar to kill their protagonist in that way, and it contributes to the game's strong finale.

With all of that said, pretty much everything about the presentation of the game is incredible. The world is absolutely gorgeous with so many of the various locations feeling nice and distinct. The sound design is top notch, and everything about the setting just felt right. So much of my enjoyment in this game came from just existing in the world, and if they manage to diversify the missions a bit more I'll probably enjoy Red Dead 2 even more than the first.

 

[Bond]

Main Post

3: Shadow of the Colossus
PS4 Pro | Time Player: 4 Hours | 8/10
Finally experienced arguably one of the most beloved games, with the beautiful PS4 remake and it was a powerful journey to save a loved one. Team Ico created one of the most intriguing video games in recent memory, with the simple gameplay and complex storytelling on another level. Despite some appalling horse controls, I enjoyed the experience of hunting down those Colossi.

 

[Tizoc]

22. Sam & Max Season 2: Beyond Time and Space

Nothing much to say aside from it being similar to its predecessor, so if you enjoyed the first game, you'll enjoy this one too.

23. OK KO! Let's Play Heroes

An action game based on the OK KO! cartoon show. Combat is done against a number of enemies and follows a 2D beat'em-up like system. KO can juggle enemies and summon other Heroes to help him out during battles.

Progression in the game is divided into Days, and each Day kind of feels like the plot fo an episode. Most Days mainly involve KO interacting with his peeps in the Plaza and eventually battling Boxmore's robots.
There's not much to the game sadly and it is quite repetitive, still fans of the show are likely to enjoy it more, and the overall combat is good.

 

[PC90]

Original post

9) Mega Man 7 (Steam, 5 hours and 30 minutes)
While it doesn't offer much new compared to the NES games, I still had a lot of fun playing this game.


Currently playing:
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Trails Evolution: Gold Edition
New Super Mario Bros. 2

 

[FRANKEINSTEIN]

I finally beat a game this year. Only middle of Feb.

1. Gravity Rush 2 60 hours
Overall I thought it was a great game but still prefer the original. If it didn't have those terrible stealth sections, it might have surpassed the original. I played it and beat it a year ago, but turns out I didn't. There were like 5 or 6 levels left. At the time I thought wow, these idiots left it with a cliffhanger. Turns out that there is a real ending. Got the plat and >6000 Dusty Tokens.

 

[LonestarZues]

https://www.resetera.com/posts/3243362

12. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea - PS4 - 2/17 - 8 hours: Really loved the dlc and how it all tied back into the original. Really interested in seeing what Ken Levine has cooking at his new studio. 8.5/10

13. Spec Ops: The Line - Xbox 1 - 2/19 - 5 1/2 hours: I've never played the game before, but have heard good things about it and it lived up to it. Gameplay was ok, but the narrative was top notch. 9/10

14. Metro: Last Light - PS4 - 2/23 - 10 1/2 hours: Amazing experience and has me even more hyped for Metro: Exodus. The world building/level design are top tier. Can't say enough great things about the game or franchise. 9.5/10

15. Child of Light - PS4 - 2/25 - 11 1/2 hours: What a beautiful game from the art style to the soundtrack. The world is wonderfully crafted and I can't believe it took me 2 years to finally play this wonderful game. 9/10

 

[JarrodL]

Games 1-4
Games 5-9

Games 10-13:

#10
Fallout 4: Nuka-World
PC
Completed: February 04, 2018
Playtime: > 20h (didn't track time separately from the main game)
Another big add-on for Fallout 4, this one adds a large amusement park split into several sections, each of which is an attraction built along a singular theme. I liked it less than Far Harbor, mainly because I wasn't playing an evil character and didn't want to side with the raiders, and the anti-raider path in Nuka-World leaves a lot to be desired. In fact, it's only just barely there at all. I still had some fun exploring the park, at least.

#11
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
3DS
Completed: February 10, 2018
Playtime: 63h 54m (started in 2017)
My first Zelda game, and in fact I believe also first modern Nintendo game. It's fun, engaging, and has lots of charm. I loved the mask and song mechanics, collecting them and looking for useful ways to apply them was the best part of the game for me. Time loop mechanic was really cool and original too, although I didn't like how it could sometimes make the game too repetitive and make me redo boss fights and challenges just to get to the parts I haven't seen yet (I discovered the time-slowing song too late, and for the most of the game had to race against the clock to do everything I wanted in any given day). There's tons of optional side stuff to do here. Due to that, the game can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning if playing blind - there were a few game sessions where I felt like I accomplished very little after playing for hours, because I didn't know where to go to progress and didn't have any of the required items/abilities for various side activities I've bumped into. I didn't like the faerie and spider collectathon 'quests' - had to use a guide to get all faeries in the first two temples, and skipped finding them completely in the last two.

#12
Fallout 4
PC
Completed: February 16, 2018
Total playtime (incl. all DLC): 214h 58m (started in 2017)
Feels good to finally be done with a game this huge, it sure took a while. Let me start with the good parts. Fallout 4 is at its best when you're not pursuing the main story missions and instead focusing on just exploring the wasteland, building up your weapon arsenal, looking for upgrades for your power armor and reading the little mini-stories on terminals forming the intriguing background of that old vault or abandoned building you found. Fortunately for me, that kind of free-form exploration is exactly what I was looking for and so I found a lot to enjoy in this game. The game looks very pretty on PC, and has great atmosphere at times. Combat gameplay is good, and there's an impressive variety of weapons. Some non-randomized side quests were not bad. I like how Bethesda attempted to give companions more personality, personal quests, and even romantic relationships this time (unfortunately, 'attempted' is the key word here; it could use a lot of improvement).
On to what I didn't like: the endless boring random-generated chains of side quests (I wish I knew beforehand they were a thing here, I want those hours of my life back). Also skipped all the base-building and base-defending stuff whenever I could, and didn't like that the game tried to force it on me in some missions. The game still after all this time has some really irritating bugs with companions - they would occasionally vanish completely for a good 10 minutes or so, or would sometimes randomly fall from great height and hurt their legs (which means you're forced to fast travel to the nearest bed, sleep for a day or two to heal their crippled limb, then fast travel back. If you can that is, there isn't always a fast travel point near where you used to be.). The biggest disappointment, however, were the main story and the lack of choice in its final missions. Some late game spoilers:

Spoiler

As far as I can tell (I couldn't find any other options), you're forced to side with one of the big four and completely destroy at least some of the others. Which, unfortunately, means that whatever your choice you're forced to kill a bunch of innocent people, whose only fault is following orders, and/or wanting to be able to protect their family/future, and/or falling for someone's propaganda, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I ended up siding with the Railroad, mostly because it felt the least powerful and the most desperately in need of help of all. But I felt terrible destroying both the Prydwen (oh god, did I just kill all those kids-squires? As well as people who used to call me brother and go on missions and chat with me in the hallways? I totally did, what a wonderful person I am...) and the Institute (that place had innocent people with families and children leaving their lives peacefully, who had nothing to do with the terrible inhuman experiments which the directorate was carrying out). That's against how I was playing my character up to that point. My character just wouldn't go along with it. But he had no choice in the matter - basically, you're told that killing everyone is the way to go, and there's no option to even object. Either you do it, or you won't be able to finish the game.

Sorry, but that's not how good RPGs are made, Bethesda, especially not good Fallout games.

#13
Demon's Souls
PS3
Completed: February 17, 2018
Playtime: 44h 50m
Replay, most likely final. The jump in difficulty with NG+ was more serious than I anticipated, and I was dying a lot to regular mobs in the beginning before I adjusted and had some essential weapons upgraded (apparently I somehow finished the original playthrough without using any decent weapon upgrades, probably due to playing it blind and not knowing how they worked at the time). Didn't have as much trouble with bosses as I feared, everything took no more than several attempts. Followed a guide in the wiki to play around with character and world tendencies this time (what a confusing mechanic). Also did all Mephistopheles assassination missions, and ended up killing everyone in the Nexus just for funs before finishing the game at SL118.

Dropped/Retired games:

Pillars of Eternity + The White March expansions
PC
Playtime in 2016-2017: over 100 hours
Playtime in 2018: ~3 h
I started playing this in 2016, but was getting frustrated a lot with combat, and so it went slow until I finally dropped it for a looong time. Starting this game on the hardest difficulty was a big mistake, it's nothing like Baldur's Gate where you can often cheat by carefully pulling enemies one by one out of fog of war or exploiting well-known AI quirks. And it doesn't allow you to turn difficulty down from Path of the Damned, so I found myself stuck. Decided to try and pick it up again to see if I can finish the game before the upcoming sequel's release, but no luck. It's a bummer to drop it after investing so much time already, especially since it's totally my kind of game and I was enjoying it in nearly everything except the combat. But I just can't stand any more bumping my head against regular mob encounters and failing over and over again. It doesn't help that I was careless with character development at the start and screwed up my main character's build - he just wasn't as effective as he should be. Not sure what to do about Pillars II now, I'm not too enthused by the prospect of replaying the whole thing on easy just to see the later parts I missed.

Currently playing:

Persona 4 Golden (Vita)
Drakengard (PS2)
Sunset Overdrive (XB1)
Steins;Gate (PC)

 

[Bosh]

MAIN POST

#12: Monster Hunter World (2-17-2018) | 9/10 | PS4 | ~ 82 Hours
# Overall - 9 | Its a game you can play for 10 minutes or lose yourself for hours. Easy GOTY contender
Gameplay - 9.4 | MHW controls fantastic, with tons of weapons &combos. Unique enemies lead to wild fights.
Sound - 9 | Great soundtrack, what truly shines is the monsters & the noises they make. Battles can be one or lost off of catching the sounds they make.
Story/Online - 7 | Story is serviceable and is a good way to introduce monsters & mechanics
Asking Price- 9.67 | Tons of monsters, tons of quest, even after the credits roll the content only increases.

Best 2018 Title So Far: Monster Hunter World
Best Non-2018 Title So Far: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

 

[Weiss]

10. Night in the Woods - 18/02/2018

I was in love with this game for the first three quarters of it, it was one of the most goddamn real things I've ever experienced and spoke to me in a way that a lot of games just plainly cannot, but the end of the game really drags the experience down. I'd still recommend it for everything leading up to the ending, though.

Might make a LTTP thread.

 

[StoveOven]

First Update!

Original Post - 3/52 Completed

Game 1: NBA 2K18 (PS4, 2017) - dev. Visual Concepts

The reason I haven't completed a game until February is because 2K has been stealing most of my attention. I played to the end of a season of MyPlayer, and I think losing to the Warriors in 6 broke the curse and I'm free from this game. I didn't have a lot of the problems other people had with the game regarding the microtransactions, but that's probably just because of how I play the game. I'm sure those complaints are warranted. As someone who just wants to play some basketball, I thought the game was as good as it is every year. It definitely wasn't a standout in terms of big changes, and the story stuff tied to the MyPlayer mode was unbearable (and unskippable), but the basketball is just as great as it always is.

Game 2: Shadow of the Colossus (PS3, 2005) - dev. Team Ico

The best game of all time. I wanted to play through the original again before Bluepoint's remake came out. I've played a bit of that and have really enjoyed what they've done with it. But there's still something special about the Team Ico game, and I don't think this was the last time I'll play it.

Game 3: XCOM: Enemy Within (PS3, 2013) - dev. Firaxis Games

I picked this up last year when Giant Bomb started doing a series with the game. I love both new XCOM games but hadn't played either expansion. I'll probably go through War of the Chosen soon. Enemy Within is good but a little thin. It's basically the same game as Enemy Unknown but with a few extras that aren't even huge aspects of the game. As someone who's use to Firaxis expansions with the Civ games, this seemed light compared to those. But XCOM is still good, and I thought the meld canisters were a good incentive to keep the pace up. After getting murdered constantly in XCOM 2 throughout 2016, it was nice to come back to an easier XCOM game and steamroll my way through a lot of fights with only the occasional moments of tension. Although after defeating the final boss with two sniper shots I think I'm ready for more challenge again and hope War of the Chosen can provide that.

 

[Larrikin]

Main Post

12. Demon's Souls

February. 7/10
First Souls game I completed, but not the first I played. It was hard to go back to this after playing Dark Souls. So many quality of life things just absent from this game, and although there is a charm to the jank of it all, the overall level design is just such a sharp dip in quality. The levels don't feel thoughtfully made like they do in Dark Souls, more like a mishmash of an idea executed however they felt with little regard for the player. Every area in this game feels like the unreleased demo track of a Dark Souls game. Glad I played it, but "Git Gud" wasn't enough with the amount of silly unavoidable things this game throws at you. I like to at least pretend that there's a chance to beat something the first time I attempt it, and Dark Souls does a very good job of making sure it's the players fault if they die. Here, it might as well be arbitrary in certain areas.


Currently Playing:
Monster Hunter World (My Main Squeeze)
Skate 2 (Weekend Relaxation)
Bravely Default (Commute to Work)
Night in the Woods (Playing with a friend, but my god this game is tedious and I might abandon it.)

 

[Cyclonesweep]

Main Post

Game 9. VVVVVV ★★★ 2 Hours (Jan 30th to Jan 30th) - PC

I am not the best at platformers and god it took me a while to get a grasp on reversing gravity instead of you know, jumping. But once I figured it out I had so much fun. Loved how often save points were. Loved it.


Game 10. Papers Please ★★★★ 4 Hours (Feb 13th to Feb 14th) - PC

Such a unique game. Kind of zen with how simple it was. Got the 20th ending which I guess is the "best one" and the whole thing I did for my country. I screwed up quite a few times but nothing too bad. Damn fake papers.


Game 11. Thirty Flights of Loving ★ 30 Minutes (Feb 16th to Feb 16th) - PC

I absolutely hated this. I know at the time it was released reviewers liked it but.....the story was odd, the game play was just walking. The end the graphics looked like they just forgot to finish and I thought it was a glitch? Maybe there is something I am not getting but awful awful awful.



Game 12. The Last of Us: Remastered ★★★★★ 14.5 Hours (Jan 31st to Feb 17th) - PS4

I do not understand why it took me so long to play this but holy shit. This was probably one of the greatest games I ever played. The story was moving and unique. The gameplay (on hard) was challenging at times and completely fair. Such a masterpiece.


Game 13. The Last of Us: The Left Behind ★★★★ 2.5 Hours (Feb 17th to Feb 17th) - PS4

Not quite as good as the main story, gameplay was a bit more frustrating at points but the story still held up. Filled in some blanks from the main story and showed some of the past as well. A short experience but definitely worthwhile.


Game 14. Super Mario Bros ★★★★ 2 Hours (Feb 18th to Feb 18th) - NES

I had played this when I was a child but never ended up beating it. It's amazing how tight of a platformer they created back then. Every mistake was my own so I was never too angry when I fell down the same pit for the 10th time.

 

[Spyware]

Slow month! If I reach even half the number of last month it would be amazing. Hah. I am playing Monster Hunter: World, Guild Wars 2 and Fallout 4 so yeah. Those take up a huge chunk of my time.

Game #30: Scratches
Started 4 Feb. 2018 - Completed 7 Feb. 2018
Verdict: A dull "mystery" in a dull environment.

This was a pain to play on my PC, with the mouse controls being the biggest problem. Since the first impression wasn't that positive, the game had to be real good to bring me out of my irritation, and it sorta couldn't. Sure, the story was kinda interesting and the pointy-clicky parts were fine, but it never really grabbed me. It's not a bad game, I think I would have liked it a lot more if I played it ten years ago. But some games just don't age well. Or maybe it just wasn't a game for me.​

Game #31: Tomb Raider: Legend
Started 5 Feb. 2018 - Completed 7 Feb. 2018
Verdict: Much better than I remember, but has the worst motorcycle levels in history.

I played this almost ten years ago. It was the first game I played on an Xbox, and I wasn't really a fan of the controller or the game. I finished it and it wasn't a bad game, it just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I didn't want those silly other people, and why was I shooting mostly people and bleeergh! But I played Underworld not too many years ago and liked it a lot, so when I got the whole Tomb Raider series for 97% off on Steam (due to an error) I felt like I should give Legend another chance. And I am glad I did! It was really fun most of the time. I was very surprised to find that it supported 1440p! It also has a "next gen graphics" option but that just makes the whole game look strange and introduces a bunch of visual glitches. Avoid! The old graphics actually hold up pretty good. Had no problems at all with Lara's buddies ot the human enemies this time. The one bad thing about this game is the motorcycle levels, and wow those are so bad. Especially the Kazakhstan one. I almost dropped the game after failing it seven or so times and having to restart from the very beginning. But I am happy I kept bashing my head against that wall. Looking forward to Anniversary and Underworld now!​

Game #32: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
Started 8 Feb. 2018 - Completed 10 Feb. 2018
Verdict: Another superb entry in an outstanding series.

I almost have no words for how great this game is. I am a huge fan of the whole series, it's absolutely one of my all time favourites. DotO actually surprised me a lot. I knew absolutely nothing about it other than glimpses from the first teaser and the name. The way Billie's powers worked were very interesting, especially Semblance. Played a non-lethal, ghost run with her powers and then did a lethal run in "Original Game+". I was a little sad about the removed chaos system, but I still noticed a couple of changes between my runs based on if I killed people or not. All in all a great game.​

Game #33: Beyond Eyes
Started 12 Feb. 2018 - Completed 12 Feb. 2018
Verdict: An insanely slow but beautiful interactive story.

I played this in my "alphabet challenge" on Twitch, and it seemed my viewers liked it just as much as I did. Saying anything about the story spoils it completely so I'll just say we all liked it. Since you play a blind girl, the movement is very slow. You walk very slowly through the whole game, and that was a bit annoying at times. I actually said some not-so-nice words about the game during my second playthrough where I had to explore a lot more to find all the achievements I missed (which was every single one actually...). But it is short, beautiful and has a nice story. I absolutely recommend it.​

Game #34: Legend of Grimrock 2
Started 31 Oct. 2017 - Completed 18 Feb. 2018
Verdict: Very different sequel that still manages to make the formula work perfectly.

Ah, finally. I loved the first game immensely and pre-ordered this one. Then I didn't play it! I don't really know why, but maybe I just didn't feel like playing more Grimrock after 100%-ing the first one some week before the release of this one. Then other games just came between us. It's always been high on the priority list and I have thought "next game will be LoG2!" multiple times. I finally got around to it in October last year, starting up a very challenging run. I could only save at crystals, I could only use the crystals one time each, I had no map and I played on hard difficulty. One hour into the challenge I got distracted, again. But I picked it back up some week ago and made sure not to take any long breaks. Playing it took some time and required some planning since the saves are few and far between, so I couldn't really play at any time I felt like startign it up. I had to know I could sit down and play to the next save point that could be hours away. It was an amazing experience, combing the games for secrets (I got them all!) and having to really be aware of my surroundings and the enemies around me. I also played a "casual" run on easy with a very strange team just to grab all the other achievements, but I had lots of fun with that too. I like this just as much as the first game and I love how different it was.​

_

Master Post!

 

[PC90]

Original post

10) Mega Man 8 (Steam, 5 hours)
Easily my least favourite mainline Mega Man game so far. Oh well, at least the terrible VA was funny.

Currently playing:
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Trails Evolution: Gold Edition
New Super Mario Bros. 2

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

8. Resident Evil 5 + all DLC - PS4
Completed 2/18/18
Score - 7/10

I remember liking this game so much more than I do today. The mechanics of the game are still fine and it plays really well in 60 FPS on PS4...but it was such a step down. Coming off the high of Resident Evil 4 (which I played 2 other times) I can definitely see the cracks in this one. It was clear the series was losing it's identity and was trying to emulate whatever was popular at the time. I played about half of the game solo and then started playing co-op, which is how I originally played it years ago, and it's definitely the only way to play. Solo is borderline torture. The DLC was new for me and I enjoyed it. Would rather have had a full game of Lost in Nightmares than this one. The remaining RE games for me to beat are all games that I have yet to try...so we will see how it goes. Darkside Chronicles, Revelations 2, RE 6 and RE 7.

Main Post

 

[KingFrost92]

Completed: 8/52

1. Human: Fall Flat - 6 hours. FINISHED.
2. The Evil Within 2 - 14 hours. FINISHED.
3. Super Mario Odyssey - 25 hours. FINISHED.
4. Contradiction: Spot the Liar! - 7 hours. FINISHED.
5. Little Nightmares - 3 hours. FINISHED.

6. Nioh - 15 hours. DISCONTINUED. I got through the first world and immediately just felt like I couldn't do it any more. Not because it's not fun, it's just not the type of game that I'm looking to play right now. Lord, this game is a beast. It's not as hard as I thought it would be, but there's certainly some moments that led me to frustration (first optional boss battle with the dude in the field? Ugh, that killed me for hours until I gave up). I'll probably come back to this at a later date.

7. Don't Starve Together - ~80 hours. COMPLETED. We finally made it through a year. My wife hasn't stopped playing this, and she's been guiding me through the whole experience. I suck at it, but we have made it from fall to fall successfully, and have used this as a fun thing to stream every week with friends. Don't Starve is great, but if it gets its hooks in you it's a huge problem, as doing anything notable in the game takes HOURS.

8. Celeste - 10 hours. COMPLETED. What an awesome platformer! I finished up the main story, and need to go back to get hearts and do the final level, but I'm gonna leave that for a later date. This could easily fit into a top ten list of 2018. Such an incredible OST and fun experience.

9. Monster Hunter: World - COMPLETED. I'm through the story, and now want to get a ton of new armor and weapons. This is still a game I'm gonna have running in my PS4 for a long while to come, but I've completed the story at least!

10. Subnautica - IN PROGRESS. This game rules, and fills my need for an exploration-focused game right now. The environment design in this is top notch, and some stuff I'm finding is simply freaking me out. Easily the best of the survival games I've played. Story is picking up...so maybe this game has an end?

11. Contra: Hard Corps - IN PROGRESS. I desperately want to beat this before Giant Bomb does, so I'm practicing. Such an enjoyable run-and-gun game, filled with a ton of crap that's super cheap. My goal is to complete this before mid-April. I guess I'll see if that's possible.

Next up:
Yakuza Kiwami
Steamworld Dig 2
Kirby Star Allies

 

[saenima]

Main post: https://www.resetera.com/posts/2784229/

28. A Raven Monologue / 10m - completed 20.02.18

A short story about loss. Not much more to say. It's very short and it tells its story through the piece and through the store page, so check that out as well if you decide to experience A Raven Monologue.

 

[Ted]

Well it's a late start for me, only just now getting to my first completion but I kind of expected that!

Master List - link

GAME #01: Cook, Serve, Delicious 2!!
Vertigo Gaming Inc. - PC - ★★★☆☆

Completion State:
Tried a shift at all of the restaurants open at level 30 (13 hours, 45% Steam achievements)

Comments:
Not really sure where to start with this one as it ultimately is a very similar game to the first game from chubigans just with a lot more equally lovingly crafted stuff. I adored the first one clocking up well over 20 hours in it so I should love this one too, right? Alas no, or at least, not as much.

It's still a really good fun game but for me the additions end up taking away from the focus of the first game and make the sequel more of a slog. The first game was largely based around creating a menu for your own restaurant from an increasingly large range of food (unlocked by making money in your restaurant) and whilst the second game now also includes a similar mode the main bulk of the content is predefined scenarios in other restaurants in the tower. Each of these restaurants is loosely based on a theme (breakfast, seafood) and challenges you to complete a days service in order to receive a gold (no bad or average orders), silver (less than 5 bad or average orders), or bronze (less than 8 bad or average orders) medal. As you increase in level you have access to more and more restaurants and more and more shifts in each restaurant. The shifts essentially become harder through an increased complexity of menu as well as increasing "buzz" which in turn increases customer demand.

This is all well and good I suppose and probably makes CSD2 a little more traditional in structure with what are basically worlds and levels. For me though it has the unintended side effect of making me feel less interest in performing well. Some of these restaurant challenges are pretty bloody hard with complex food stuffs and huge demand but since I'm just "working for someone else" I was far less interested in mastering them. I mean, I own my own restaurant, why am I even bothering doing these shifts for what are ultimately competitors?

It also significantly lowers the amount of content where the player has the ability to tailor the challenge for themselves, there's quite a lot of stuff in here I'll never even attempt as I simply don't have the typing speed or skill to complete them. In the first game there was only a few specifically difficulty predefined challenges so in ignoring them I didn't feel I was missing much at all whereas here, I feel I'm really not getting the bulk of the experience.

That's a shame, for me, as the actual mechanics have been enhanced significantly. The addition of prep stations and the massively improved breadth and depth of food items available are fantastic but I feel they are slightly wasted as a consequence of the above.

All in all, still a good game in and of itself, just for me not quite as pure as the first game.

 

[Tambini]

#8 Call of Duty Black Ops III 5 Xbox One - February 20th - 7 hours
(Talking about campaign only)
whatthehellwasthat.jpg. Another we played co op and without a doubt the worst mainline cod campaign. The story is bananas which I wouldn't mind if it didn't keep hassling control away from the player for it's nonsensical bullshit. The level design is some of the worst in a fps I've played, they just throw you straight in, nearly every level is just a huge area filled with enemies, no pacing at all. The same old cod gameplay is there with some new abilities which are whatevs, so it's almost half decent but the level design sinks it.

 

[ArmsofSleep]

I'm gonna keep a post here, even though I'll never hit 52 this year. Just for tracking purposes.

1. Demon's Souls

2. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze

3. NiER

4. Rayman: Legends

5. Invisible Inc.

6. God of War

7. Nier: Automata

8. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

will probably at some pics/gifs/thoughts once I get to 10 or so

also obviously I'm a glutton for punishment with the difficulty/grind of these so far

 

[saenima]

Main post: https://www.resetera.com/posts/2784229/

29. Glass Masquerade / 4h30 - completed 21.02.18

A puzzle game where you reconstruct stained glass panes, travelling around the world. Lovely art style and a fun way to spend a couple of hours if you're in the mood for some jigsaw puzzling.


30. Banyu Lintar Angin - Little Storm - / 10m - completed 21.02.18

This is literally a series of illustrations that you click through. Similar to A Raven Monologue, by the same studio. It's not actually a story but moments of a family, kinda like a photo album. I do like the illustrations a lot but there's nothing else here.

 

[Ligero]

I've been hunting for this thread! I'm committed this year. I'm trying something different this year with some extra info added, and trying to quantify my enjoyment to price ratio for those who use these for mini reviews. Prices are in Canadian Dollars in case anyone thinks I pay way too much.


January:

1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim & 3 Expansions

I had never actually played Skyrim, and picked it up on a boxing day sale, determined to get the experience everyone else had in 2011. Overall I loved the game, but burned a little too brightly on it - completing all main, civil war, and various guild quests as well the 3 expansions all in the same month.

Playtime: 100+ hours
Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Cost: $29.99


2. Assassin's Creed Origins

Another late one, I liked this game quite a bit - but as a diehard AC fan, the departure was a bit much sometimes. I missed the old jankyness and almost exclusively story-driven content. Still a great game and one I'm glad I played. Did about 50% of the side quests, but it was too Witcher-lite for me to really invest in the rest. Playing this right after 3 straight weeks of Skyrim couldn't have helped.

Playtime: 20 hours
Enjoyment: 8/10
Cost: $29.99

3. Dishonored Expansions: Witches of Brigmore and Knife of Dunwall

Looking to change up from giant openworld RPGs I dug up Dishonored to play the DLC's I never touched. Both were decent, but I think I'm just no longer into Dishonored and it's gameplay style.

Playtime: 7 hours (Combined)
Enjoyment: 6/10
Cost: $0 (came with base game I bought for $20)


4. The Surge

This had been on mine and many others "try it out" lists for a while, touting Dark Souls-esque gameplay with some futuristic twists. Overall it was a pretty fun game, though EXTREMELY repetitive by the end. It also sorely lacked the "explore till a boss" sense of progression that the FromSoft games have, seeing as theres only 4-5 bosses in the entire game. Looking forward to a more polished, boss-heavy sequel for sure.

Playtime: 20+ hours
Enjoyment: 7/10
Cost: $20

**During this time I started up Psycho Pass: Mandatory Happiness, but the lack of an audio track using the Dub cast killed it for me.

5. Final Fantasy XII

After playing it for about 1 hour at launch, I finally got my hands on this game with the remaster. The combat takes some getting used to, but the characters are awesome. It's a bit dry with all the dungeon crawling, but according to a wiki I checked for length, I'm almost done, so I'm sure it'll pick up. A lot of my enjoyment is finally having played the game instead of it living in my head as a possible classic.

Playtime: 40+ hours
Enjoyment: 7/10
Cost: $30


6. Shadow of the Colossus

Loved the original but only beat 2/3 of it on PS2 and PS3, here I was able to dive right in. Crushed it out in a few days, this was a great, condensed experience. The graphical updates are gorgeous too. I had never seen Colossus' 12-16 so that was fun too.

Playtime: 12-15 hours
Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Cost: $0 (old trade in credit at EBgames)


7. The Evil Within 2

Having waiting until last Oct to even touch the first entry, I was pretty damned hype for this. Loved the open world that funnelled itself into a more narrative structure, as by that point I couldn't wait to push the story further. Gameplay was heavily improved in my opinion, and Chapter 14 was something extra special. Tie it all up in a surprisingly emotional final stretch, and I can't wait for TEW3.

Playtime: 13 hours (almost on the dot)
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cost: $0 (Christmas Gift)


**Up next we have GTA5, The Last Guardian, Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, SOMA, and all 6 Kingdom Hearts games on tap**

 

[Weiss]

11. Demon's Souls - 21/02/2018

All killer, no filler.

That's how I've had Demon's Souls summed up for me and I totally agree. The level based approach opposed to Dark Soul's interconnected world means every stage gets to have its own visual identity (and no part of Dark Souls matches up to Shrine of Storms or Tower of Latria), and you get the opportunity for more dynamic gameplay that Dark Souls couldn't really have.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

9. Mega Man 7 - PS4
Completed 2/20/18
Score - 5/10

Really didn't enjoy this one at all. Back as a kid I was into all Mega Man games for the NES. 2 and 3 are still my absolute favorite. Other than X1, I kind of stopped playing the Mega Man games after 6. Maybe it's because I don't have nostalgia goggles on this one...but I really disliked it. The last boss was a total pain and the stages lacked any creativity. I was excited to play through all the Mega Man games, along with X and Zero at some point...now I am a little worried. I am going to put off playing 8 for a bit.

Main Post

 

[KingFrost92]

Completed: 9/52

1. Human: Fall Flat - 6 hours. FINISHED.
2. The Evil Within 2 - 14 hours. FINISHED.
3. Super Mario Odyssey - 25 hours. FINISHED.
4. Contradiction: Spot the Liar! - 7 hours. FINISHED.
5. Little Nightmares - 3 hours. FINISHED.
6. Nioh - 15 hours. DISCONTINUED.
7. Don't Starve Together - ~80 hours.
8. Celeste - 10 hours. FINISHED.
9. Monster Hunter: World - FINISHED.
10. Subnautica - IN PROGRESS.
11. Contra: Hard Corps - IN PROGRESS.

12. Botanicula - 3 hours. FINISHED. This is one of those games that has been sitting in my Steam library for years, and I've always brushed off as something I wouldn't be into. Then my wife saw it and FORCED us to play through it. Actually, this is one of the cutest, most enjoyable games I've played in a very long time. All smiles for the entire 3 hour run time. Such a fun little adventure game, and none of the puzzles were so obtuse that we got stuck for longer than a few minutes. It was as perfect an experience with a point and click game as I could have asked for. Highly recommended!

Next up:
Yakuza Kiwami
Steamworld Dig 2
Kirby Star Allies

 

[watdaeff4]

Original Post:
https://www.resetera.com/posts/3590985/


14. Virtua Fighter 5 (XBox1/360)
Completed: 2/16
Time: 1 hour
Rating: 6/10

Played through this short story mode and tried some of the challenges. Not going to spend any extra time with this fighter as I have a lot to play with and it just doesn't stack up against the rest

15. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4)
Completed: 2/18
Time: 6-7 hours?
Rating: 9/10

I know this game got shit on a lot, but I thought the campaign was really good. I also enjoyed the air combat and all the side missions. Zombies mode was also fun though no different than the previous CoD Zombies modes I've played. Have not and will not touch the MP tho.

16. Shadow of the Colossus (PS4)
Completed 2/19
Time: 6 hours
Rating: 8/10

This was my first time playing SotC. This game is enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone with a PS4. My biggest issue is the controls. It's a big issue when the most challenging part of the game is the controls themselves :( . Despite that, it goes to show you how great the game is that I still gave it a 8/10. (It would have been a 10/10 if the controls were better.

17. What Remains of Edith Finch (Xbox 1)
Completed 2/19
Time: 2 hours
Rating: 8/10

"Walking Simulators" aren't my favorite genre, but the story(ies) in this one more than make up for it. They aren't for the light of heart and for parents they can really be a bit somber. But still excellent storytelling.

18. World of Final Fantasy (Vita)
Completed: 2/22
Time: 40 hours
Rating: 9/10

This was a great jRPG and better than some mainline Final Fantasy games. I have never played Pokemon but I'm guess this game is SE attempts to put Pokemon mechanics in a FF setting? Either way it turned out great! The only think I have to say to criticize it is the story and for RPG story is a big factor.

Currently Playing:
Monster Hunter World
Assassin's Creed Origins
Gran Turismo Sport

 

[Deleted member 1759]

Main Post

Game #13



Kingdom Come: Deliverance is game I was really excited for and I'm glad it could live up to my expectations/hopes. It took me almost 96h to beat it and I don't regret a single minute I've spend with this game (except for one quest maybe). The world was super immersive - the atmosphere in the forests was especially great - and I lost track of time while playing. And I must say that I was positively surprised by the writing: good characters, an overall interesting story and some truly great quests (Father Godwin).

The gameplay was enjoyable as well and it was motivating to actually see that Henry gets better and better when you spend some time and train different weapons and other skills like lockpicking and pickpocketing. You can't properly hold a sword/bow when you start playing and get more secure the more you train. The combat mechanics were solid when you were fighting 1 vs. 1 but it got a bit hectic when you were facing more than one enemy at once. At that point I usually ran away and used my bow to kill the enemies (scoring a headshot is really satisfying in KC:D). The fact that you had to sleep and eat didn't bother me at all. Even when you're in the middle of nowhere there's a good chance you'll find some camp with a bed and Perpetual Stew relatively close by.

But I can't deny that there were bugs and other technical problems. For example: at the moment I can't complete 3 side quests because I either get stuck in a dialogue, a dialogue doesn't get triggered or a NPC I have to talk to disappeared. And well, that's just annoying. Also the game occasionally froze for 1-3 seconds before I could continue playing. At least I didn't experience any crashes.

I love the setting and the premise of the game and its success shows that there is a market for these kind of games. So I hope we'll see more games like this in the future (solid RPGs without fantasy elements embedded in a historical context). If it weren't for the technical issues and bugs I'd recommend this game to anyone who likes RPGs and medieval settings. If you prefer a more polished experience and hate bugs, I'd suggest that you wait for some patches before buying it.

 

[TheIlliterati]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/52-games-1-year-2018.13773/#post-2734861

January

12. The House of Da Vinci - 8 hrs
I'm in a real puzzle/adventure mood. This was a very long version of The Room, and it hit the spot perfectly.

February

13. Uncharted: Lost Legacy - 8 hrs
Quite a good addition to the series. I'm pretty done with the series though...needs a long rest.
14. Glass Masquerade - 4 hrs
Relaxing coffee break game I enjoyed.
15. Leaves: The Journey - 5 hrs
16. Leaves: The Return - 3 hrs
These games were enjoyable in their own way, though unmemorable.
17. The Sea Will Claim Everything - 3 hrs
This has been on my backlog forever...great charming writing. Can't wait for the next addition.
18. Tormentum - Dark Sorrow - 3 hrs
I enjoyed the art, quite unique in adventure games. The puzzles are lackluster.
19. Quern: Undying Thoughts - 15 hrs
I really loved this, it hit the right tone between Myst and The Room.

19 games / 185 hrs / 2018

 

[InquisitorAles]

Main Post part 1

-------


17. SteamWorld Heist - 16 hours
Very good turn-based XCOM-alike strategy game with great artstyle and gameplay. Not perfect though, while there is no "chance to hit" and your accuracy fully depends on how well you aim, devs didn't get rid of random component completely and leaved procedural level generation. It works mostly okay, but sometimes it can be simply unfair, same level can be hard at first attempt and ridiculously easy after second try because of different enemies respawn points. At least boss battles are always the same and you have to plan them carefully. There is some weird difficulty spikes before the first boss, but after that game mostly provides fair balance between fun and challenge. Also worth mention that game have native touchscreen support and works perfectly on budget windows tablets.

 

[saenima]

Main post: https://www.resetera.com/posts/2784229/

31. Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon / 10h - completed 22.02.18

The third game in the series is a huge disappointment that just gets more grating as it plods along.

The lush and beautiful art style from the previous games is gone, leaving us with characterless 3D visuals that completely fail to capture the charm of its predecessors. The empty open levels bring nothing interesting to the table and only serve to waste the time of the player as most of them are just ugly window dressing with nary a bit of interesting stuff to do in them. The character models are terrible, even for the time of release, but at least the dialogue still has its moments, the highlights being George and Nico's banter and George's inane remarks that still manage to crack me up. The more serious story beats though, are handled with no subtlety or sense of tone.

The plot is also not very good and it has one of the lamest twists i have seen recently. The ending is just bad all around. The music and dialogue constantly get cut and i had to reconfigure my controller every single time i restarted the game. It's like the game was actively fighting and tempting me to hate it. Though i wouldn't go that far, it seriously left a bad taste in my mouth.

The puzzles are what killed any goodwill i still had toward this game. After a certain point, i realized that almost every area had a box puzzle. To be fair, i'm not the biggest box puzzle aficionado to start with, so maybe i'm a little bit biased, but making every other puzzle a box puzzle in an Adventure game does not strike me as the wisest move.

All in all, this is probably the worst game i've played this year so far. And i've finished Mars: War Logs.

 

[Rokal]

Doubt I'll finish any other games this month, so posting a bit early.

February

5: Prey - 27 hours

I like that games like Prey are still being made. The player freedom in the game is impressive and Talos 1 is a really cool environment, convincing as a massive ship that you see only some parts of. Where Prey falls short for me is the story and setting. I never thought the alien species in the game was interesting or fun to fight against, and we've seen the "deserted space station where something has gone terribly wrong" set up dozens of times, usually with a more interesting pay off than what Prey accomplishes. Immersive sims feel like a genre where the level of freedom given to the player allows them to learn something about themselves based on how they respond to situations and play the game but Prey doesn't feel like it succeeds at this.
7/10

6: TACOMA - 3.5 hours

As a follow-up to Gone Home this was a little disappointing. The space station didn't have as much character and wasn't as interesting to explore as the Home, and the narrative wasn't as personal. The "found" narrative pieces didn't make my mind race in quite the same way as Gone Home did. I never felt myself fearing extreme outcomes based on the small window into the story that I found, which was the coolest part of Gone Home. I applaud them for trying something new though, and they do manage to make you care about some of the characters over a relatively short playtime. I certainly appreciated the LGBT representation in the game and how normal it felt.
7/10

7: Yakuza Kiwami - 9.5 hours

Kiwami is really impressive as a remake. The combat was brought up to modern Yakuza standards, the environments and character models all look great, and the new story additional are the highlight of the game rather than something that tarnishes the original game's legacy. However the additions don't quite do enough to hide the core of the game's age completely. It still feels a bit too simple, a bit too short, and the story isn't as strong as Yakuza 0. I'm looking forward to playing 6 this year and I think playing Kiwami is going to add a lot to that experience in the same way that playing 0 added a ton to Kiwami, but on its own Kiwami is just okay.
7/10

8: Little Nightmares - 5 hours

I wasn't sure what to expect of this going in, but it's an INSIDE or LIMBO-style game with higher production values. It doesn't quite reach the heights of those games. What story there is was disappointingly shallow, and there are a couple pretty annoying chase and stealth sequences. On the plus side, the art direction in the game is fantastic. Characters look creepy and surreal without relying on gore and the game plays around with proportion and perspective in some really unsettling ways.
6/10

9: Monster Hunter World - 106 hours

I've been playing Monster Hunter since the PSP days, but I liked the series despite all of its idiosyncrasies – the terrible camera, tedious crafting, and bizarrely structured online options - not because of them. I was excited for MH Tri on Wii because we were finally getting a Monster Hunter game on a modern console instead of a handheld. Tri was great, but it still had a bad N64 C-stick-esque camera, blurry Wii visuals, and a weird online system. MHW is everything I ever hoped for from the series. It finally plays like something modern with the excellent combat not being marred by bad camera controls. The game looks absolutely stunning and all of the huge monsters look even more intimidating in HD and on a big screen. It actually exceeded my hopes for a modern console MH in that it also stripped out a lot of the stuff I found tedious about the series, like breakable harvesting tools, frequent load screens, and a constant need to manually craft every item. I'm so glad that other people are finally able to see what makes this series so great, and I'm excited about what the future of the series looks like.
10/10

 

[Deleted member 32615]

Update: February 23rd, 2018

7. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS4) (Around 11 Hours) (5/5)
After slacking off a bit this month, FINALLY got back to my Uncharted marathon. Uncharted 2 is an amazing experience, the shooting is refined, gameplay doesn't feel as repetitive and characters begin to feel more and more real. The first game suffered from a very linear set of things that could happen, and while it is still linear, the game manages to mix it up in amazing ways. I completed 50% of this game in one sitting, and it was so much fun. New characters like Chloe, Sam and Tenzin all blend really well into the world and feel natural. My only problems with the game were the final boss, which was still fun but nothing spectacular, and the main villain himself. Personally I think Sam worked way better as a main villain, and could have made for an even better fight. Uncharted 2 manages to sweep you up in it's beautiful locations and brilliant set pieces. Whether it's hanging of a train on the side of a mountain, or sneaking into a Turkish museum, every moment is unforgettable. The music brings you even more into the world, and makes you feel like you're playing an epic action movie. Much like Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, the game has more mythical enemies towards the end, but manages to make them fit in the world better, and even making them less one dimensional.

Uncharted 2 is one of the greatest games of all time and lives up to the hype in anyway. On the PS4, the game has been updated with much cleaner graphics and a much better cover system, making the Nathan Drake Collection the ultimate way to play Uncharted 2.

Original Post

 

[Abyss]

Original post https://www.resetera.com/posts/2847654/

#4 - Monster Hunter World - 95 hours - 2/22/18
Absolutely loved this game. Was me and m friends first Monster Hunter game and boy what an experience, we'll still be playing for a while but the credits did roll so I'll count that as being finished.

 

[FallenGrace]

Time to update, I am not hitting 52, this is clear to me.

Master Post.

5: Nier Automata - PS4 (Jan 26th - 30 hours)
Got the first ending, I gather there are more. It's a good game, I liked it but not sure why so many people were voting for it as a GOTY contender? Maybe the other endings/playthrough make up for it? I do intend to go back to it for other endings though Monster Hunter took over...

I liked the combat, the animations are especially amazing, loved the music, superb OST and thought both 2B and 9S were pretty interesting. I hated the shitty anime villain antagonists though, just kind of generic silver haired villains, what a snooze fest. Also the environments are kind of...bland artistically. Know it's a low budget title but really they are pretty meh to explore around. 7.5/10

6: Monster Hunter World - PS4 (Feb 8th - 120 hours at time of beating, 197 at time of updating)
Well this game killed my dream of the 52 I suspect. It's near the end of Feb when I update this and it's pretty much all I played all month. superbly balanced gameplay, fantastic visuals that run super smooth, huge amount of content and customisation options with weapon sets, armour sets, charms, decorations, upgrades etc. At 180 hours I discovered yet a new type of upgrade called augments, crazy. All that without any microtransactions or restricting progress systems in sight. That said it's not perfect, while the SOS system is genius the story missions co-op restrictions until you see the cutscenes are really annoying, and erm....yeah it's just pretty much all round great. 9.5/10

 

[saenima]

Main post: https://www.resetera.com/posts/2784229/


32. Plug & Play / 10m - completed 23.02.18

A weird experience about connections and relations. Not really sure of what it's trying to say. Love the simple art and the animation.

 

[PC90]

Original post

11) Glass Masquerade (Steam, 5 hours)
Really nice puzzle game with a fantastic artstyle. Great podcast game.



Currently playing:
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Trails Evolution: Gold Edition
New Super Mario Bros. 2
DOOM II: Hell on Earth

 

[KiDdYoNe]

Main Post

Click to shrink...

8. Ratchet & Clank (PS4)

It's a Ratchet & Clank. Loved it. And oh my those colors.

9. Shadow of War

Ughhhhhhhhhhh... I don't know what's wrong with this one. It supposed to be bigger and better Shadow of Mordor, but it's not. Story Mode makes no sence because all you do is launch mission after mission and it becomes a huge mess which makes no sense. Platinum Trophy will get to your nerves because of some randomness of events, stupid AI and sometimes you just simply teleport from location to the other one for 40 minutes because you can't get the fucking Graug to spawn. Endgame makes no sense being so long and that ending is meh. It's 7 - 7.5 game. It supposed to be better than the first one but it's not.

Ohhhhhhhhhh, Shadow of War really pissed me off. Glad I bought it physically for $15 new and can sell it now.

Good news - Hitman finally went on sale. Since the release of GOTY I've been waiting for the discount and finally it's here. So, that's my next game I guess. Still have a lot of backlog, but it can wait.

 

[Decarbia]

Game 8. Cold Fear, XBox.
Fun, cheap little horror game from a generation with a lot of good horror games. Resident Evil Revelations cribbed a bit from it. Or maybe that is just a coincidence.

Game 9. Ninja Gaiden-Master System
Neat little game, but inferior to the NES games in almost every way. Very annoying level design with only a few little interesting bits.

Game 10. Resident Evil Code Veronica X, PS2
Got a wild hair to play it and blew through it in a single day for fun. Holds up well for me, but I know everyone doesn't feel the same as I do. But Claire hasn't gotten nearly enough love.

 

[InquisitorAles]

Main Post part 1

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18. TimeShift - 6 hours
Mediocre, but overall solid FPS with "control time" gimmick. Outside time puzzles, gameplay is very typical for this genre, nothing really special and surprising. BUT it's done very well from both visual and technical level, game works on modern systems and support 4K out of the box, no bugs or glitches either. It also has good variety in levels and perfect length, game ends right before it becomes frustrating or repetitive. There is some negative moments though, time control energy is too low and not allowing to do anything meaningful in actual combat, and in time puzzles designers simply temporally increasing your energy to finish puzzle - why the hell devs were so afraid to make this boost permanent, this is Crysis all over again. Also, story is really weak, it had potential but in reality game is just compilation of poorly linked episodes, it become especially obvious after that ending - main villain, who also had costume to control time, for some reasons did nothing to stop protagonist from destroying his armies. So much wasted potential, this game could have been much better if developers had more creativity and better storyline. It's still worth playing at least once, game aged well enough and can be fun if you won't expect much.

 

[Weiss]

12. DOOM - 24/02/2018

My GOTY of 2016. DOOM (all caps are a must!) is just plain awesome. It's non-stop action from start to finish, constantly throwing you into the thick of things and never letting up. I'd be way more of an FPS fan if the genre was more like DOOM, and I hope its success motivates other developers to hit the reset button on the terrible direction modern shooters have gone the last decade.

 

[saenima]

Main post: https://www.resetera.com/posts/2784229/

33. Adelantado - Book Two / 9h20 - completed 25.02.18

More of the same in this second game in the series, although this time around the levels are a little bit more interesting and involved when it comes to exploration. The environmental art is also more defined and appealing than in the first game. Enjoyable.

 

[CurrY]

My backloggery

Main Post

#6 Call of Duty WW2 (PC)

Only played through the campaign but I really enjoyed it except for the horrible controls in one tank section.