I want to play more games this year, so maybe a challenge like this will get me motivated.
1. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - ★★★★
Fantastic game. I started it back on PS3 many moons ago, but eventually moved on to other things. Picked up the remaster on PS4, and it sat around for a while, but I really dove into it around the beginning of the year. Went Magick Archer this time, which, frankly, isn't as fun as playing melee. I'll probably go back to this one to replay on hard and check out BBI.
2. Titanfall 2 - ★★★★
Only played the campaign, but it was a pretty good ride. I was initially disappointed by the focus on pilot gameplay, but you get to use your Titan more in the later chapters. I didn't know what to expect from the story, and man, it got pretty crazy.
3. Mafia 3 - ★★★
Started out really liking this one. I enjoyed the way the story is told as though it's a sort of documentary. Some decent performances from the cast. Unfortunately, the story becomes a fairly generic revenge tale, and once the game opens up after the first act, it's a pretty underwhelming open-world game. I found myself wishing the game would end well before I finished.
4. Knack 2 - ★★★★
I thought the first game was alright. Knack 2 is a pretty big step up. Combat is way more complex with a bunch of new attacks and abilities. The story is decent, even if it does run a bit longer than it probably should. 60 FPS on the Pro is an awesome upgrade. Do yourself a favor and play on Hard.
5. Her Story - ★★★★
I didn't really like this so much initially. It's a cool concept, but I found the story too difficulty to follow. After playing, I watched the whole thing in chronological order, and everything became clear. Her performance seemed awkward at first, but once you know what's going on, it makes sense and you see how talented she is. Definitely worth the $2 I paid on my iPad.
6. Tearaway (PS4) - N/A
Didn't really dig this one. Too many motion control gimmicks for my taste. But I gave it a fair shot, so I'm counting it. The art style is really cool, though.
7. Ratchet & Clank - ★★★★
This is a really cool 3D platformer. Tons of awesome weapons to play with, a decent story with some cutscenes from the film woven within, and a bunch hilarious characters. On top of all that, it's freaking gorgeous on the PS4 Pro in HDR. Exploring the various planets is a visual treat. Ran into some performance problems, especially when using specific weapons, but they didn't last too long.
8. Bring You Home (iOS) - ★★★
Cool little puzzle game. It has a fantastic art style, but most of the puzzles rely on trial and error since you can't possibly know how your character is going to interact with certain objects. On the plus side, most of the death animations are really neat, so you don't really mind failing puzzles.
9. Love You to Bits (iOS) - ★★★★
Bring You Home got me interested in finally playing Love You to Bits. It's another puzzle game, where you're tasked with rebuilding some dude's robot girlfriend, but is a bit better Bring You Home. Again, the art style is fantastic. Definitely worth picking up.
10. Ben-Hur - ★
My new go-to for worst game I've ever played. This is some free shitty movie tie-in published by AOL, and developed by some studio that should be completely ashamed of this. Downloaded it because it's free, and a very easy 1000 GS, but it is so not worth it.
11. Wolfenstein 2 - ★★★★
I liked this game a lot. It's the first game I really sunk my teeth into on my new Xbox One X, and it looks absolutely stunning. MachineGames has cranked this bitch up to 11. It's crazy and even more over-the-top than the first game. Plus, ya know, you get to kill some Nazis.
12. Battlefront 2 - ★★★
I'm surprised at the hate this campaign received. It's not going to win any awards for best narrative, but it's a decent little Star Wars story that I enjoyed from start to finish, even if it is a pretty cliché revenge tale. This game looks gorgeous on the XB1X, and DICE should really be commended for their attention to detail when it comes to visuals and sound direction.
13. Destiny 2 - ★★★
This is kind of cheating. I definitely "beat" this game last year on PS4, where I have all three classes at max light. But I rebought this on XB1, leveled up two new Guardians, and put enough time in to have finished several other games. So I'm counting it.
14. Fable Anniversary - ★★★★
I don't know why I like Fable so much. The combat is lame, the story is run of the mill, the quests mostly suck, and there's a loading screen every 10 seconds. But something about this game brings me joy, and replaying it at 4K was a blast. Anniversary completely butchers the art style of the original game, but it otherwise feels like the Fable I remember playing over a decade ago.
15. Cubot - ★★★
This is a fairly basic little puzzle game that I bought because it's only a couple bucks on XB1. It starts off incredibly simple, move the blue block to the blue square on the board. Once it starts adding other colors, which move completely differently than the blue block (move opposite, move two squares, etc.), it becomes quite complicated. One of the last levels takes almost 100 turns if you do it perfectly. The simple art combined with the serene music make it an enjoyable, and relaxing experience.
16. Energy Cycle - ★★
Another puzzle game I bought because of the price. Currently on sale for $1.50, and I heard it was an easy 100%, so I grabbed it. It's definitely a quick an easy way to pad your GS or Trophies if that's what you're looking for. The puzzles are alright, but the entire presentation reminds me of those crappy flash games you used to play when your teacher wasn't looking in computer science class.
17. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - ★★★★
I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I had heard of this game before, but the idea of controlling a different character with each analog stick totally turned me off of the game. Having played it, I still think it's a horrible way to play a game, but everything else in this game makes up for it. The art is great; fantastically depicting a world that is both beautiful and depressingly miserable. Brothers tells a powerful and emotional tale of adventure, all without a single line of dialogue. I wasn't very interested in A Way Out before, but now it's a game I can't wait to play.
18. Super Mario Odyssey - ★★★★
This was basically my first action adventure style Mario game. I never really got in to SM64, and I was pretty focused on other consoles when the likes of Galaxy and Sunshine were popular. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but found myself wishing it was a more traditional Mario game with the small expertly crafted levels, rather than big open zones that I felt lack the feeling of a "proper" Mario game. I also have a similar issue with SMO that I did with BotW. The game feels outdated in a sense that it's like every game 5 years ago where there were way too many collectibles that only exist in order to pad the game. Then, even after fully exploring the game and beating it, it's like "better go back and re-explore everything you already did, because here are more moons that serve no purpose!"
19. Sea of Thieves - ★★
Sea of Thieves is a tough one. It is incredibly lacking in structured content. You can only dig up so many treasures, kill so many skeletons, and solve so many riddles before things start become tedious. The situation is made worse by the low rewards provided by these activities. It's great to finally be able to purchase that new hat, but it takes hours of grinding to get there, and without any way to preview the item before you buy it, you often end up wasting money on an item that doesn't even look so great on your character. The bones of this game are great, though. Sailing around the gorgeous world solo, with friends, or even random people, can be a blast. I'm really looking forward to see what Rare has in store for this game down the road.
20. Call of Duty: WWII - ★★★
It was great to be back in a WWII setting. The presentation as a whole is excellent. The graphics are downright amazing at times on the XB1X. It really feels like you're playing through a big summer blockbuster action film. Everything from the heavy use of film grain, right down to the underwhelming story.
21. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - ★★★
I'm a huge Uncharted fan, so I was disappointed that Naughty Dog came out with a stand-alone expansion that I wasn't super interested in. I didn't really have much interest in playing as anybody but Nate. I was never a big fan of Chloe, so playing as her wasn't terribly appealing. I also found Nadine to be a totally boring and useless character in Uncharted 4, so she did nothing but detract from my expectations. I'm glad I finally got around to playing this, though. The game gave me a much greater appreciation for Chloe as a character. I still dislike Nadine, but the game does a lot to help flesh out her character. Sam is still a useless character that feels like he was just retconned into existence to give Nate a flimsy reason to give up his comfortable life. Anyway, this is more Uncharted, but without the excellent cast of characters to elevate it beyond pretty environments, simple puzzles, and underwhelming gameplay.
22. God of War - ★★★★★
I was a bit concerned that this was really going to be God of War in name only. It certainly feels that way in the beginning, but as you progress, those God of War roots start to show through. The combat feels excellent, the relationship between Kratos and Atreus is compelling, and the switch to Norse mythology is a welcomed change. Your journey to the top of the mountain is hindered by many predictable obstacles, but the strong interactions between characters within the world make up for the weak plot. God of War also happens to be one of the best looking games ever made. Midgard and the surrounding realms are all brilliantly realized in stunning detail. I'm looking forward to this game's inevitable sequel, because there are significant questions left unanswered, and many major Norse mythological characters that are totally absent from the game.
23. WoW: Battle for Azeroth - ★★★★
24. Game Dev Tycoon - ★★★
25. (MCC) Halo 1 Anniversary - ★★
26. (MCC) Halo 2 Anniversary - ★★★★★
27. (MCC) Halo 3 - ★★★★
28. (MCC) Halo 4 - ★★
29. Detroit: Become Human - ★★★★
30. Spider-Man - ★★★★
31. Shadow of the Colossus - ★★
32. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze - ★★★
33. State of Decay 2 - ★★
34. Bloons TD 6 - ★★★
35. (VR) Elevator... to the Moon! - ★★★
36. (VR) The Well - ★★
37. (VR) They Suspect Nothing - ★★★
38. (VR) Land's End - ★★★
39. (VR) Virtual Virtual Reality - ★★
40. (VR) Tomb Raider: Lara's Escape - ★
1. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen - ★★★★
Fantastic game. I started it back on PS3 many moons ago, but eventually moved on to other things. Picked up the remaster on PS4, and it sat around for a while, but I really dove into it around the beginning of the year. Went Magick Archer this time, which, frankly, isn't as fun as playing melee. I'll probably go back to this one to replay on hard and check out BBI.
2. Titanfall 2 - ★★★★
Only played the campaign, but it was a pretty good ride. I was initially disappointed by the focus on pilot gameplay, but you get to use your Titan more in the later chapters. I didn't know what to expect from the story, and man, it got pretty crazy.
3. Mafia 3 - ★★★
Started out really liking this one. I enjoyed the way the story is told as though it's a sort of documentary. Some decent performances from the cast. Unfortunately, the story becomes a fairly generic revenge tale, and once the game opens up after the first act, it's a pretty underwhelming open-world game. I found myself wishing the game would end well before I finished.
4. Knack 2 - ★★★★
I thought the first game was alright. Knack 2 is a pretty big step up. Combat is way more complex with a bunch of new attacks and abilities. The story is decent, even if it does run a bit longer than it probably should. 60 FPS on the Pro is an awesome upgrade. Do yourself a favor and play on Hard.
5. Her Story - ★★★★
I didn't really like this so much initially. It's a cool concept, but I found the story too difficulty to follow. After playing, I watched the whole thing in chronological order, and everything became clear. Her performance seemed awkward at first, but once you know what's going on, it makes sense and you see how talented she is. Definitely worth the $2 I paid on my iPad.
6. Tearaway (PS4) - N/A
Didn't really dig this one. Too many motion control gimmicks for my taste. But I gave it a fair shot, so I'm counting it. The art style is really cool, though.
7. Ratchet & Clank - ★★★★
This is a really cool 3D platformer. Tons of awesome weapons to play with, a decent story with some cutscenes from the film woven within, and a bunch hilarious characters. On top of all that, it's freaking gorgeous on the PS4 Pro in HDR. Exploring the various planets is a visual treat. Ran into some performance problems, especially when using specific weapons, but they didn't last too long.
8. Bring You Home (iOS) - ★★★
Cool little puzzle game. It has a fantastic art style, but most of the puzzles rely on trial and error since you can't possibly know how your character is going to interact with certain objects. On the plus side, most of the death animations are really neat, so you don't really mind failing puzzles.
9. Love You to Bits (iOS) - ★★★★
Bring You Home got me interested in finally playing Love You to Bits. It's another puzzle game, where you're tasked with rebuilding some dude's robot girlfriend, but is a bit better Bring You Home. Again, the art style is fantastic. Definitely worth picking up.
10. Ben-Hur - ★
My new go-to for worst game I've ever played. This is some free shitty movie tie-in published by AOL, and developed by some studio that should be completely ashamed of this. Downloaded it because it's free, and a very easy 1000 GS, but it is so not worth it.
11. Wolfenstein 2 - ★★★★
I liked this game a lot. It's the first game I really sunk my teeth into on my new Xbox One X, and it looks absolutely stunning. MachineGames has cranked this bitch up to 11. It's crazy and even more over-the-top than the first game. Plus, ya know, you get to kill some Nazis.
12. Battlefront 2 - ★★★
I'm surprised at the hate this campaign received. It's not going to win any awards for best narrative, but it's a decent little Star Wars story that I enjoyed from start to finish, even if it is a pretty cliché revenge tale. This game looks gorgeous on the XB1X, and DICE should really be commended for their attention to detail when it comes to visuals and sound direction.
13. Destiny 2 - ★★★
This is kind of cheating. I definitely "beat" this game last year on PS4, where I have all three classes at max light. But I rebought this on XB1, leveled up two new Guardians, and put enough time in to have finished several other games. So I'm counting it.
14. Fable Anniversary - ★★★★
I don't know why I like Fable so much. The combat is lame, the story is run of the mill, the quests mostly suck, and there's a loading screen every 10 seconds. But something about this game brings me joy, and replaying it at 4K was a blast. Anniversary completely butchers the art style of the original game, but it otherwise feels like the Fable I remember playing over a decade ago.
15. Cubot - ★★★
This is a fairly basic little puzzle game that I bought because it's only a couple bucks on XB1. It starts off incredibly simple, move the blue block to the blue square on the board. Once it starts adding other colors, which move completely differently than the blue block (move opposite, move two squares, etc.), it becomes quite complicated. One of the last levels takes almost 100 turns if you do it perfectly. The simple art combined with the serene music make it an enjoyable, and relaxing experience.
16. Energy Cycle - ★★
Another puzzle game I bought because of the price. Currently on sale for $1.50, and I heard it was an easy 100%, so I grabbed it. It's definitely a quick an easy way to pad your GS or Trophies if that's what you're looking for. The puzzles are alright, but the entire presentation reminds me of those crappy flash games you used to play when your teacher wasn't looking in computer science class.
17. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - ★★★★
I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I had heard of this game before, but the idea of controlling a different character with each analog stick totally turned me off of the game. Having played it, I still think it's a horrible way to play a game, but everything else in this game makes up for it. The art is great; fantastically depicting a world that is both beautiful and depressingly miserable. Brothers tells a powerful and emotional tale of adventure, all without a single line of dialogue. I wasn't very interested in A Way Out before, but now it's a game I can't wait to play.
18. Super Mario Odyssey - ★★★★
This was basically my first action adventure style Mario game. I never really got in to SM64, and I was pretty focused on other consoles when the likes of Galaxy and Sunshine were popular. I did enjoy it quite a bit, but found myself wishing it was a more traditional Mario game with the small expertly crafted levels, rather than big open zones that I felt lack the feeling of a "proper" Mario game. I also have a similar issue with SMO that I did with BotW. The game feels outdated in a sense that it's like every game 5 years ago where there were way too many collectibles that only exist in order to pad the game. Then, even after fully exploring the game and beating it, it's like "better go back and re-explore everything you already did, because here are more moons that serve no purpose!"
19. Sea of Thieves - ★★
Sea of Thieves is a tough one. It is incredibly lacking in structured content. You can only dig up so many treasures, kill so many skeletons, and solve so many riddles before things start become tedious. The situation is made worse by the low rewards provided by these activities. It's great to finally be able to purchase that new hat, but it takes hours of grinding to get there, and without any way to preview the item before you buy it, you often end up wasting money on an item that doesn't even look so great on your character. The bones of this game are great, though. Sailing around the gorgeous world solo, with friends, or even random people, can be a blast. I'm really looking forward to see what Rare has in store for this game down the road.
20. Call of Duty: WWII - ★★★
It was great to be back in a WWII setting. The presentation as a whole is excellent. The graphics are downright amazing at times on the XB1X. It really feels like you're playing through a big summer blockbuster action film. Everything from the heavy use of film grain, right down to the underwhelming story.
21. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - ★★★
I'm a huge Uncharted fan, so I was disappointed that Naughty Dog came out with a stand-alone expansion that I wasn't super interested in. I didn't really have much interest in playing as anybody but Nate. I was never a big fan of Chloe, so playing as her wasn't terribly appealing. I also found Nadine to be a totally boring and useless character in Uncharted 4, so she did nothing but detract from my expectations. I'm glad I finally got around to playing this, though. The game gave me a much greater appreciation for Chloe as a character. I still dislike Nadine, but the game does a lot to help flesh out her character. Sam is still a useless character that feels like he was just retconned into existence to give Nate a flimsy reason to give up his comfortable life. Anyway, this is more Uncharted, but without the excellent cast of characters to elevate it beyond pretty environments, simple puzzles, and underwhelming gameplay.
22. God of War - ★★★★★
I was a bit concerned that this was really going to be God of War in name only. It certainly feels that way in the beginning, but as you progress, those God of War roots start to show through. The combat feels excellent, the relationship between Kratos and Atreus is compelling, and the switch to Norse mythology is a welcomed change. Your journey to the top of the mountain is hindered by many predictable obstacles, but the strong interactions between characters within the world make up for the weak plot. God of War also happens to be one of the best looking games ever made. Midgard and the surrounding realms are all brilliantly realized in stunning detail. I'm looking forward to this game's inevitable sequel, because there are significant questions left unanswered, and many major Norse mythological characters that are totally absent from the game.
23. WoW: Battle for Azeroth - ★★★★
24. Game Dev Tycoon - ★★★
25. (MCC) Halo 1 Anniversary - ★★
26. (MCC) Halo 2 Anniversary - ★★★★★
27. (MCC) Halo 3 - ★★★★
28. (MCC) Halo 4 - ★★
29. Detroit: Become Human - ★★★★
30. Spider-Man - ★★★★
31. Shadow of the Colossus - ★★
32. Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze - ★★★
33. State of Decay 2 - ★★
34. Bloons TD 6 - ★★★
35. (VR) Elevator... to the Moon! - ★★★
36. (VR) The Well - ★★
37. (VR) They Suspect Nothing - ★★★
38. (VR) Land's End - ★★★
39. (VR) Virtual Virtual Reality - ★★
40. (VR) Tomb Raider: Lara's Escape - ★
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