Reserved
2018
2019
2020
2021
This should be a really good gaming year for me.
01 : Gears 5 - XSX - 1/3/22
I went back and forth on what game to start the year with. In the end I went with Gears 5 because it was the game that I actually wanted to play, not felt like I had to play. It's still one of my favorite games from last generation. It feels weird to say last generation. The hardware is new, but it doesn't seem like much has changed. The consoles still aren't readily available. Cross gen games are still happening and will for probably the next year, if not longer. I love my series x and ps5, but if I didn't have them... would I really be missing out on anything?
02 : Resident Evil Village - PC - 1/4/22
I had a day off and I was nearly finished this already. I wanted to play it on my new series x, but gamestop shipped the wrong item. So I figured that was a good reason to just finish off the run I had going on my PC.
I bought the stake magnum and unlimited ammo. Not surprisingly, the game was really easy with that combination. I could probably beat any of the game modes in the game with that combination... maybe later this year.
The PC version of the game is both wonderful and terrible. The frame rate is amazing. The input support is fantastic as it supports all controller along with keyboard and mouse (unlike the console versions). But it also has a strange oversharped look to it that was never fixed. Like FSR is enabled even when it's not. It's still the best version of the game, it's just a little annoying.
03 : Dark Souls Remastered - XSX - 1/7/22
It's been quite a while since I played through Dark Souls. I lost my PS5 save a month ago, so I picked it up on xbox and have pretty much just been playing that since it came in. Combination of a snow day and some back pain (I hope it's back pain) was the perfect opportunity to finish up the game.
Outside of blight town, I mostly mirrored my first play through. By the end I was using my Havel's armor setup, with a black knight sword that drops right near the end of the game.
Ornstein and Smough were difficult, as always. Bed of Chaos was annoying. Gwyn is a chump, of course. By far the easiest final boss in soulsborne games. Parry, stab and repeat.
I'm going to push myself to finish of Sekiro before Elden Ring comes out. Still no interest in playing Dark Souls 2.
04 : Castle of Shikigami - PC - 1/25/22
Haven't been finishing many games this month. I've been trying to find something new to latch onto, but nothing really has.
Anywho, this game was frickin hard. Even with unlimited continues it was still hard. There is zero chance that I could ever finish this even on three continues. Maybe I could get through the first level. Some of those last levels were just insane. My recently purchased Saturn controller helped a lot, but even with that I couldn't possibly dodge every single projectile in the game. I probably went through a dozen continues just on the final boss.
Just like every other shmup I've played, I have no idea what the story was. I just kind of went along with. I'd like to say that I'll go back to this game, but chances are I won't.
05 : The Last of Us Part 2 - PS5 - 1/27/22
It's been a while since I played this. I lost all of my PS saves a month or two ago. So I had to start some games from scratch. I didn't mind starting this from scratch. I think I picked up most of the items and notes that I would have normally got. I got some cool clips and some nice pictures. Headphones saved my ass more than once and I found a couple new approaches to encounters. Still could use some work of course.
There's rumblings of a Last of Us remaster remaster this year, around the time the series comes out on HBO. I don't think that the game really needs it, but of course I'll check it out. I doubt we'll hear anything about a new TLOU game, but maybe next year. Maybe a directors cut of TLOU2.
06 : God of War - PC - 1/29/22
I wasn't sure whether or not to pick this up on PC, since I already have it on console. I'm glad that I did though. High FPS at best quality really does look fantastic. It's also great being able to play the game with a controller that I like. Not that there was a huge difference in this game. The Sony controllers work well in this game.
For whatever reason, maybe because I took my time, I didn't mind the pacing of the game at all. Last time I played through this I complained about having to go to Tyr's temple again and again. For whatever reason I was OK with it this time. I do want to come back and discover more of the world. Maybe "save" some Valkyrie as well.
07 : The Last of Us - PS5 - 2/2/22
I got lucky with this one. My PS+ cloud still had one of my earlier saves on it, so I didn't have to start from scratch completely. I have to admit that this one took me a little more time than usual to get into. I played A LOT of TLOU2 last year, so I'm used to all of the mechanics in that game at this point. Things are just slightly different in the first game and I was rusty.
With more time, I'm starting to think that TLOU1 had the better story, but TLOU2 had the better journey. I'm more interested in a future TLOU game. More interested than just remaking TLOU1 with the TLOU2 engine and mechanics. I want to see what Naughty Dog can do with this world next.
08 : Sekiro - PC - 2/4/22
Calling this complete. I used a mod to even out the damage on the last boss because I'm just tired of that fight. It's not a hard fight, it's the damage that sekiro takes and isshin takes that it makes it difficult.
I hope From doesn't make another game like this again. There are so few options to beat a boss in this game. It's either get good or play something else. One weapon. No levels. No combat options. Forced farming for basic items. This was by far my least favorite Fromsoft game.
09 : Donut County - XSX - 2/5/22
Fun little game. A nice break from the serious games I typically play. I got a kick out of swallowing that highway's worth of cars and destroying the trash king's mansion.
10 : Gears of War Judgement - XSX - 2/8/22
I don't understand, how has this game not gotten old to me? I can't count how many times I've finished it. I suppose that somehow this game became my comfort food over the years.
I've heard some rumblings about some more gears remasters or remakes in the pipeline and it might cover Gears 2,3 and Judgement. Man I would be all over that on day one.
I've been swapping headphones around a lot lately. HD660s, HD6XX, HD58x and HD560s. The HD58x are kind of my emotional favorite, but I can't deny that for shooters the HD560s beats all of them, hands down.
11 : The Evil Within - PC - 2/9/22
This is probably my 10th or so playthrough of the game. I don't have a perfect memory of the game like I do the Gears of War titles, but I remember most of it. I brought out my handy dandy 360 wired controller for this one. It would be nice to see the console ports fixed to at least 60fps, but it looks like they're abandoned. So the best version, by far, is the PC version.
It's funny that I don't have the interest to play TEW2 right after finishing TEW. I have that feeling when finishing RE2 and wanting to finish RE3, or playing TLOU and wanting to play TLOU2 (and vice versa). But TEW and TEW2 are such drastically different games and they require different moods to get into them.
Some good news about the series (finally), it looks like The Evil Within 3 is in the works. Tango is finishing up on Ghostwire Tokyo, but apparently there's a whole separate team that's working on TEW3. Microsoft seems pretty high on the series, so that's probably why it's getting pushed. It would not surprise me if we saw it this year, probably around when E3 typically is.
12 : Bioshock Remastered - XSX - 2/12/22
I've been chipping away at this since probably summer of last year. Hadn't touched it in a while, but for whatever reason I decided that today was the day I was going to play and finish it.
I figured out how the audio works. You can always hear all sounds around you, regardless of any sort of materials in your way. Walls, door, entire floors... none of it matters. Sound somehow penetrates everything.
The game still holds up really well, in my opinion. Though I realize that nostalgia likely plays a part in my overall feelings about the game.
I might play Infinite again sometime this year, but I doubt that I'll play Bioshock 2. The overall gameplay is fun and the story is great, but protecting the little sisters over and over again gets old quickly.
13 : Dead Space 2 - XSX - 2/20/22
It has been quite a while since I played this. Typically I play this on PC, but I wasn't in a PC mood this week.
This is still a fantastic game. The atmosphere is unreal and sound design is still excellent. I can't wait to see what they do with the Dead Space remake and for Callisto Protocol (which is basically Dead Space).
I ended up switching out my beloved HD58x for HD660s about halfway through because they couldn't give me an accurate location of the bomb traps in the game.
14 : Elden Ring - XSX - 3/9/22
My history of finishing Fromsoft games on console before PC continues. I bought it on all three platforms, but ultimately I got hooked on my astrologer on XSX.
For about 90 percent of the game, the 9.6 is very well deserved. It's an amazing game that will almost certainly be my game of the year. But that other 10% of the game is miserable. It doesn't ruin an otherwise fucking amazing game, but it's worth noting. It's unfortunate that most of that 10% happens right at the end of the game. I think with time that my opinion of the game will improve and improve.
So headphone-wise, I was able to play most of the game with my new HD8xx. I'm sure they're not everyones cup of tea, but they sound amazing to me.
15 : Resident Evil 2 Remake - PC - 3/12/22
I really needed something to break me away from the marathon of nothing but Elden Ring for the past two weeks. RE2r is great for that. Fun and very short.
I still prefer Claire over Leon in this game. The grenade launcher is just more fun to me and I like her story a bit better.
16 : Bulletstorm - PS5 - 3/20/22
There's no chance that this game would have been made today. The "colorful" language would definitely be a problem. But still, the game is an absolute blast. The gameplay is terrific. Lot's of ways to kill in inventive ways. I forgot like 90% of the game, so that's always good.
Damn, these HD8xx are fantastic for gaming. Every sound was pinpoint accurate in this game. Fantastic headphones.
17 : Ghostwire Tokyo - PC - 3/27/22
And to think that I was seriously considering not getting this game. I'll have to be more confident about Tango Gameworks in the future.
What a great looking game. I've never been to Shibuya, and I doubt I ever will, but this was a fantastic place to put a game. Shops everywhere (with cats!). Tall buildings and highways. Subways that almost felt like their own little contained worlds. I rarely play games set in Japan, so this was a nice change for me.
The sound design was excellent. All games from Tango have excellent sound design. Great sound effects, great music. Positional audio was on point.
The gameplay was better than I thought it would be. I got more into the combat than I expected. I think that building traversal was maybe more of an issue than it should have been, but it also allowed for creative problem solving. Using the hands to cast spells, as opposed to guns, was fantastic. I loved the hand motions for everything. I still used the bow for hard enemies or ones that were further away. Combat, at least on easy, seemed well balanced.
This title immediately gets added to my replay list. Well done Tango.
18 : Gunbird 2 - Switch - 4/1/22
I have no idea what was the last game that I finished on my Switch. I've had the system since roughly launch and I can count the number of games I've finished on the system on one hand.
There was a shmup sale on the eshop today and I picked up this and a couple others from the same company. It's not quite bullet hell, but a step down from that. Really fun and challenging. It was really cool being able to rotate the screen for vertical gameplay.
19 : Strikers 1945 - Switch - 4/2/22
I was doing great on a single coin for a the first few levels, but that didn't last for long. I'm not really good at these games, but I'm still proud that I was able to get through the first level without getting hit. That felt nice. I don't typically come back to these games after I finish them once, but who knows maybe I will some day.
I used my pro controller for this and the dpad was actually pretty good. In gunbird I used the analog on the joycon and it was alright, but not perfect. Still better than using a larger analog though.
20 : Memoir Blue - XSX - 4/3/22
I wasn't sure what to play next, so I picked up game pass again for a little bit. Memoir Blue was one of the newer titles, so I thought I'd try that out. It's a short game about a young woman and her relationship with her mother. It was a nice game. I liked the music and the art.
21 : The Evil Within 2 - PC - 4/6/22
My typical yearly play through. I looked at my old saves and I think my first time through took a bit over 12 hours. I'm under 6 hours now and I could probably cut it down much more.
I'm holding out hope that they'll announce a new Evil Within this year. Ghostwire Tokyo was good, but I wouldn't expect another game in that series again. The director of TEW2 is still working on an unknown project, but I'd be willing to bet it's TEW3 or something in that realm.
22 : The Last of Us 2 - PS5 - 4/15/22
Sometimes all I want to do is play this game. I'm not really sure why either. I don't understand why it hasn't gotten old for me yet.
I played through most of the game with the HD8XX again, but changed to the HD660s near the end. They're not as good, but they're light and so is the cable.
23 : Streets of Rage 4 - XSX - 4/18/22
What a strange mix of games this year. I had started this game last year when I had a game pass sub, but I didn't really want to get into it. Apparently the best way to get me interested in a game is to let me know that it's going away soon. Sort of like game rentals when I was younger.
Anyhow, this game was a lot of fun. I think the only other Streets of Rage that I've finished was the original, and I'm not 100% certain I finished that. The art style was cool. Music was solid and didn't overwhelm the gameplay. The stupid fat enemies with a billion health and crazy speed were annoying, but that's OK. Overall I liked the game.
24 : Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion - XSX - 4/24/22
Between this and Donut County, I sure have played some bizarre games this years.
Overall a fun game. Ran into a glitch where I couldn't progress any further and had to close the game and re-open it to get it to work. Also ran into another glitch where one of the first screens would have terrible performance when coming through later in the game.
25 : Wolfenstein 2 The New Colossus - PC - 5/1/22
It has its up and downs (mostly the slow sections and the action sections), but this is still a great game. Not surprisingly it runs great on my PC (other than the memory warning bug). Sound design is still crap, but that seems to be an ongoing issue with MachineGames themselves.
I picked the Wyatt timeline this time. That diesel gun is fun as hell. Makes short work of any larger enemies.
Not sure when we'll see another Wolfenstein title. As far as I know it's in development, but they're also working on an Indiana Jones game at the same time.
2022 has seen a lot of delays into 2033, but we're just starting to see what's actually going to make it. It looks like starting in June, things start to ramp up again. Hopefully it's a good rest of the year.
26 : House of the Dead Remake - PC - 5/2/22
I don't think I ever beat the original in the arcade. Probably because I didn't have enough quarters. It's a short game if you have the money.
Short and sweet game. I'll play it again at some point, maybe with the controller next time. It was probably a bit too easy with a mouse. Though, admittedly, I did play on easy.
27 : Wolfenstein The Old Blood - PC - 5/7/22
I wish there were more of these type of games. Good first person shooter. Not a huge budget. Relatively short. Fun story and gameplay. I'd buy these every day of the week.
28 : Call of Duty 2 - XSX - 5/8/22
I've been slowly chipping away at this for weeks. The nice thing about replaying games that I've barely ever replayed is that I barely remember anything about them.
Graphics obviously don't hold up anymore, and that's alright. The game came out nearly 20 years ago at this point. Audio is still pretty good actually. It doesn't account for any materials between the player and the sound, but sometimes that's OK.
It's still a fun game all these years later. I'm surprised that Activision has sort of abandoned these first two games.
29 : Metro Exodus - PC - 5/15/22
I played through til Caspian on the enhanced edition, but I got there and everything was just so blurry that I went back to the original release. It didn't look nearly as blurry for me.
Metro is such an amazing series of games. They're not everybody's cup of tea, but they are mine. I love the world, the characters, the gameplay and of course... the wonderful wonderful music.
I hope that the staff of 4a games, and their families, are safe wherever they are right now. I hope that this war ends soon.
30 : Metro Last Light - PC - 5/20/22
I know it's on the older side, but this game still looks great. At least in some sections.
Metro Exodus is a great game, but Last Light is the peak of the series. If 4a makes another game anytime soon, I hope it's set back in the Metro again. Or at least not in large open world sections. Leave that for STALKER.
31 : Metro 2033 - PC - 5/29/22
What? You thought some of other game was going to appear here? Opa!
I was hoping to get the good ending for once, but alas I got the usual bad ending. It seems like the only good Metro ending I can get is in Exodus.
I took a lot more screenshots this time around. Some scenes are really stunning to look at.
Metro 2033 is definitely the jankiest of the games. Ran into a few circumstances when I just said "euro jank" after dying to some stupid bug or design choice, and just moved on.
32 : Inside - PC - 6/5/22
Well I got the covid and I've got some isolation time, so why not play a weird ass game like Inside while I'm stuck... inside.
33 : Rise of the Tomb Raider - XSX - 6/5/22
I bounced back and forth between this version and the PC version. Stuck with this one only because it had been a while since I played it on Xbox, and because performance is pretty solid on the series X.
This is such a good game. For me it's better than most of the Uncharted games, save for Uncharted 2 and Lost Legacy.
There's a new Tomb Raider under development by Crystal Dynamics, but being published by their new owner. So that'll be interesting. Hopefully it's as good as Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise.
34 : Grand Theft Auto V - XSX - 6/12/22
I'm so glad that I've spread out my play throughs of this over multiple platforms and multiple versions. If my total time played time (of just the campaign) was added up, I worry that it would be over 500 hours. Might even be well above that.
This is the enhanced series X version. Certainly better than the previous console versions. Ray tracing is slight, but still there. Performance RT was definitely the way to go, and Rockstar improved performance with some patches. I don't think I'd say this is better than the PC version, but it's a great no-nonsense version of the game.
Maybe I'll play through the PC version before the end of the year
No word about GTAVI coming out anytime soon, but I have good feeling about a release window being announced next year.
35 : Resident Evil 2 Remake - PC - 6/14/22
I'm re-running the recent Resident Evil games because of the tech updates. Overall I'd say that the upgrade improved the consistency of how the game looks. I'm not 100% certain I'd say it looks better, because the old version was pretty flashy for its regular lighting. Some surfaces that used to be shiny in the old version aren't shiny with ray tracing on in this version.
There was also more hitching in the game than I'd like, but my 9900k/3070ti handled the game like a champ. I did try to play the game on my series X, but the frame rate with ray tracing on just made it a worse experience than running it without ray tracing.
35 : Resident Evil 3 Remake - PC - 6/18/22
RE2 looked OK with RT enabled. Only OK. RE3 looks fantastic with RT enabled. I was going to continue with this series and play RE7, but that might look worse with RT enabled.
Anywho, RE3 with RT looks and sounds fantastic. The PC version is absolutely the best version now - the only one capable of playing with RT enabled, while still having high frame rates.
I think the audio got a new mix as well. I didn't compare it to the original, but it sounded great aside from some areas that are strangely muffled.
36 : Metal Slug 3 - XSX - 6/19/22
I suck at these games. I really really suck at these games. As crap as I am with shmups, I am even worse with these games. Thankfully unlimited continues is allowed in this version. I doubt I would have made it past level without unlimited continues.
I got a series 2 elite in today and wanted to play a 2d game with the controllers fancy dpad. Works really well for this game. I tried it with my regular series x controller and it didn't feel quite as smooth.
Might have to play more 2d games with this controller.
37 : Gears of War Aftermath - XSX - 6/20/22
Normally I do this DLC when I play through Judgement or 3, but I played it stand alone for once. Even though it's a DLC, it's longer than a lot of games on this list.
I still hope that someday we get a gears sub series, like Judgment.
38 : Uncharted The Lost Legacy Enhanced - PS5 - 6/26/22
I think I can officially say it, this is the best Uncharted game to date. Even better than Uncharted 2. Uncharted 2 is right behind it, but it is showing its age now. I would gladly welcome another Uncharted game, if it were the same quality as Lost Legacy. I'd love to see more of Chloe and Nadine.
39 : Assassin's Creed Origins - XSX - 6/30/22
I'm not really sure what made this game click for me. I've had it on PC for years and liked what I played, but couldn't get into it as easily as Odyssey.
But it clicked and I loved the game. I loved Bayek and Aya. I loved all of the characters, the good ones and the bad ones. I loved the chatter from villagers.
It's a fantastic game and runs very well on series x. I would not have played the game on console if it were still 30fps. I played through most of the game on game pass, but decided to buy the game near the end because I wanted to make sure I got through it. So to publishers out there - 60 fps patches can absolutely improve sales of a game.
40 : Quantum Break - PC - 7/3/22
I haven't finished this one in quite a while. In a lot of ways, the combat in this game is Remedy's best. Even with all the bullet-sponginess of the enemies in the game.
There's some old school design in this game. Checkpoints are not as abundant as some modern games, even just compared to Control. Movement is a bit sluggish as well.
But the game is still a blast. The story is still unique. The actors do a fantastic job in the game, and really make me miss seeing Aiden Gillan all over the place. Maybe I'll have to see what the hell he's been up to.
Quantum Break had an excellent cast for its time - Broyles fresh out of fringe, and Little Finger straight out of Game of Thrones.
I would absolutely love to see another Quantum Break game, but unfortunately I don't think it's in the cards. Remedy is working on multiple projects right now. Remasters for Max Payne 1 and 2, Alan Wake 2 and something else in the world of Control. So while I don't get my wish, at least there's a lot of Remedy goodness in the future.
41 : Assassin's Creed Valhalla - PC - 7/23/22
Been a few weeks since I finished a game, and this game is the reason why. Like I've done many times before, I bought this game on every platform before it finally clicked for me.
The game is a slow, long, burn. The world isn't quite as interesting as Odyssey or Origins. And the length is far longer than I would have liked. It felt more like checking boxes than it did like playing a story. I still prefer Odyssey, but I enjoyed all three of the newer AC games. Far more than I expected.
I still don't particularly care about the Animus and the present day story, but it's a convenient way to explore the past.
Technically the game wasn't all that great. The sound was hit or miss. The hair was disappointing for a more recent game. Overall it seems like a downgrade from Odyssey and Origins to me. Maybe it's just the way that lighting works in the game. Maybe England is just less interesting to look at compared to Egypt and Greece.
This might seem like I didn't have fun with the game, but I did. I loved the Sherlock Holmes sections. I loved doing raids with my crew. I loved Randvi and Gunnar. I loved seeing the old Jarls, and putting in place new leaders.
42 : Stray - PC - 7/25/22
From a 50 hour game to a 4 hour game.
I was hyped about Stray since I first saw the game. An adventure where I get to play as a cat? Sign me the hell up. And it was exactly what I wanted and expected. There is some jankiness to the gameplay. Not quite as tight as it could be.
But... the game is absolutely gorgeous. I took a lot of screenshots while playing the game, and I think I took too little in retrospect. The soundtrack was also wonderful.
The story and the world were more than I was expecting. I'm not sure if it's a game I'll play again, but I enjoyed every moment (OK, not the buggy moments) that I played in Stray.
43 : Gears of War 2 - XSX - 7/26/22
I was hoping for some news about a new Gears game at "E3", but that didn't happen. Neither did a collection of the old games either. So back we got to the best version of the original trilogy - the series X patched versions.
Amazingly I got an achievement in the campaign. Pretty rare for a campaign that I've probably finished 20 times.
Not quite sure what to play next...
44 : Bloodborne - PS5 - 7/27/22
I went back to a save that was stuck on Rom. It's amazing how (relatively) easy the game is after that roadblock. Just for reference, I beat Rom shortly after finishing Stray a couple days ago. Between Stray and Bloodborne, I also finished the last third of Gears of War 2. That's how quick Bloodborne can be after getting through Rom.
I think at this point, Bloodborne is my most finished Fromsoft game. Year in and year out I hope for some sort of patch or PC port, and year after year I'm disappointed. It doesn't look like a patch or PC port are in the cards, unfortunately. I hope that something is done for the game at some point, because it's a masterpiece even in 2022.
45 : World of Warcraft Shadowlands - PC - 8/6/22
Demon Hunter level 60, along with a couple other characters hitting 60 as well. I haven't done much multiplayer content this expansion, but by and large I've enjoyed the solo play experience. It was very grindy early on, but it's better now. At least if you don't care about the later zones. I'm just casually playing for fun right now.
46 : The Last of Us Part 2 - PS5 - 8/10/22
My love for this game has not dulled. Not after the 2nd time, the 5th time or even this 14th time. It's a special game. I sincerely hope that the big game that Naughty Dog is working on is The Last of Us Part 3.
I'm not sure what I'll do in the fall when the PS5 version of TLOU comes out. Right now I'm leaning towards passing on it. I played the original/remaster a ton, and there are other games to play.
I'm moving soon, and I could only keep my PC and one console with me during the move out process. I picked my PS5. I didn't want to pack it away, mostly for this game.
About halfway through the second part I had to move my headphones out of the house, so I could only keep one pair. I packed my HD8XX, HD6XX, HD560s, HD58x, Tygr, DT990, DT900, DT770 and a ton of others. I kept the HD660s. So to answer my own question, one that I asked myself all the time, "if I could only keep one headphone", it would be the HD660s.
47 : Spider-Man Remastered - PC - 8/17/22
Not quite the amazing port that I thought it would be. Seems to have a memory leak and isn't quite as optimized as I would have thought.
Anyhow, what a fantastic game this still is. Since this is my second time through the game, my complaints about combat aren't as prominent. Also helps that I'm using a controller I like.
It's funny. I know there's a second Spider-Man game coming out in a couple years, but I'd be content with this (and Miles Morales) being the only Spider-Man games. This is a very well contained game from beginning to end. It doesn't need another entry, but I won't object.
I'll keep playing this for the rest of the month since it includes the DLC that I never got to play.
48 : Spider-Man Remastered The City That Never Sleeps - PC - 8/23/22
Incredibly fun and just as frustrating at times. Lots of fun with Black Cat, Hammerhead and Silver Sable. It was somewhat questionable that the price of admission for the main game was worth it (for someone that owned it on PS4), but that plus this DLC absolutely made it worth it.
Ya know, after finishing the main game and this on PC... I'm not sure whether or not I'll get Spider-Man 2 on PS5 at launch. I really did enjoy the game so much more on PC, compared to Playstation. I might just wait. We'll see I spose.
Miles Morales is out in a couple months. I'll get that on PC as well.
49 : Zero Escape Zero Time Dilemma - PC - 8/23/22
So technically (by using one of my own criteria for beating a game - end credits) I beat the game. Not sure if I'll continue playing the game or not to be honest.
50 : Bioshock Infinite - PC - 8/28/22
Yearly replay at this point. Decided to go with a controller run this time. Mostly with my elite V2. For a 9 year old game that a lot of people don't like, this has aged pretty well. Graphically it still looks really good. The art style holds up over time I think. Still no word from Ken Levine about this new game, but at least it's confirmed that a new Bioshock is being developed. Maybe we'll see something at the game awards.
This is the last game I'll finish in this house. I have been here for over 13 years. I was still in my 20's the last time I lived somewhere else. I have a ridiculous amount of memories from this place. My life and my family have changed so drastically in that time. I have no doubt that I will miss it.
51 : Spider-Man: Miles Morales - PS5 - 9/6/22
I was hoping to hold out til the release of the PC version, but I had a bad feeling that the game will release during an extremely busy fall and just end up at the bottom of the pile.
I've had this game for nearly two years. I had a hard time getting into it back when I bought it. Probably because I played the previous Spider-Man game a full two years before.
Anyhow, after playing through Spider-Man on PC, and finishing up the DLC, I still had the Spider-Man itch and found there's no better way to scratch that itch than with more Spider-Man.
It's mostly the same game as Spider-Man, but with a different cast of characters and different abilities it felt just different enough.
It took me some time to warm up to the game (the controller doesn't help), but when it did I had a hard time putting it down. It's a smaller cast of enemies this time around, but I think I like the average thug more than the DLC thugs. I thought combat was better balanced in this game. In retrospect I think Spider-Man and DLC should have received a difficulty balance adjustment.
I enjoyed the story and characters. The villains were the weak point in an otherwise great game. The final boss is kind of nonsense. Nevertheless it's a great game. Certainly better than DLC, while building up this new world.
52 : Cyberpunk 2077 - PC - 9/25/22
Whoa.
I started this save back in June of last year. Had a hard time getting into at the time.
A year+ later and the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime comes out, and I really loved it. From beginning to end. So I installed 2077 again to see how it is now. There's been lots of fixes in that time. Lots of enhances and changes. I had a great new anchor into the world with Edgerunners.
Wow, this game is incredible. Absolutely gorgeous graphics. Sound design is fantastic. Voice acting is terrific. I don't know how the game was in its original states, but in its current state it's incredible.
It still took me a little while to get hooked, but once I got down some of the basics (at least in part because of Edgerunners) I really started to enjoy myself.
I got the Panam ending, which is the story that I enjoyed the most. I'm going back tonight to give Johnny a better ending. I nearly did his ending first because I've grown to like him.
I might still stick around Night City. Still have some stuff I'd like to finish up.
53 : Gears of War 4 - PC - 10/2/22
It's been a while since I played this. I wanted to play it on my series x because I haven't used that lately, but it looks a lot better on PC.
For a 6 year old game it really looks good. Probably didn't hold up well on the OG XB1, but on PC it looks great.
Haven't played a lot of Gears games this year. Probably because the series has gone quiet a little bit. Nothing announced and nothing added. Just... crickets. I guess that leaves room for other games though.
54 : Resident Evil 2 Remake - PC - 10/4/22
Halloween gaming begins!
Finally over 200 hours on the PC version. Couldn't tell you how many times I've finished the game at this point. Still fun as hell.
55 : Resident Evil Revelations - PC - 10/16/22
It's been so long that I've played this game that I forgot most of it. Crazy to think that this started its life as a 3DS game. It actually looks pretty decent.
Unfortunately the more modern controls are a bit buggy, so I had to rely on classic controls. Which was a nice throwback to RE5 and RE4 days.
56 : Resident Evil Revelations 2 - PC - 10/17/22
Spooky season continues!
It's been a few years since I finished this. I've tried to get into it a few times since then, but I just lost interest. I've always preferred Revelations 1 a bit more than 2. Both are good games though.
I've got A Plague Tale next on the menu, but after that I'd like to get through Resident Evil 4 again.
57 : A Plague Tale Requiem - PC - 10/21/22
I gave my full impression in the OT thread. The gist of it is that I really liked this game. Not as much as innocence, but it's a really good game. I'm not sure whether or not we'll get another Plague Tale game. The dev said it's unlikely, but the post credits scene hinted at the possibility of another story.
58 : Uncharted 4: A Thieves End - PC - 10/23/22
Pretty good week for PC purchases. Got the new Plague Tale along with the Uncharted collection.
There are some real issues with this game. Pacing is all over the place compared to previous games, and Lost Legacy. But it's a great adventure. I just wish it were a tighter experience.
Playing this on an elite v2 was fucking phenomenal. I am so much more comfortable with that controller than I am with the Playstation controllers. Driving around Madagascar and Libertalia was a joy, rather than an annoying chore. It felt RIGHT to me. I'm 50/50 on whether or not to just wait on Playstation games to release on PC. I'm having a fantastic time with them on the platform. Price is better. Performance is better. I get to actually pick my favorite input!
So back to the game. I played through on the easiest mode, and that has always been my favorite mode in the Uncharted games. I don't like damage sponge enemies. I like smart enemies, but don't like unarmored enemies that randomly take 30 shots in the head. I enjoyed this play through so much that I'm a little pained to know that there isn't a new Uncharted game announced. I'll start Lost Legacy shortly, but I'd feel a lot better knowing that the series still has a future. Sad to think that Nate and Elena won't have any more adventures.
Anyhow, hopefully we get the first games on PC sooner rather than later!
59 : A Plague Tale: Innocence - PC - 10/28/22
After finishing Requiem, I wondered how good my memory of Innocence really was. Did I look back at the older game with rose colored glasses? Did I gloss over other issues in the game. Yes and no.
I do think that the gameplay systems in Innocence are better. There are fewer tools, but they're more reliable and effective and the tools in Requiem. But as good as the graphics are in Innocence, there's a very noticeable difference between the two games. The number of rats never really impressed me in Requiem. It's cool, but for me it wasn't a bullet point. But the overall look of the game. The animation of the characters, that's where Requiem is better than Innocence.
If I had to give a score to each game, I'd probably put Innocence at a 9 and Requiem at an 8.
60 : Resident Evil Village Shadows of Rose - PC - 10/29/22
Nice, short, DLC. Third person view works a lot better than expected in a game that previous didn't have that point of view before. Except for, sort of, the final boss. Really cool DLC though. Still a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but it's the same cliffhanger we saw in RE8 already. Not sure what Capcom has planned for the series beyond that last scene.
I'm not sure if I'll play Village again, or not. I've already played the game a ton in the past. I would not complain about another DLC at some point down the road. There's still some areas from Village that weren't re-used in this DLC.
61 : Halo Infinite - XSX - 10/31/22
This was even better the second time through. Thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. Stealing a Banshee a little over halfway through the game really saved me a ton of time. There's a lot of walking at one point, and a Banshee probably skips about 3-4 hours of time.
I just love the way they integrated the grappling hook in this game. Not just a means of traversal, but an attack and a way to pick things up from a distance as well.
What a great weekend of gaming this way. Three wonderful games and some quality time in WoW. It was also the 6 year anniversary of when I started dating my wife. Couldn't ask for much better.
62 : Resident Evil Village - XSX - 11/6/22
I originally wanted to start this waaaaay back in January, but there was a shipping delay and I finished it on PC instead. This version was solid enough. 4k 60fps is pretty darn good. I turned off ray tracing because the system can't manage a stable 60fps with it on.
63 : Max Payne 3 - PC - 11/9/22
God damn is this game good. Been a few years since I last played this, so I was actually overdue. Graphics have aged a bit and the man on fire effects seem even more out of place, but it's still a stellar game from beginning to end.
64 : The Evil Within - PC - 11/14/22
So I just bought a new 240hz monitor last week. I played a little WoW and then Ragnarok released. I wasn't enjoying that game, so I wanted to bounce to my PC and try out an oldie but a goodie. I had already started The Evil Within for Halloween, so why not continue it.
I have to say that playing this game at an uncapped frame rate on a pretty good system (Ryzen 5600, RTX 3070) was quite the experience. Like Tom Hanks said in that movie - The Evil Within is like a box of chocolates, you never know what the fuck is going to work. The most notable bugs were being unable to escape the hulking beast in the hallway because the high frame rate moved a chair into the way of the exit, and not being able to get out of the water unless I capped the frame rate back down to 30. Shit, in general, was just all over the place. Enemies bouncing around after dying. Placement of vehicles in weird places. Hit detection not working in some areas.
This was fucking fantastic. I loved playing an old favorite with a touch of randomness to it.
65 : God of War: Ragnarok - PS5 - 11/17/22
I just could not leave this game unfinished. What's funny is the worst of the game was largely over when I stopped playing. Everything after that (for the most part) was great.
There were parts of the game that I really liked and other parts that I didn't. The 2018 game was more consistent in that manner. Graphics and frame rate were good. But it's most decidedly a PS4 title. Sound was excellent of course. Most of Sony's first party games have top tier sound. The story was good, but I thought it dragged down in spots. Especially the Atreus parts. The voice actors were fantastic. Half of the actors could have been nominated for best voice acting of the year. Gameplay was largely the same as 2018, but combat never quite felt right. I genuinely don't know why either.
Unless Callisto Protocol blows my mind, my game of the year will come down to Elden Ring and Ragnarok. I think I still lean towards Elden Ring, but it's only been a few minutes since I finished Ragnarok. This might be as close as the 2018 GOTY when I had to choose between God of War and Spider-Man.
66 : Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - PC - 11/20/22
Man, I love this game. If they made one of these every week I'd buy every single one of them.
So overall the Uncharted PC collection is an OK port. Not the best in the world, but definitely not the worst. I really with that mouse and keyboard support was better. The keyboard part seems fine, the mouse part not so much. Still love using my series 2 elite. Great controller.
I'm playing TLOU2 again as one of my final games for the year, and I really wish that had a PC port. I know it'll come some day (probably next year if I had to guess).
67 : The Evil Within 2 - PC - 11/23/22
I wanted to play this for a strange reason. Years ago I had bought my first 144hz gsync monitor. Great reviews and most of my games looks good. Then I played The Evil Within 2. The all black scene with a single light looked absolutely horrible. Even my 60hz Asus didn't have this issue. It was specific to that monitor. So I got it replaced with a newer one. This one was better, but the banding issue was still present. Eventually I just gave up on the monitor and bought a cheaper 144hz one instead. The banding was slightly there, but much much better.
I recently bought a 240hz IPS monitor and one of the first games that I loaded up was TEW2. Sure enough the banding was 99% gone. It looked great. So I just decided to continue. I think I finally have a PC setup that I'm happy with.
Oh right, the game. The open world parts are still a chore. Basically everything from chapter 8 and on is great, so more than half of the game. Shit, I wonder if we'll see a premiere for The Evil Within 3 at the game awards.
68 : Diablo 3 - PC - 12/3/22
Season 27 Wizard.
Even years later I've never really stopped playing this game. Between my time on PS4, XB1 and on PC I'm just under 1k hours. Which should put it ahead of Gran Turismo 3 and Diablo 2 as my second most played game of all time (behind World of Warcraft).
But as much as I enjoy the story, I've really just started playing my seasonal character. Still have plenty of hours ahead to grind for more loot!
Wizards have been dumb since this entire game and I love it. Get to level 20, pick up disintegrate and wreak havoc.
I'm cautiously optimistic about Diablo 4. I like what I see, but I'm worried about the shared open world. But I have a feeling that it's not as "bad" as I think it could be. Hard for me to embrace new ideas at my age.
69 : Shadow Warrior 3 - PC - 12/4/22
I bought this for less than $4 on some crazy Fanatical sale. Reviews were OK, but a lot of people complained about the downgrade from SW1. Well... this was fantastic. Probably the best 4 dollars I've spent this year. From beginning to end it was so much fun. Completely mindless blowing up shit. I loved it.
70 : World of Warcraft Dragonflight - PC - 12/11/22
Level 70 warlock and initial campaign complete. Oh man, that was fun. Some parts felt like the the best of Wrath and Burning Crusade. The last zone was hilarious.
I wasn't sure which class I would start off with, but my Warlock felt right to me. I think it was the right pick.
Dragonriding sucks and they should bring back regular flying.
71 : Control - PC - 12/13/22
This is just one of those games that you get the itch to play and you have to do it from beginning to end.
I tried playing the game with my new speakers, but the gameplay is so demanding of the player that it really does require headphones. There's some games I'd recommend for the hard of hearing, but as much as I love this game, this would not be on my list. Maybe with god mode on? I hope in the next Control game that they turn down the reliance on constant audio cues.
So the last time I played through this, I don't think there was an Alan Wake 2, or a Max Payne 1/2 remaster or a new Control game. So obviously a lot has changed since then. This generation looks like Remedy heaven for me. They've been one of my favorite developers since Max Payne, so I hope it all comes out great.
72 : Grand Theft Auto V - PC - 12/24/22
The game was a masterpiece in 2013, in 2018 and still a masterpiece in 2022.
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