What game did you last finish? What did you think of it?
I picked up "Mafia: Definitive Edition"
cheap the other day (I've linked it on Steam as it's still on sale for the next few days).
I was a fan of Mafia (the original from 2002) and felt it was cheap enough to give it a shot and I'm glad I did: besides the infamous/arduous racing level I found it to be very enjoyable overall.
I was sad to see that there wasn't any "Freeride Extreme" in the latest version (this was bonus, fun, ludicrous content, available after completing the game) as it would have been a nice addition, the "Freeride" mode is likewise a little lackluster but the actual campaign is great.
What was the last game you finished? Was it any good?
I finished Outer Wilds a few weeks ago. It was, in my opinion, one of the strongest arguments for treating video games as an art form that I've ever experienced. It's not long - I finished it in about 20 hours - but the narrative and story is so well put together and thought out that it felt a lot longer. I thought it was beautiful and thought provoking.
Video games as a whole aren't for everyone, but if I meet someone and they're interested in games but hasn't played them much, Outer Wilds is on the top of my list of recommends. If you play a lot of video games, this one will amaze you. Don't read anything about it - just grab it when it's on sale and go in blind. I did and it made a big difference.
In the same boat, it's such a beautiful game, especially the less you know about it beforehand. It's been awhile since I've played a game like that. I'm just about finishing up the DLC, then going back through the final sequence to see how that affects the ending, I might try to go back and finish out the Steam achievements on it too, just to have them done. If I could have any memories erased in my life, it would be all knowledge of that game, just so I could go back through it one more time with fresh eyes. The ending kind of mirrors the reality of finishing out the game itself, it's kind of sad and bittersweet, it's like a book that I never wanted to end.
Any of the main games by Quantic Dream are of similar artful quality I'd say. Really a playable story with choices impacting the plot and twists and discovery that keeps you hooked. I liked Beyond: Two Souls the best, but Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human aren't far behind.
I just finished Lies of P. If you haven't heard of it, it's a souls-like game that takes story elements from Pinocchio.
I found it a lot more approachable than other souls-like game. It's a lot more linear (but I don't think it suffers from that) and does a better job of introducing you to game mechanics. What also made it more approachable was the parry system felt a little more forgiving and there is always a save point right before a big boss (so even if you're stuck on one, you can keep jumping right back in).
I really loved the parry mechanic of Sekiro. I know the games were developed by different companies. Are you able to make any comments about how they compare?
I only played a bit of sekiro, so keep that in mind. However, I would say that Lies of P gives a similar level of importance to parrying/perfect guard, but it's not solely dependent on it. In sekiro you really need to parry, but in Lies of P (in many instances) you can get by with dodging and finding openings. That being said, the rhythm element to parrying is very much there, and most bosses require learning the cadence of attacks so you can parry.
Some added context, in lies of P if you block at the right time it's a perfect guard which uses no stamina and blocks all damage. It also has the benefit of reducing the stamina of the enemy, which after enough guards or hits will open them for a critical strike (similar to a stance break in souls games). If you're playing bosses without assistance, this is the key way to win, so feels a bit like sekiro.
If that sounds interesting I would take a look at a gameplay video.
If you like Dark Souls/Sekiro/Bloodborne then you will love Lies of P. It's very high quality. If you didn't know better - it could've been made by From Software.
The biggest complaints are that it's almost not original in how well it copies every single facet of From Software. They're clearly very talented - I'd love to see what they do if they added their own spin.
Alan Wake 2. What a masterpiece, especially THAT sequence. I absolutely loved this game.
The older I get, the more I start to appreciate studios that take risks and believe in their creative identity. Games like Death Stranding and Alan Wake 2 are perfect examples. They're not everyone's cup of tea, but that's what art is. Someone might hate something that you personally find breathtaking. And vice versa.
I'm also playing Spiderman 2 at the moment, and while it's good and it's very fun, I will not remember this game 1 day after I finish it. Death stranding I finished 3 months ago and I still think about it. I'm extremely excited for DS2 and hopefully Alan Wake 3.
I also just finished Alan Wake 2. The first game is in my top 3 favorite games of all time, so I was super excited for the sequel. The overall presentation is definitely A++ and so are the graphics. However, there were a couple of really obvious and annoying bugs that should never have made it past QA.
While I really liked the new characters, the overall storyline has become (even by Remedy standards) extremely convoluted and the ending wasn't very satisfying. I also found the constant references to Finland a bit too much on the nose and they kinda took me out of the game a couple of times.
Of course the game makes it up in other aspects, such as the new gameplay that was clearly inspired by Resident Evil, which I also really like. Alan's mind place was also fun and I found the ability change the scenes by rewriting them very creative. Saga's mind place started out great as well, but it started to feel like a chore as the game went on.
Despite the nit-picking, it is pretty good game overall and I'm excited for their future projects in this universe.
I've realised that I need fun, skill-based gameplay the most. I get fed up with doing inventory management, stuff-shuffling and crafting, both in-game and IRL!
Edit; awesome soundtrack too
You don't really 'finish' Factorio, but a few months ago I FINALLY launched my first rocket after a thousand hours of play over 6.5 years. I just always had other things I was up to and for a long time launching a rocket mechanically did nothing so I had no incentive. Here I am detailing some of it at that other site
Pretty much just finishing up Outer Wilds +DLC, I just haven't taken the time to collect some last scraps of information to close out some clues and then finish the game again (after now going through the DLC area). I had actually started this game up about 2 years ago, but got stuck and had some other things come up so that I put it aside. Then I resolved to just watch somebody else's playthrough to spoil the game. I started by watching an astrophysicist playthrough, 'Oliver Plays' on Youtube. I watch as he starts out and relive some of my own experiences of discovering the early game, when suddenly in one of the episodes, I notice something small that brings me back to where I had been at in the game in my own playthrough and the solution instantly became clear. So I jumped back into it like I had never left and now I've pretty much about to finish the game.
I originally went in blind because of everything I kept reading about it being such a great game, blah blah blah. And it lived up to the hype, it was such an awesome experience going in completely blind (I didn't even watch any trailers), but the shitty thing is, I can't really talk about the game that much. So much depends on experiencing it for yourself and discovery, that saying anything about the game potentially spoils somebody else's first experience with it, and I don't want to take that away from anybody. It's just such a beautiful gem of a game, I've not really played anything like that before (though I've read of some others that may be similar).
They really need to mod the wingsuit into the game somehow. I remember playing the demo way back when and being blown away by how much you could explore even there. I got the game a couple years later and to this day I still haven't finished it.
Last game I finished was Days Gone and it was great. Nice open world zombie shooter in the US state of Oregon. Great map, great characters, decent plot, good action. Very cinematic at times. After the 10+ minutes of cinematic closing credits you can actually start roaming again and there is some more story after the credits.
I 100% it just a few days ago. What a fun game. Btw it's definitely worth it to continue roaming and do all the side missions, There's a "secret ending" that's really worth it imo
FTL: Faster than Light. I just got it recently, and managed to beat the boss on all ships a few days ago. I'm now exploring the Multiverse mod, I don't think I'll be beating that for a long while.
The Dead Space remake, absolutely loved it! Never played the original or any of the sequels even thoughthey always intrigued me. Gonna play through NG+ immediately.
Deathloop. I kept reading reviews saying it failed to live up to the standards of Dishonored and Prey, but I think those people went into it with the wrong expectations. Dishonored and Prey are amazing immersive sims, yes, but Deathloop was like if you took an indie game that sought to better contextualize trite video game mechanics like endless multiplayer war, respawning, checkpoints, etc. within a reasonable story and then polished it with the skill of industry veterans and a big fuckin budget and everything about it (short of some network latency) worked magically. It’s one of my favorite games now and I strongly recommend it to any fans of well-told stories and FPS games.
If I had any complaint, it’s that the game holds your hand at the end a little too much. If they had given you space to plan your final attack it would’ve felt so much more satisfying. Regardless, great fuckin game.
I finally played Mass Effect 3, I'd played 1 and 2 but after all the stink about 3 and it being on Origin / EA Play for years I never bothered until a recent $1 sale on a month of that EA subscription, which has ME3 on it.
I spent 90%+ of the game going "Wow this isn't bad at all, I am really impressed! This really is a good game!"
...until I got to the ending sequence, when it felt like the game had taken crazy pills all of a sudden. I understood why everyone was mad about it, and totally agree that it ruined the game. It wasn't that Shepherd died, it wasn't the Red/Blue(/Green) choice they gave you, it was a combination of 3 factors though:
Crippling your character and making you limp along, unable to use any of your powers, forced to slog through a bunch of token combat EDITwith only pistol, and all your cosmetic choices were erased as you drag around at half speed through corridors just to get further in the chain of conversations.
Except for the pass/fail check on the conversation with the Illusive Man (which is very easy to miss the requirements for without expecting it), none of what you did before entering that final sequence matters, it really was just press a button to receive ending. On that same note, you can have all 3 endings regardless of what you did, spent the entire trilogy making nothing but Renegade choices? Don't worry you can still press the Blue button! Hail Mary deathbed confession!
I found the child avatar kind of out of place and a bit weird, yes I know it was a reference to the kid that died, but it was not really immersive and it made this gigantic long conversation that makes up "the last boss" really awkward, especially since half the conversation is just explaining the story for people that weren't paying attention or missed all the side quests.
I guess it was Baldur's Gate 3. Fantastic game. I got partway through a second, heavily modded playthrough—I say second, but I spent a ton of time with it in early access—but I got a bit burned out, and have subsequently been replaying Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
Lately I seem to be collecting unfinished games. The very last game I finished was Cyberpunk 2077 and that was a few months ago, on patch 1.6 I think. I absolutely loved it and I'm definitely planning to buy the dlc and go through it again. I'm a sucker for good story and interactive experiences, couple that with the cyberpunk genre, this was the game of this year for me, no doubt.
Baldur's Gate 3. I loved it as a cRPG fan who grew up on them. It's ambitious, innovative and I'm really happy it's brought the genre to a whole new audience. I hope we see something of a genre revival. But if you've been online at all you've seen all the praise I could give it already anyway, so lets talk about the bad.
It's shockingly buggy and it's weird that it's always just a footnote in the discourse. I'm not sure I've ever finished a game this broken before. I was constantly encountering issues that would cause me to reload a save. There are plenty of posts about the bugs - pretty much every single quest in the game will have dozens of threads about various issues - but when it comes down to reviews people are really forgiving of it in a way I haven't really seen before.
It's also made some fundamentally terrible design decisions that wont be fixed by patches. Long resting to progress the story triggers is particularly awful. It absolute kills the pacing, despite the narrative suggesting a heavy time pressure (that isn't actually there), and encourages you to just nova everything. I found myself just spamming long rests after every narrative beat until the cutscenes stopped triggering just to make sure which was very tedious.
Super Mario Wonder. It was an enjoyable game, but just too easy, and no reason to keep playing once you finish. There were only maybe 3 stages in the entire game that offer a real challenge. It would be so much more replayable if it just had a time trial mode or something.
I thought Super Mario Bros U on the switch was too difficult to be enjoyable, so I appreciated how much easier (and more fun) this game was. And I play dark souls to relax.
I think there is a middle ground though. It's fine to have easy settings to help people get though a game if they want. The online functionality in Mario wonder, and the ability of Yoshis to not take damage are great examples of that. But on the other hand, I also don't want to just steamroll the game, fully clearing most of the stages in a matter of minutes. How many man hours of work did they put into each of these stages, just for me to blaze through it in 3 minutes and then never look back?
Like I previously mentioned, something as simple as just a time trial mode could give me an actual incentive to go back and enjoy the content a little more.
I feel the same! I’m wrapping up world 6 and wondering when there’s going to be any challenge or clever secrets! There’s only been a handful of stages with double exits, every wonder flower is damn near unmissable, and there’s been maybe a couple times that I grunted “oh that’s clever” when seeing a hidden something. I like the creativity of each wonder flower being different, but I was definitely expecting a lot more based on the extremely positive reviews! I haven’t finished the challenge world (I think I’ve discovered 4 so far?) and only one of them took me more then 2-3 tries. Almost every level I’ve 100% cleared on my first try. I’m not a platforming savant, I swear!
Not the last one I finished, but most worthy of a shout-out.
Inscription
Such a good game. Such a great story. You can tell how much thought and care when into every aspect of it. One of the most complete and immersive experiences I've had in gaming.
No I only just heard about it. It's the game the creator of inscription made first right? Do you think it would be fun to play or would it feel like a first draft of inscription?
Hitman 2. Now working on the third. It's alright, I loved the first one, but it's starting to get a bit boring/repetitive. The new freelancer mode in Hitman 3 seems somewhat interesting, but overall, there's been very little change or improvement between the games. They are fascinating at first, but if you play too long you start noticing all the weird glitches in the simulation that break immersion and can either be exploited or just ruin the experience.
I just finished the ff7 remake and the dlc, I've always wanted to get into the final fantasy games but never really had the means to or another game got my attention first. I'm glad I finally gave it a shot, now I know why it's so famous but damn is it long.
The thing about this is, VII Remake isn't even the longest game in the franchise. And there isn't too much difference in play time between Remake and the original. Now we have Rebirth coming up that will add even more to that.
Sounds like you really enjoyed it. Are you planning on delving into any other Final Fantasy games?
Ouch, seems like I have a lot to do now. For sure, I've been looking at...XV? The one on the ps4 and I've been playing XIV for a while now so I'm happy to be into it now.
starfield. its a lot of fun, but id put it below fallout 4 on my list of bethesda games. could use more fleshed out content, cant wait for the dlc and mods
same, did you feel the main campaign felt like it ended a little early? I honestly didn't realise how far along I was until I realised that was it. loved most of the side campaigns though
The dead space remake. Its just so wonderful since it basically captures everything I love about the first, horror games seem to be one of the few games that just get dramatically better as they get graphically more intense since it helps with the immersion. Now it is a bit questionable since I rather see new games but I won't lie and be excited to see a Dead space 2 remake since holy shit they added flesh stripping and it just fits in so perfectly. Just wish they make better subplots since they had to radically change the narrative and how the other characters interact with you since Issac is now a far more active character (which honestly should have always been the case) since it just makes sense the engineer character comes up with engineering solutions.
I mean while I don't like EA, the route they took with 3 was pretty disappointing. Was just way too actiony for its own good and what I'm seeing for 4 is interesting but I'm not sure I would call it dead space since they wanted to add some survival elements and being a bit more open ended. Like the pitch they were going for seems to be in a weird way a roguelite style of approach in the vain of cryptark or void bastards at least from how they were describing it. Like what was being suggested seems too wide but once it actually hit development it would have downscale quite a bit then likely gotten more toxic monetization. Looks like they were trying to keep the gun customization of dead space 3, which honestly just broke that game since balancing was all over the place.
To be honest I don't remember the last time I finished a game.
Not counting Rogue-lite games where you replay them over and over like Slay the Spire I think the most "recent" game that I've finished might be Mass Effect 3, which is from 2012...
Oh actually I did finish The Banner Saga 1 a few years ago. It's pretty good except for being somewhat lacking in Quality of Life features. The main selling point are the art style and gameplay-story integration. The tactical combat gameplay is okay but very repetitive, although it got a lot better in BS2 (which I haven't finished) with more varied mission objectives than just "kill every enemy" over and over again.
Skyrim and Xcom 2 are probably in my top 3 or at least top 5 most played games but I have never completed them.
The games I've replayed and finished the most times are Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect 1&2 (only completed ME3 2 times).
I've replayed DA:O more than 10 times and I would highly recommend it, although I would recommend getting mods and especially get the increased memory patch so it doesn't crash as often.
I recently finished Mirror's Edge on PC. I mention that because I've owned the game on Xbox 360 and PS3 and strangely I found the keyboard controls on PC easier to master, hence the completed game. I think it's such a beautiful game that was a little misunderstood upon release.
If you want the long-winded waffly answer, I wrote a review on my blog here.
Last finished was Black mesa few months ago, and had a blast remembering playing HL1 and 2 in the day. Just to show you don't need the best graphics to enjoy.
Prior to that was Metros Exodus, and it was one of those games you remember well after a year of playing.
In between, I have started RDR2 but can't get to keep it going, I'm not hooked on that one.
Edit: Played Stray with my son on his ps5 and was really great! Had me wanting more.
I'm commenting on RDR2 because it's my last finished game, and I also had trouble getting into it at first three years ago. Particularly the slower pace and the pretty low intensity of events, initially when you're at Horseshoe Overlook (the first camp the gang stays at). The thing is it builds up slowly, bit like a movie, or a show. And it never stops upping the ante, at some point it throws at you spectacle after spectacle, and at this point you are possibly so invested in the characters (character writing being nothing short of excellent) that you're all in this cowboy fantasy. Basically it's a slow first quarter and then you're in for surprises
Source engine is just so clean looking that the graphics can hold up, the geometry is all crisp and clean but lighting effects hadn't really developed beyond bloom at that point. Almost like minimalist graphics, in some ways I even prefer that. The game feels so light and free and all the art design is perfect for it.
Majora's Mask is my favorite. Wind Waker was good, and I started Skyward Sword and I think it's right up there.
I hate phantom hourglass because of syulus xd but by the end, it wasn't that bad. Might pick up spirit track someday and end that timeline.
Edit: How could I forgot to mention OoT. While it was my first game, it's my second favorite to MM. I felt more immersed with MM because of the masks and their powers. And game theme just felt more dark and scary when I was kid. I remember hearing about that Link woild grow to be adult, and I wanted to rush it and I woild leave the game on overnight just standing in the farm lmao.
Over Halloween weekend, I beat the original Alan Wake for the first time. It was a blast. I got really engaged in the story and couldn't put it down. I was shocked at how well it held up. The graphics were a tad dated, but they were still pretty good and everything else about the game felt like it could have come out last year. I think I bought the game in like 2014, so finally playing it was a real victory for my backlog. lol
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. From the little-known "stealth tactics" micro-genre. It really felt like the culmination of what the studio learned from their previous few games. It took some familiar abilities from all the way back to the original Desperados 20 years ago, then added several brand new ones that almost feel OP and make each character unique. Plus if you have a checklist-oriented brain, there are so many optional objectives encouraging you to replay missions in different ways.
I understand some fans weren't huge on the reuse of levels, but the missions either use different parts of them or have you approach familiar guard setups from completely different directions, keeping them feeling fresh (at least to me).
It's a real shame developer Mimimi is closing down, though I'm glad they get to wind down gradually and on their own terms. I'm so used to companies trying a new project, running out of money, and closing suddenly.
I more meant the narrow intersection of 2 larger genres that rarely cross over, particularly these days.
Though having said that, I do feel like the only person still talking about them anymore. It's so rare to see them brought up in casual conversations outside their dedicated Steam forums.
Sea of Stars. I liked it but it felt kind of thin. I wish they had had a bigger budget. It really feels like there should have been a third chapter and it feels like things are left hanging. I didn't get the super true final ending but still felt like there should have been more depth in general. It's a beautiful game with a surprisingly good and strong narrative. The game play was solid but didn't really grow much over the course of the game.
They reinvested basically every dollar they made on The Messenger to make this. I'm not sure it could've ever been a bigger budget without an entirely different studio - making it a completely different game.
I last finished Lies of P. It was the most fun I've had with a soulslike in a long time. I find the environments beautiful and amazingly detailed. The combat felt fluid and fun. The only part it seemed to disappoint a bit was the story, it was rather lackluster. I would still very much recommend it for any fan of the genre however.
Finished w4k Mechanicus a few months back. I tried to get into Baldurs Gate 3 mainly due to all the great reviews, but it didn't really fit with me. Other than that I mostly played Crusader Kings 3, Civ6 and Risk of Rain 2, all three being games you don't really finish.
I bought and finished the Mafia Trilogy a month ago. Forgot how good it was. I have since been playing Starfield so nothing else complete for a while I would think.
The first one is definately the best one in terms of the overall feel of the game and storyline. Both the 2nd and 3rd games are good and have elements of story continuation in them. On the 3rd one though, parts of the story did not keep me hooked and I did not feel invested in the character arch as much as the others. For me, great games, new and old, must have:
A compelling storyline
A believable or even relatable character arch
Consistency throughout so the story flows
Graphics are not the most important thing in any way. I want to feel immersed.
Feel that went on a little tangent them but you get what I mean (hopefully).
I just beat OneShot yesterday. It was beautiful, Niko is so cute! Also, the story was interesting and very meta. It had some very neat game mechanics too. Excellent game.
Which version, PC? I did that one a while ago and I liked it. But then I was like "Wait, how?" when I saw it was being ported to Switch, because I am not sure how the weird stuff it does would work on it.
In any case it has interesting themes, and it's very good at making the player connect with them.
I played the steam version of it. I don't know how the switch version handles the weird stuff. Seems like without the weird stuff, it would really take away from the narrative however :(
Yeah, I hear you. It was a slog getting to the end. Frankly, I don't think anyone should feel bad about just reading a synopsis and skipping to the sequel.
Tomb Raider 2013. Love that game. It's a mystery to me how they were able to croft (allow me this pun!) such a good story for that game but not able to repeat it in the later games. Even though their graphics is undoubtedly better, they feel like blant, nonsensical, un-mysterious clones
Don't laugh, I'm old: Fahrenheit. But Mafia was great, too. Witcher - almost. Loved the alien game with Ripley's daughter too, forgot the name, something Sevastopol station. But that's it for me in the last 20 years (!) I wish they would emphasize a good story more, but I guess that's (graphic) novels for.
I played them long back. For some reason, never got around to playing black ops 2. I finished the campaign yesterday. Going to start black ops 3 today.
Final Fantasy XVI about 3 or 4 weeks ago. It is a very satisfying, increasingly fun, game. I love how the story was told and the progression of the combat system which continues to give you more options without getting more complicated. And it was actually a complete story unlike XV. I'd put it in the mid top half of Final Fantasy games I've played.
I recently played through the Minecraft modpack FTB's Sky Factory 3 with three of my friends. Technically you don't really finish it per se, but we got to a point where we couldn't do much else without excessive levels of grinding and collectively decided we were happy to call it quits.
It was a lot of fun. I've never been a fan of playing other modpacks because they often focus on Minecraft's weakest points (combat is a big one). SF3 on the other hand focuses on what are, IMO, two of Minecraft's biggest strengths, creativity and the grind. Saying we were somewhat addicted would be an understatement, as I alone managed to put 144 hours (6 days!) in the game in around 2 weeks. And that was just me, my poor computer got left on almost every other night so friends could play on the server while I slept.
It was quite different from vanilla Minecraft which helped everyone avoid the burnout that vanilla+ packs usually cause for us. 8/10, probably wouldn't play it again, but the whole group had a solid two weeks of a fun new experience at the nice price of $0.
One of my favorite memories from college was when I was home over the summer, had no job, and almost my whole family was gone for like a week. I binged a replay through all 4 Arkham games and the gameplay never got old while the story was just as good as the first few times I played each of them.
Also, screw everyone who says otherwise: the Batmobile was a ton of fun to use and broke up the other gameplay extremely well.
I played and finished Dredge. It's a fishing horror game, but a surprisingly relaxing experience! Very recommended. You go out with your boat in search of that rare catch. But at night you have to be careful of going crazy.
Nice story too.
I've finished Ori and the Blind Forest at least 3 times recently. I had my first playthrough (100%), then I went back for the 3 hour speedrun (took a couple attempts to figure out my routing) and got a 2.5 hour run. Then I did a hard mode run with no upgrades. I've yet to do any tries for the no death run because that's probably going to be hell.
As you might have guessed, I think it's a fantastic game. I'm very much looking forward to playing the sequel. I'm going to try a couple no death runs before I move on though.
Please tell me you've played Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Both games are tied for the best game I've ever played. They have everything perfected in every way. I wish I would go back in time and erase my memory so I could play it again.
I almost never finish any game because I am sick of quests and (modern) stories or the way they are told in general. Because of that, I mostly play games without a definitiv ending. But my last "story" ending was Diablo 4 and I haven't liked it. It can hardly be caled an ending... Moreover I was happy that I finaly finished the story, so I was able to see what the game will be after it... It was also pretty disappointing. So I started another char in PoE again 😃
Before this I guess it was "It takes two" and it was great.
I feel you on Diablo 4. I can't bring myself to log in to do the new season. Plus note, huge update and new DLC coming to Grim Dawn. Super excited there.
As someone else that has a hard time finishing a game (be it time/too many others to play), what are some open ended ones you could reco if any?
Celeste -> great platformer. Maybe the best I ever played.
Tiny Thor -> another good platformer
Sea of Stars -> I have some mixed feelings about this. All in all a good game. The visuals are fantastic. The story is ok (so far), the music is very cool. The battle is good but to be honest, for a round based combat system it has to be compared with games like final fantasy and it is much much flatter. Once you got the basics, no suprises will be left. And this is a pity. I expected the battle system to be the heart of the game... But it seems like the visuals are. 🤔 As I said, good all in all, but not as expected.
Brotato: This could be my game of the year 2023. Awesome game loop. Nice for a "short" round inbetween...
Cosmoteer: Awesome game if one likes to build stuff and management aspects in games. But not as easy as it seems first.
Ember Knights: great co-op rouge lite. Played it when it was in early access and it was great already. I should take a look into it, now it is finaly released.
Looks great for when it was made and the lighting was pretty impressive. The story was kind of dumb and super cliche. The scares mostly didn't work, but they got me with a few jump scares. The music and atmosphere were pretty eerie and effective. Decent shooter!
I'll eventually check out the sequels and now I really want to play that studio's spy games. I think they are called No One Lives Forever or something like that.
Spider-Man 2, it's was the cookie cutter definition of a safe sequel. More of the first game, but marginally bigger and better. Combat felt improved, web wings made traversal more fun, story was taken up a notch (though I still think I prefer the first games overall). I kinda just felt like my time with the game was a little too short for seventy dollars. Honestly just another couple side quest lines would have been enough to make it reach the playtime that I would have expected. I did really enjoy it. It is a better game than the first one. 16hrs is just a little too short for this kind of game I think. I am very hopeful for the DLC and I'm really happy with where they took the story. I need to go back and complete the collectathon stuff, but I have seen some of the Spider Shots you get for them and I'm not super interested really. Most seven out of ten game I have finished this year.
Pretty sure the last game I fully completed, not just did a successful run of, would have to be Beyond The Edge of Owlsgarde.
It's a point and click adventure game where you play as a deer who comes home for some sort of celebration, only to find his parents are missing. It's charming enough and I found the cast to be enjoyable, especially one special death scene where the English voice actor for the main character improvised and created a hilarious scene because of it.
It's short enough that a full non-commentary playthrough is around 2hrs20min long, but I definitely spent a lot longer on it since I had no idea what to do in certain scenarios. If you don't mind anthro animal characters and are looking for a decent modern point and click, I would recommend it. I personally enjoyed it despite sometimes having no clue what to do.
I recently finished Diablo 3 (finished the campaign, then went into adventure mode and played until I got sub 3 minutes GR 90 runs). And yesterday I finished the main storyline for Q.U.B.E. Anniversary Edition. Now working my way through the bonus sector 8.
Honestly, that would have to be Oneshot, and it was amazing. All I can really say without spoiling it is that it's somewhat like Undertale in terms of enjoyment, at least for me.
Undertale and Oneshot spoilers
Although I would prefer that the emotional tension in Solstice was kept with more side stuff that you could mess up and have permanent consequences. What I liked about Undertale is how your actions truly felt like they mattered in the long run. Go from town to town killing everyone? The other's will know and hate you for it. If you instead give everone mercy, never killing a single soul, those actions won't matter until the end. And by then, you'd be glad to have done it. So, the way you play truly mattered, and affected the game's perception of you the player. In Oneshot, I initially thought that my actions truly mattered, but found out quickly that they didn't. The story remains the same no matter what actions you take. That took away from some of the impact the game had. I still cried during Solstice, though.
I tend not to finish most games because I am almost constantly leaping from one to another (or playing games that you can't really beat), but I think the last one I played to completion was probably Cyberpunk 2077 around the time of release: Despite the criticism, I enjoyed the game quite a bit and the ending I did on my first playthrough was pretty damn bleak and soul-crushing.
Been meaning to play it again after all the patching and now that there's an expansion, I might actually get around to it one of these days... So many games, so little time.
Endless Dungeon with a friend. It was entertaining but we finished a full run after not too much time and we're both pretty disappointed. The base gameplay was good, but it really felt like a demo, no real drive to play it again
It's hard for me to finish a game. Couple of reasons there. Rather determined though with Gotham Knights right now.
Thinking back to what he last one was... I believe it was Hypnospace Outlaw. That game was a straight trip. Problem solving got a bit much near the end, but my son and I got through it. Really looking forward to the sequel.
Edit: Haha! It wasn't Hypnospace. That was the 2nd to last game to beat. It was Cocoon. Lovely little game with just the right difficulty in problem solving.
I just finished Spiderman 2. I enjoyed it. It's technically ambitious with the city being so huge but detailed, second load screens for fast travel and just generally beautiful. It adds a lot more combat mechanics and balances some broken mechanics. The story was heartfelt and well done for the most part as well with a few non-combat sections that really let me relate to Peter and his relationships with Harry Osborn and MJ. Yurenthal as Peter Parker put in some emotional performances.
But the gameplay overall is extremely iterative. And the last third or so is extremely rushed with whole plot lines being crammed in and resolved in literal minutes.
If you liked the first game and just want more and "better", you will get that with this game. I was definitely satisfied.
Finish last, GYLT. That is was kinda good game. Working on Scars Above, will finish today or tomorrow. I think I like it. There is a stretch where “I’m like, am I doing the same thing over and over?!”
I want to get “Immortals of Aveum”, but I accidentally added the demo to my PS5, and now I do not see the option to buy the standard (and discounted) edition. PS store is the worst!!
Edit: don’t my ps plus expires at the end of the month, I may get the purchase rights back, but that may suck cause it would be after Black Friday 🤔
After Tears of the Kingdom I got a few cheap games. The ones I finished from among them were The Last Campfire, Arise: a Simple Story and Aspire: Ina's Tale. Each one was worth the $2-3 I spent for them. I could see myself replaying TLC or Aspire. Arise was ok to do once but it's too emotional for me to want to replay.
Atelier Totori. Part of a very chill/cozy series about young girls crafting things with alchemy.
I enjoyed the story. It was a bit more emotional than I was expecting. I like games like this that get deep into the crafting, but the UI/UX was kinda brutal. I'm going to keep trying more recent games in this series, hoping to find one I liked as much as this one, just more friendly to tinker with.
I just finished demon souls and I thought it was pretty good overall. I felt like the difficulty was interesting. I hit an initial wall until I realized I had to jump from area to area. At that point I steamrolled the rest of the game in two days.
Not my favorite of the souls series, but it was interesting. I could see how they used demon souls as a way to test the waters with various ideas.
I still think my favorites are dark souls 3 and sekiro.
Currently playing bloodborne now. I like where it's going, but I'm still only on the third(?) boss so I'll have to wait and see. It's the last of the series that I need to play.
Still working on platniuming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It was pretty good, except for the missing last episode, and certain missions that just feel like they're in the game for no real reason because they don't do much to drive the plot forward
I love the weird sci-fi/supernatural atmosphere it has. The gameplay is fast and smooth, especially once your character has mobility and speed upgrades. It also doesn't have the problem I had with Elden Ring in that it feels like it took forever to travel from place to place in ER. MSGV has much faster movement
Cyberpunk 2077. Enjoyed the game. Pissed me off tho. 2 reasons: 1) the female PC cannot hook up with Panam and 2) the DLC is not released on older gens. Soured me on the whole company.