Just finished Saints Row (2022), AMA

Only the second game I've finished this year, after Alan Wake 2 (on 1 January). 52/64 achievements, think the game glitched and I should have 53 but whatevas.

It started out cringy as hell but the characters actually really grew on me. Mechanically it felt very much like Mafia 3, since it emphasizes the side content to a pretty high degree. I feel like I was knocking out businesses and collectibles and then when I got around to the main story it was over pretty fast. The DLC mission sets were also atrocious (finished both of those today as well).

Shooting on foot wasn't too terrible, shooting from vehicles sucked. I liked the idea of completing challenges with vehicles and weapons to unlock additional upgrades (for instance, some melee weapons would heal you on hits, one SMG became more accurate as you held the trigger down, the RPG causes a bigger explosion), but some of the challenges were so specific that it would be way too grindy to unlock them all, especially since the game is so short. They *do* have a "business" that lets you call in specific factions to rack up kills but that isn't too enjoyable imo.

Can't attest to the soundtrack since I usually play at a low volume. Did experience some rather annoying audio glitches where ALL sounds took on a very echo-y, metallic-y tone. Speaking of glitches, I glitiched out in an early mission when trying to get food from the fridge (character went into a t-pose), and had one graphics driver-related crash, otherwise it was pretty stable.

I found traveling around the city to be rather fun. Last big open world game I played like this was Watch Dogs Legion and I hated the rendition of London so much I just wanted to fast travel everywhere to skip it all. It wasn't as alive as Watch Dogs 2 or other similar games, but I did periodically stumble on events and things going on like mariachi bands in a plaza that added really nice touches to bring the city some life.

Other games I am currently working on include Dragon Age Origins (I suck at CRPGs though and even on Easy I don't know if I will be able to complete it lol) and World of TalesWorth (an idle game). Still debating what to do after I finish DA: O - I could jump into DA2, or revisit Shadow of the Tomb Raider (got too frustrated trying to complete it on the hardest difficulty, which was very achievable in the 2nd game), or try out Uncharted 4 which I'm hoping is a good entry point into the series since it's the only one on Steam.

Howd you enjoy Alan Wake 2? I've been holding off. I enjoyed Control, but it made me unsure of I wanted to continue to AW2

I just re visited and beat Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Pretty much my favorite of the series. It was difficult to finish. But the stealth and environment add a lot for me. Plan on finishing the collectable sometime before the year ends.

I played through the most recent Saints Row when it came out. The ending portion added the charm I needed.

I gave up on it after my challenge progress was glitching hard. And I re did them over and over...

CountDog posted...

I gave up on it after my challenge progress was glitching hard. And I re did them over and over...

yeah, i remember the idols or whatever didn't track properly, they never fixed it, so you have to start the entire game over if you want to attempt it again

I loved Alan Wake 2, one of my favorite games of all time, but I am a total sucker for all things Remedy Interactive so my opinion is definitely biased. It is not as fast as Control for sure. It does feel more atmospheric and dark and dangerous than the original Alan Wake (I felt like I was running out of ammo on many occasions). I need to try the New Game+ mode out though.

I'll probably check out Shadow of the TR again, then. On 2 I did the hardest difficulty and it was annoying but I felt good doing it. On Shadow there are just too many dumb quirks and gotcha QTE to make it enjoyable. I don't know how many times I died in that very first temple just because I kept forgetting you have to hold the button to climb (or... let go of the button? it was not very intuitive).