Board 8 > The Great 2018 Video Game Challenge

(+) Yeah! (+)

5. Beat a game released in 2018

Kirby: Star Allies

Really great game, even if its wayyyy too easy and short. Played the entire game in multiplayer with my cousins who dont play a lot of video games and no one ever lost a life.
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36. Replay a game from a long time ago

Plants Vs. Zombies

I needed a new mobile game to play that didn't require an internet connection for my commute, so I decided to pick this back up after not touching it since I beat it when it released nearly a decade ago.

20/50
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44. Beat a game based on licensed stories/characters
Batman: The Telltale Series
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oh man someone else that played kittens game
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I hit random on TV Tropes a few times and got "Gambit Roulette". Persona 5 is on my backlog and it fits there so that's what I'm going with.
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God I wish I could include Danganronpa 3 on here. What an amazing conclusion and wrap up of the two games.
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16. Beat a rhythm game

Crypt of the Necrodancer

- Getting through All Zones Mode with Cadence and seeing the credits counts, right? Right?
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theres no indication that the jury goes to ghost island...

45. Beat a game that's been adapted into another medium

LEGO Batman the Videogame

A videogame based on a comic book franchise represented by a toyline that's been adapted into its own movie.

- Fun for the most part. The character selection is good, the destructive collectathon aspect is always good fun, the puzzles aren't too difficult but creative enough to enjoy them especially since this is also aimed at young kids, and it's fun comic book action beat em up. However, while the destruction and comic book aspects remind me joyfully of X-Men Legends II; the physics, hit confirmation, and just odd/bad AI gave me frustration flashbacks to Hot Tin Roof with its horrible camera placements for awkward jumps. The hardest level was 1-2 for just how stupid the AI was and horrible some of those jumps/slippery floors were. It was my last 'Superhero' stud get because of a lot of flailing it took to get my AI out of ****.

I'm at 77.6% after beating the Villains story mode and may go for 100% at some point, but I'm ready to just chalk up another tally and see what's next on the agenda.
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28. Beat a game with the supernatural as a central theme

Far Cry 5

Great game, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other Far Cry games (which are some of my favourite games ever). 3 > 4 > 5 > Primal > 2

This was also the first game I've played in 2018 that was released in 2018!

21/50
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6. Beat a game in a completely new series

LISA: The Painful

- What a downer. Not much to say right now. It had an itneresting cast of characters and despairful world. Winners shouldn't do drugs.
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41. Beat a game with a Metascore below 70
Deadfall Adventures

I always worry that I won't have a game to qualify for this, but I had one without realizing it!
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Haven't been on here in a while. Two months actually!

44. Beat a game based on licensed stories/characters

Lego Marvel Superheroes 2

4. Beat a game released between 2010-2017

Late Shift
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Just been doing some research on games with 90+ Metascores, and there are quite a few entries where I had that Giant Bomb blinking reaction.

Here are three I own and could theoretically play to pass the 90 Metascore entry:

Super Mario Sunshine
- Okay, there are a lot of Mario entries scoring above a 90. I believe all mainline 3D platformers are up there, but still, Sunshine?

Chrono Cross
- It deserves a high score for its music, but its gameplay and story are pretty underwhelming. And though SNES doesn't get any relevance, it still beats Chrono Trigger DS? That's crazy.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- Seriously. A 90 metacritic for one of the worst Zelda games.

Just some random ranting as I sit at work unable to play any games, looking over my backlog over and over and re-re-re-ranking the games I've beaten so far this year. Good to see some other 90+ games I've had in my backlog. Might motivate me to dig them back up and finish them off.

How's everyone enjoying their gaming thus far?
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KCF0107 posted...

41. Beat a game with a Metascore below 70
Deadfall Adventures

I always worry that I won't have a game to qualify for this, but I had one without realizing it!

From what I know about you, most of the games you play seem to be 60-80 games.
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Mega Mana posted...

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- Seriously. A 90 metacritic for one of the worst Zelda games.

Just some random ranting as I sit at work unable to play any games, looking over my backlog over and over and re-re-re-ranking the games I've beaten so far this year. Good to see some other 90+ games I've had in my backlog. Might motivate me to dig them back up and finish them off.

How's everyone enjoying their gaming thus far?

If you stick the Zelda name on anything it'll score high. Even a bad Zelda game will score highly. I haven't had time to complete any games in ages. Think FF7 then Life is Strange will likely be the next 2 I finish.
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Mega Mana posted...

Super Mario Sunshine
- Okay, there are a lot of Mario entries scoring above a 90. I believe all mainline 3D platformers are up there, but still, Sunshine?

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
- Seriously. A 90 metacritic for one of the worst Zelda games.

Nintendo and especially Zelda games always seem to get crazy reactions at launch only to cool off a few months down the line, sometimes not even that long.

Look at Skyward Sword. I'm not saying it's a bad game but people were giving it 9s and 10s across the board when it came out (Metacritic 93), and opinion changed on that one pretty quickly.

Mega Mana posted...

How's everyone enjoying their gaming thus far?

Monster Hunter World kinda killed any hope I had of doing well in the challenge; I did enjoy it a lot though so I can't really complain. Working through Persona 5 now which will probably be my 90 Metacritic game.
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8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise

Life is Strange: Before The Storm

There will be marked LiS S1 spoilers in this post.

Fantastic game. I think I enjoyed it more than the first game. Chloe and Rachel are great characters, and their relationship made me like Max and Chloe's relationship less when looking back. I do think playing this game does elevate the first game though. There's more weight to what Chloe goes through in the first game if you have the knowledge of the relationships from this game.

I had this feeling of great sadness periodically come over me while playing this, mostly because of the eventual fate of both Chloe and Rachel in the first game.

Those final few scenes had me pretty emotional, and that last stinger of Rachel in Jefferson's room made me hate Jefferson more than I thought I ever could.

I just really like Rachel.

22/50

@Robazoid I'd really like to hear your thoughts on the game as the resident Life is Strange super-fan.
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To the surprise of almost no one, I really enjoyed Before the Storm! I was wary going into it because a prequel to Life is Strange sounded difficult to pull off (especially by a new developer) so I was amazed at the level of understanding they had for the characters. Chloe was basically perfect. One of my favorite moments was in BtS Ep1 in the junkyard where she starts smashing everything. I feel like a lesser writer would've just had her break down and cry when Rachel left, but that isn't how Chloe processes emotions. She responds to things by lashing out, so having her go on that rampage was the moment I realized these writers really knew what they were doing. I was also impressed with Rachel, who was excellent (especially since she would've been an easy character to screw up). They made it very easy to see how Chloe could describe Rachel as 'her angel' in Life is Strange, but they didn't go overboard and make her perfect or anything. She was flawed, and I was always left with a sense that large parts of her were an act, which was exactly what Rachel needed to be.

That said, the game wasn't perfect. I really feel like it would've benefited from having five episodes instead of three because the third one felt super rushed. I would've preferred one episode dedicated to learning about Sera rather than an info-dump, then one to learning about what Rachel's dad's role in everything was, and then another to wrap everything up. Life is Strange wasn't perfect either, though, and Before the Storm's problems were similar to it so I don't hold it against it much. I felt it was exactly what a prequel should be because, for me at least, it enhanced my appreciation for the original story. Seeing Chloe and Rachel together added a lot of depth to Chloe's desperation in LiS, and seeing Chloe here, at arguably her lowest point before meeting Rachel, really justified a lot of her actions in LiS for me. Stuff like that matters more to me than the problems I had with the third episode, so I rank Before the Storm at roughly the same level as Life is Strange itself!
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2013 punjabi prison

9. Beat a remake or enhanced port

Shadow Complex Remastered

- That was a fun Metroidvania. Slick controls, interesting map layout and puzzles, fun combat.
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41. Beat a game with a Metascore below 70

Game Dev Tycoon
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9. Beat a remake or enhanced port

Metroid: Samus Returns

Of all the Metroid games I've played, this is certainly one of them. Thankfully, a middle of the road Metroid game is still a good time. Have some complaints (I really with I could have used the D-Pad for movement, and I didn't find any of the bosses fun until the last two), but I enjoyed it.

20/50
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8. Beat a spin-off or a game that rebooted a franchise

Warriors All-Stars. I had a lot of fun with this! Too bad it's single player only

12/50
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7. Beat a game in a series you've already played some of
God of War: Ascension
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Beat a game based on licensed stories/characters

South Park: The Fractured But Whole. As usual South Park brings the goods

13/50
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30. Beat a game with a female lead

Cosmic Star Heroine

21/50
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I count 5 votes for boko united this is a travesty

Oops been slacking.

9. Beat a remake or enhanced port

Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA)

The minigames they added weren't great, but it's still good ol' DKC3. Felt like some of the more bull**** levels from the original were less terrible in this one. I did find myself muting the game and listening to the SNES soundtrack instead pretty often.
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urns

SantaRPidgey posted...

5. Beat a game released in 2018

Kirby: Star Allies

Really great game, even if its wayyyy too easy and short. Played the entire game in multiplayer with my cousins who dont play a lot of video games and no one ever lost a life.

Im getting plans to do this solo. Just waiting for my dad to finish hogging the Switch.
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21. Beat a strategy game
Valkyria Chronicles
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26. Beat a game with revenge as a central theme
Batman: The Telltale Series
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42. Beat a game with a Metascore above 90

Celeste.

Deserves it, too. Fantastic game. I'm going definitely going to try to 100% it.

22/50

(Undertale moved to game with child protagonist)
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28. Beat a game with the supernatural as a central theme

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

I had only played Legacy of Darkness before this so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, but I liked it a lot even with one or two "where the hell am I going" moments.
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11. Beat a game by a developer you like

Tales from The Borderlands.
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4. Beat a game released between 2010-2017

Day D Tower Rush

A below average tower defense with questionable tower AI. Not a good game.

11/50
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Trying the Battle Subway with my in game team.

I have a giant water weakness with Krookodile/Archeops/Chandelure.

are you happy with it compared to your old one?

(I assume so)

30. Beat a game with a female lead

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

14/50
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If Mikayla was winning, I'd assume she'd get more of a Cochran edit, being the only one not affiliated with the core alliance at the moment.

50-52. Beat three games in a series
Queen's Quest 1-3

Normally, I do not like doing similar games back-to-back-to-back, but I felt this was a great opportunity to knock this one out.
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46. Beat a game that features historical events or people
Aviary Attorney

I actually wasn't even thinking that it was based on historical events until I looked it up on a whim
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4. Beat a game released between 2010-2017
Toybox Turbos

I put Environmental Station Alpha to robot/artificial lead, so I'm still lucky enough to have every game I have beaten this year make the checklist.
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reiterating poor Miz

3. Beat a game released between 2000-2009

Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/76553705

12/50
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(so WWE would be worse than those analogies)

30. Beat a game with a female lead
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
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50c. Beat three games in a series

Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

- Definitely a different type of game than the two mainline Hope's Peak games, but it was still very good. It was extremely clunky at first and the story was... a lot of the internal timeline didn't seem to add up. Unless Komaru was like in the last minutes of a longer takeover of Towa, all the rapidfire changes to the city, the sheer amount of kids and bloodshed, and the way everything seemed to play out especially regarding the resistance base... time was pretty relaxed. That said, I enjoyed a lot of the little tidbits towards other games, particularly the Danganronpa 2 foreshadowings.

It was mechanically a bit wonky at times with some terrible aiming control (especially the final boss), and there are character background things that are just... holy **** I've been having neck pains from the whiplash. Not even mood whiplash because it's all very down, but daaaaamn. I enjoyed it well enough, but don't have any urge to try and get every unlockable like I sometimes do. There's a lot of anti-backtracking in this game from few save points to quickly closed off routes of entry.

I still crave more though. Such a good, solid series of games/manga/novellas/whatifs/anime
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Listened to Know It Alls and Stephen Fishbach said something like "Marty Piombo should come back"

Congrats on another subtle Stephen Fishbach callout Peridiam