Board 8 > Post Each Time You Beat a Game: 2019 Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

World to the West (PC)

fun enough to finish!

oddly rough around the edges, but that helps make it feel like one of those AA games from the PS1 era. it makes sense, since the team is so small

the artstyle is well stylized, and cute except for the glassy, dead black eyes.

the abilities are pretty neat, but for the fact that two have what i would consider minor technical issues that make it difficult to tell what areas are actually puzzle elements.

the "puzzles" are easy and well telegraphed enough- i only became confused with/had to look up two of them.

one strange thing is that health pickups are just out in the world, and only apply to the character that physically grabs them. most of the time this doesn't matter, because they're behind a 'character only' obstacle, but there were a few that i think i got with the wrong one. were i to 100% this game, i think one of my characters would have less than the others. i probably won't do that, even though the collectibles are clearly marked on the minimap

the characters were slowly developing, but the story ended abruptly. they didn't even bother resolving all of the individual characters' plotlines
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Glover (PS1)
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4. Kingdom Hearts 3 (PS4)
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Goodbye Deponia (PC)

I started the first 2 games more than 3 years ago, but stopped because I had heard about the saga in general and where it was going. While I wasn't spoiled, I was just a bit disheartened about how Rufus keeps becoming more and more like an asshole, never changing despite that ending (which assumes it was all justified) and this game proves it. I have decided I should just play it for what it is; the puzzles, the music, the scenes. This one in particular crosses the line twice ALOT of times which makes me uncomfortable at times but I mean I think that was the point. I may have suffered seeing as characters from 1 and 2 return in full force and I barely remember any of them.

Now I'm on the fence about the 4th game as I already know the drama surrounding it. Best I can do is just play it for the game itself. I keep forgetting that this is Daedalic and their games always have some form of bittersweetness in play.
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Okay, I feel compelled to download the sequels so I can read the spoiler tag.
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I will admit, I was compelled mostly to finish Deponia 3, because you posted about finishing Deponia 1 and the memories started flowing back to me hehe
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Endless Space

4x games are terrible- why did i do this?

The flavor on random events is neat, I guess. Flavor on the spice heroes, too.

Someday a game will be made that automates most of the humdrum minutia of applying infrastructure upgrades to each individual system, navigation of tech trees, and ordering of planet colonization. It's not realistic for one person to dictate every individual's actions in a galactic society anyway.
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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End for PS4

4 > 2 > 3 > 1

The main reason this gets the top spot is because of its multiplayer, which is leagues better than 2's and 3's. Great selection of maps, I am a fan of the pre-made and customizable loadouts, and I love how objective-oriented the gametypes are. I was never a big fan of slayer/deathmatch types of modes, so having four good-to-amazing objective modes that I generally did not have trouble finding enough people for is what I truly wanted. They aren't even all that original (only Bounty Hunter is somewhat), but they are all up my alley. I think that I have spent 30-45 hours on it already.

The campaign I have a wide range of feelings toward. It was way too long for its own good (I feel like the PS3 games were around 10 hours long while this took me about 15-17 hours ), but I think the chapters that took the longest were my favorites (10's The Twelve Towers and 12's At Sea). I also hold in high regard 6's Once a Thief and 14's Join Me in Paradise. I think why I feel so strongly about those four is that they emphasized the adventure element more than the rest. I have nothing wrong with the combat per se (obviously not an issue because why would I continue to play these games or play online otherwise), but I feel like they wasted an opportunity for it to naturally evolve going to the PS4. It also didn't help matters that this was a lot more punishing than the rest that I have played (haven't played Golden Abyss or Lost Legacy).

Encounters, as the game calls them, mostly had the player at a disadvantage not because of numbers (you are always outnumbered in nearly every combat-related video game after all), but the sheer firepower difference (soooooo many enemies with snipers and gold rifles/heavy weapons) and much higher use of armored foes got old quick. It got to a point to where I kind of had it with encounters and wanted to do more exploring, the strongest attribute of the campaign.

I have mixed feelings about the story/writing. The previous games knew, for the most part, how to balance its mix of light-hearted and tense moments while allowing its characters to shine without overstaying their welcome. If I had to make a list of what I thought were the series' five best written characters, I think that Sam (what I'm about to mention I don't associate as being a Sam issue), Rafe, and Nadine make that list, but man this game was so chock-full of hamfisted melodrama that helped pad the length of the game. I have absolutely no idea how Elena figured out that Nate was in Madagascar, specifically where in Madagascar, and figured out that all out without even knowing the why. I also think that the main twist of the Alcazar breakout being a lie was lame and held little value within the story despite making a large impact on the game's events.

Departing somewhat from the usual adventure, making this not about a famous artifact or location, this was about simply finding gold, albeit Henry Avery's. Due to its more unique subject matter, this had the potential of being far and away the best adventure in the series. However, I never felt that they gave it the attention that it deserved. I may be a little biased since I find pirates fascinating and have written a story on the difficulty of creating and maintaining a true pirate community. It certainly felt like an afterthought and the main goal of the game was to create whatever scenario stood best to serve up some melodrama or character development. When they did focus on Avery, Tew, the rest of the captains, and Liberteria, they certainly delivered, so I am still pleased to a degree, but man the execution could have been so much better.
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i've never played Splatoon but Marina is the best yea

1. Sonic Mania - 2/7/2019

9/10
As good as if not better then Sonic CD.
Everything from the music, to the animations, to the level design, to the videos leading up to the game, to the fact that it had Ray the effing Flying Squirrel in it....great game.
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Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation (Android)

Aka FF4 5 6 meets Chrono Cross.

I see now why this is the black sheep of the franchise (and 7 apparently welp) but to me I appreciate how dark and different it is. With a history of constantly improving itself, VI is often said to be worse than V. But so what.

I frankly think VI's strengths lie elsewhere such as the awesome but hilariously broken job system as well as the map shit and the little adventures you have. People say the story is almost not there but really, it's not like IV and V have been stellar. VI is great.

Next time on my DQ Quest, I'll be moving to the 3ds for the next two games.
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VII is more love it or hate it whereas VI is just unloved (even though theyre the best two games in the series...!)
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The only things I've heard about VII are that it has time travel in it and that there is ALOT of backtracking involved. Other than that, I just find it weird that no one is talking about it even more than VI despite the fact that its on the 3DS.
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The Hong Kong Massacre (PC)

This game is a shame. It is as Hotline Miami as it is Hatred to Postal. The game seems adamant to make it look as cool as possible while ignoring everything else. Shrapnel and setpieces explode in bullet dances and slow-mo intricacy who's quickly refilling bar encourages you to abuse it as much as you can.

However, the game is mired with several design flaws. The bad guys are idiots. They never try to flank you when you're busy going down the halls and you just happen to miss one. They only respond once you enter their zone which is usually the room they patrol in. They don't even flinch or react when you fire INTO the room unless it hits one of their own. They also appear to have literal eyes at the back of their heads as they are easily able to detect you even if you sneak up and try to snipe them from behind. There was also a severe lack of variety---only 1 armored enemy about halfway into the game and that would've been fine if the levels weren't so long and repetitive. Sure game, it's a drug den but really it's the same damn rooftop only longer and more tedious. And speaking of which, the boss fights themselves are just the same set-up with slightly more mooks and obstacles to dodge through.

While the guns feel like guns, every other sound effect is non-existent. There is no sound cue when you perform a dodge roll, so I have no idea when the animation ends leading me to getting shot. There is no death gurgle for any of the mooks you finish off so you don't know if you managed to nick one. And the interface forces you into this zoomed in perspective that while was effective in Hotline, only served to infuriate me here. But the biggest design flaw I see is how the final kill is always zoomed in...and blurred out. Like, I wanna see the destruction I cause up close!

The music gets repetitive but at least it does some decent HM inspired techno. And the story while engaging in the beginning, turns into dragging nonsense by the end. I just realized that if Hotline Miami didn't have such an absurd premise, the levels would be as tedious as you wouldn't really care what happens next.

I rag on and on, but only because I loved it and I feel disheartened that it doesn't really try to capture the true kind of Hong Kong shootout. They could've done more exciting setpieces and things to do like environmental kills or chase sequences or collectibles to keep it fresh.
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Broken Age

yep, it's a classic point and click and has all of the associated baggage. On the bright side I think it's the most enjoyable one I've played.

It's kinder than many others- a thing it telegraphs and you actually need to take advantage of if you want to solve some puzzles. Basically, if something looks like it might kill you, you should do it and see what happens.

And by baggage, I mean that some puzzles use stupid unintuitive logic while ignoring obvious solutions, and every once in a while you will need to just click on everything in every combination to progress if you don't use a guide. I looked up a guide at least 5 times over the course of the game.
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Tri: Of Friendship and Madness (PC)

Jesus Christ. I've never played a game so divisive in my mind that I would constantly almost uninstall it after every level. But when that level is done, even if it took 3 hours to complete and would only get longer in level, you feel a sort of cathartic state of accomplishment.

I would have loved to pitch this as an underrated Portal clone, but it's way too tedious to be one and my goto is still Antichamber in the end. It's got the cool beats of an amazing puzzle game and it is despite the abstract art style. But the rather obtuse and carefully thought out solutions can sometimes wring your mind dry. Tri isn't hard because the puzzles are hard. They lull you into a false sense of security and then spring the impossibility once you're 90% up.

I'm just glad to be done with it. Oh, and I went for all the hidden statues too which made this playthrough even more nailbiting.
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Simoun, I'm assuming Rufus remains the literal worst protagonist ever, that's what made me stop playing after the second game
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Anyway,

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC)
The Chronicles of Riddck: Assault on Dark Athena (PC)

I liked how they handled stealth in these games.
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Man, I remember going through those games about a decade ago. Good stuff. I have a tough time deciding which one I liked more, but from what I can remember, I want to lean Butcher Bay.
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New Super Mario Bros. U (NS)

I decided not to count the entire Deluxe version as well because I haven't gone through Super Luigi U yet, so I just beat the Switch version of NSMBU. Beat all the levels, including secret levels, except for the Star Road levels. Haven't gotten all star coins yet either, I just kind of went through the levels trying to find them if I could but not bother always looking for every one of them. I might do that at some point, but now it's time for some other games again (including continuing Tales of Vesperia).

Overall, a good 2D Mario game. It looks nice and sharp, the overworld does make it all a bit nicer as well, gives you the feeling of progress a little more. The inclusion of secret exits is cool, and a few of them even lead to secret levels which is nice. The Acorn is also a little less overpowered than the other flying powerups of the series, which I think is a good thing, but sometimes I actually found the wall-sticking to be more annoying than helpful.

Still overall one of the easier Mario games. All the challenge comes from getting all the Star Coins (and I mean all, most of them aren't difficult to get either), if you just go to the end of the level, I don't really remember any difficult ones, even in the later worlds. And it has to be said, originality one shall not find in this one. All the Mushroom Kingdom tropes are there and that's it. At least naming every level makes them a little more memorable this time. I did like Soda Jungle a lot, that was definitely the best world imo.
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Tales of Hearts R for Vita

One of the very few JRPG series that I play, I would probably rank this alongside its sister title in Graces f. I probably had more fun with the combat here than any others outside of the Xillias. I also didn't dislike any of the main cast, which is a remarkable feat given any non-comedic scene/line of dialogue in the film feels like it was written by a nine-year-old. They waited way too long to introduce a faster means of travel (like 85% through the game), they completely phoned in their world (the series does however puts little to no effort in world building) and I find it baffling they brought back random encounters (apparently a departure from the original DS version). If the game's lows weren't on par with some of the series' worst, it could have entered my Top 5. Having not played Symphonia in roughly 15 years though, I wouldn't be surprised if Hearts R did enter it if I did a replay of the former.

Right now, my inequality is probably:

Legendia > Xillia > Xillia 2 > Abyss > Symphonia > Hearts R > Graces f > Vesperia > Symphonia 2
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Simoun posted...

Tri: Of Friendship and Madness (PC)

Jesus Christ. I've never played a game so divisive in my mind that I would constantly almost uninstall it after every level. But when that level is done, even if it took 3 hours to complete and would only get longer in level, you feel a sort of cathartic state of accomplishment.

I would have loved to pitch this as an underrated Portal clone, but it's way too tedious to be one and my goto is still Antichamber in the end. It's got the cool beats of an amazing puzzle game and it is despite the abstract art style. But the rather obtuse and carefully thought out solutions can sometimes wring your mind dry. Tri isn't hard because the puzzles are hard. They lull you into a false sense of security and then spring the impossibility once you're 90% up.

I'm just glad to be done with it. Oh, and I went for all the hidden statues too which made this playthrough even more nailbiting.

I bought this a couple years ago as it had been on my wishlist for a long time, but I stop myself from starting it because I remember people saying it is pretty lengthy for a first-person puzzle game.
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SgtSphynx posted...

Simoun, I'm assuming Rufus remains the literal worst protagonist ever, that's what made me stop playing after the second game

That is correct. In the third game, Rufus allows the death of 2 children to be eaten by a giant slime monster (played for comedy), and breaks up the relationship of a character from Game 2 by tricking the gf (a black woman btw) into becoming a dancing girl for a horny organ grinder. All for 5 bucks.

And yet, by the end of the third game, Rufus "sacrifices" himself by jumping to his death so that others may live.
It ends with him laughing at the fact that he just can't seem to "change" as if his previous acts were justifiable. One thing the 3rd game tries to do though is finally explain why Rufus and Cletus look alike and why Rufus is an asshole by default. But it feels so ham-fisted and since there's no Redemption Arc (Goal sides with him always) it's pointless anyway.
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KCF0107 posted...

Simoun posted...

Tri: Of Friendship and Madness (PC)

Jesus Christ. I've never played a game so divisive in my mind that I would constantly almost uninstall it after every level. But when that level is done, even if it took 3 hours to complete and would only get longer in level, you feel a sort of cathartic state of accomplishment.

I would have loved to pitch this as an underrated Portal clone, but it's way too tedious to be one and my goto is still Antichamber in the end. It's got the cool beats of an amazing puzzle game and it is despite the abstract art style. But the rather obtuse and carefully thought out solutions can sometimes wring your mind dry. Tri isn't hard because the puzzles are hard. They lull you into a false sense of security and then spring the impossibility once you're 90% up.

I'm just glad to be done with it. Oh, and I went for all the hidden statues too which made this playthrough even more nailbiting.

I bought this a couple years ago as it had been on my wishlist for a long time, but I stop myself from starting it because I remember people saying it is pretty lengthy for a first-person puzzle game.

It's longer than your average puzzle game because the mechanic is placing meticulously sticky triangles everywhere. In itself feels kinda zen actually in that you lose yourself and don't realize it's been an hour.

But then you come to the light bending puzzles where you need to use the triangles to reflect the light beams at an angle. I found those to be the most obnoxious and made my time consumibg all the more self aware. And later on, the light beams turn to lasers, forcing you to avoid the very beams you're reflecting.

By the time I was sick of it I was 3 levels shy of finishing it so I just grit my teeth and started watching walkthrough vids for some of the shittier puzzles
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Gris (PC)

This just might be the best looking game of all time. It is absolutely gorgeous.
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Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddys Kong Quest for SNES

I beat it in 2:52 and with 78% complete
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Spyro the Dragon (Xbox One)
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TIMEframe for PC

A brief walking simulator in which you walk pretty slow but turn even slower. I really only stuck with it because I liked trying to see how many artifacts I could reach in one life (max for me was four, and I can't see anyone getting higher than that given movement speed).
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Onimusha: Warlords (PC)

I was in the 7th Grade, in Shanghai. I was part of this exchange cultural tour whatever. And I was wandering the streets of some small district and noticed that the underground stairway had an exceptionally noisy glow. It was my first time seeing a chain of bootleg shops, my mind was blown. I had purchased a cd containing every NES rom in existence, can you imagine?!

And there in the very corner of the underground, was an old chinese dude playing this weird Resident Evil style game, but it was on the PS2 (I wouldn't be getting it in 5 years). And it was set in Samurai times.

I've since had a fascination with Onimusha. I've wanted to play it since but what never able to until this moment. And I'm not disappointed. Hello Tank Controls! Hello good old fashioned Capcom cheesiness and epic gameplay. It's no surprise this re-implementation sold well and I hope the sequel can come soon otherwise its the PS2 emulator for me.
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Zelda's Adventure (CD-i)
Well, I really just joined in at the end, but I watched a lot of it being played. The part I played was pretty easy.
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Picross 3D: Round 2 (3DS)

All puzzles with all rainbow jewels (not max points though because restarting after just one error is too frustrating)
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Slice, Dice, and Rice for PC

I'm not a huge fan of fightning games or gore, but I was surprised by this one. I went back and tried out a bunch of characters after finishing story mode. Tomoe might be my favorite.
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return for PC

10 minute or so free game on Steam that caught my attention for its art/graphical style. You can skip this one, though I think being spoiled by the likes of You Must Win the Game and Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt in terms of free Steam games.
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9 Clues 2: The Ward for PC
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Oh, I forgot The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages to finish that combined game.
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Also, One Finger Death Punch (PC) because I quit stalling and just played through without perfecting every stage.
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KCF0107 posted...

return for PC

10 minute or so free game on Steam that caught my attention for its art/graphical style. You can skip this one, though I think being spoiled by the likes of You Must Win the Game and Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt in terms of free Steam games.

If you haven't played it yet, the creator of NaissancE finally made his game free last year
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Metro Exodus (PC)

I rather enjoyed this game, even though the enemies are bullet spongy and it uses one of my least favorite video game tropes on multiple occasions.
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Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (Xbox One)
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KCF0107 posted...

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End for PS4

I have nothing wrong with the combat per se (obviously not an issue because why would I continue to play these games or play online otherwise), but I feel like they wasted an opportunity for it to naturally evolve going to the PS4.

They integrated more climbing into the combat scenarios. Before, the level design was very flat (or maybe there were stairs or something at most). Now, the design is more based around a 3D space rather than a 2D floor plan.

The main issue with this is that on higher difficulties, you end up having to play it pretty similar anyways. On lower difficulties though, you really get to have fun with the expanded space in combat areas.
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Vampyr (PC)

The game is trying to be 2 different games and because it's chasing down 2 tails, it falls flat doing both. Thank god they put a Story Mode but there's no way I'm repeating this again just for that. I stuck around because by the time I had realized how grindy this game was I was too invested to forget about it. And that ending was not a disappointment at least.

Finished it without killing anyone. I wanted to do an all kill runthrough but its just way too annoying to start again.
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Roundabout for PC

Digi gave me this as a random Christmas gift in 2017 I believe. It didn't have a good first impression, but I got into a groove soon after. My only gripes are that I wish you could fast travel between garages and for there to be consistency with respawns.
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Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Xbox One)
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A Normal Lost Phone for PC

This is the third I think riffling-through-a-strangers-phone game that I played. Unlike the others, this wasn't about racial profiling. This is definitely my favorite, and I can see why it was well-received. Having never personally met a trans person and went in knowing only a minimal amount about the subject, I appreciated the fake message board helping fill in some gaps.
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The Little Acre for PC

I loved the art, and I overall enjoyed it, but for once I think its brevity hurt it. I don't know if this was based on a particular work, but it went way past ambiguity and had too little world building (explanation in general) for any of the events or characters to make much of an impact.

Nina's cat best character
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Mario & Luigi Bowsers Inside Story + Bowser Jrs Adventure
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Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor for PC

Neat goofy-ass rhythm game. I normally suck at the genre, but I did pretty great here. I wonder if I should have just used keyboard and mouse because the way they structured the button-prompt arrows on the screen (from left to right, it was Left, Down, Up, Right), I simply could not register in time when they asked for a Left/Up combo.
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INSIDE (PC)

caps
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Mega Man in Dr. Wily's Revenge (3DS VC)
Mega Man II (3DS VC)

I remembered liking II better than Dr. Wily's Revenge back in the day, but playing them now Dr. Wily is just blatantly superior. II was much easier though, I just blew right through it, so maybe that was why I liked it better.
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