Board 8 > Post Each Time You Beat a Game: 2020 Edition

(+) Yeah! (+)

KAMIKO (Switch)

And the first game that I beat for the Switch...is this. It is perfectly fine, but it is not special in any aspect of the game and has no lasting appeal.
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Serial Cleaner (PS4)

This stealth game exceeded my expectations. The procedural generation of where your target objects are in each contract could easily lead to you not bother and simply restart for a new setup, but this was a very solid from start to finish.
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Uninvited (XB1)

Cool adventure game from before my time. I died a lot, especially to those damn dogs and southern belle! That maze was awful though.
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La-Mulana (Steam)

FINALLY! After however many years its been? December 22, 2013 is my first achievement so about SIX YEARS, I've finally beaten it.

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Some Distant Memory (PC)

Interesting little game with a somewhat bittersweet story. Played through in one sitting. Took approximately 2 hours and I enjoyed my time with it.

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Rollercoaster Tycoon (PC)

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KCF0107 posted...

Omensight (XB1)

I don't like it as much as Stories: The Path of Destinies, but it is still a great game. It is more unique than what Stories brought to the table.

Were you able to get a Golden Ending on this? I heard it was a last patch of sorts. I was so frustrated when I played this and found out there was no true ending and any other path was tragic

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Baba Is You (PC)

I thought this game was short like Minit, so the extra worlds after the main ending took me by surprise. Some of the puzzles though intriguing just felt a bit too obtuse for me, but I loved it. If its any consolation I'm glad you don't have to finish EVERY level to get that other ending. If there's a third ending I don't know if I'd want to try and get it. My interest for this game started waning fast when I got to the meta-overworlds that require some more outside the box thinking.

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West of Loathing (PC - Steam)

I finished a playthrough in tandem with Crazy Pete, additionally helping something like 30 people (I forget the exact amount). It does lots of things right, including some really fun twists on staple RPG mechanics, but for whatever reason, I never rose above the level of mildly enjoying it. I can tell that it's designed to be played through more than once, but I'm not really interested in doing so when I have tons of hopefully better games I could be playing.

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Simoun posted...

Were you able to get a Golden Ending on this? I heard it was a last patch of sorts. I was so frustrated when I played this and found out there was no true ending and any other path was tragic

I don't know what a golden ending is, but maybe? I seem to recall Indrik stepping down, Draga retiring to create a military academy, Ratika stepping down and disappearing, and Ludomir hunting down the cult.
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Slay the Spire (Steam)

Beat it with The Watcher.

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Tormentum - Dark Sorrow (PC)

It's about an hour and the art is superb and the puzzles are okay but the game can be a slog sometimes. Ending's a bit cliche, and the magnification on everything you acquire as items and use in puzzles is kind of annoying, but it takes some getting used to. At first, the game appears to be like one of those "horror" casual games, but I'll give it credit for actually making the moral choices difficult. For one it is a good thing to not have killed evil people but only if you didn't know they were actually evil to begin with. There's also a bit of it by the end, when choosing to say you were evil when you have done evil is actually a good choice.

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KCF0107 posted...

I don't know what a golden ending is, but maybe? I seem to recall Indrik stepping down, Draga retiring to create a military academy, Ratika stepping down and disappearing, and Ludomir hunting down the cult.

That's the one I never got. I heard they added that later. It's why I bashed this game 2 years ago when I played it. Glad to know they finally resolved things.

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Disco Elysium (Steam)

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Later Alligator (PC)

Really charming point and click adventure game.

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Shadowgate (XB1)

This was definitely not as good as Uninvited. Uninvited had the better atmosphere and setting, and I think its trial-and-error gameplay was far less frustrating. I made it to the end of Shadowgate without the proper tool needed to finish it, and I feel like I spent at least an hour backtracking until I finally did. This also included forcing me to go back to where it re-triggered an obstacle that I used up the only item of its kind to get around it the first time, which in turn forced me to do a sub-series of backtracking to find an alternative item. If that sounds like a confusing mess, that's because it was.
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Did you ever play the NES Shadowgate? The remake is very similar

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That's what that and Uninvited are, ports of NES games in one collection called the 8-bit Adventure Anthology: Volume 1. It also includes Deja Vu.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/664850/8bit_Adventure_Anthology_Volume_I/
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The White Chamber (PC)

This is one of the oldest games in my backlog. 2011. It's still around for download by the way in case anyone's curious. I put this game in my horror folder and just forgot about it. Well by 2020 standards, the horror is all but diminished but it is basically Silent Hill 3 in Space in terms of aesthetic. The game is short but sweet, and is one of the few relics of pre-Steam freeware gaming (alongside classics like Iji and The Chzo Mythos). I would say given the subject matter and the studio that created it, it has aged pretty well. It's a decent point-clicker, certainly better than most and does not outstay its welcome. They even had a joke ending much like Silent Hill 2 so its clear there was a great influence from that franchise. I would've been scared shitless back then but playing it now just feels like Anime Event Horizon (it even has a reference from that movie).

Oh btw the lead designer went on to make Kairo.

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Mutant Football League (Switch)

Man, they weren't kidding when they said I was going to be at a disadvantage starting out Dynasty Mode. They scaled all of my players back to a 45 rating, while keeping AI teams the same, and placed weekly limits on free agent signings and player upgrades! The first few weeks were brutal as I tried to figure out the best way to use money, controls, dirty trick moves, and general in-game strategies. Once things started to click, I think that I ended the season, including the playoffs, on a double-digit winning streak all the way to winning the Mayhem Bowl.
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Slay the Spire [Ironclad]

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Justice League Task Force (SNES)

I beat the game with the goddamn Batman.

A fighting game featuring key members of the Justice League. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman Green Arrow, Flash and three villains: Despero, Cheetah and Darkseid.

Standard fighting game stuff: 3 Punches/Kicks, special moves. You can also double tap forward to do a forward roll that can dodge projectiles and double tap backward to do a back dash.

Game has some nice looking sprites, backgrounds, decent music and controls. The AI was a little infuriating to deal with at times.

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Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition (PS4)
I like how some of the enemy designs here are sort of proto-Bayonetta. And it remains fun to play whether you're Nero or Dante.

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metaIslug posted...

I like Tormentum

I just read about how this game was actually trying to trick you into thinking the plot is ripped from Dark Souls by making you out to be some kind of pawn but it never even got to me so it left this weird mundane taste in my mouth. Awesome visuals tho

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Deja Vu (XB1)

It took awhile to figure out the correct combination of items I needed to both dispose of and hold onto to clear my name, but I eventually got it.

Uninvited > Deja Vu > Shadowgate

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Shotgun Legend (PC)

Oh my god F this game it's finally over. Criminally underrated, I attempted to play this game blind last year and gave up early. Picked it up again because someone made a map guide showing where all the secrets were. And it still kicked my ass half the time. It's basically Link to the Past but every screen is Binding of Isaac. You are never safe even if you had full heart containers. The final dungeon was literally just a gauntlet of every boss and enemy thus far, with some added new ones to keep it fresh. Very tense, but also very fair even though the game had an odd interface and save mechanic.

Fully recommend this gem.

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Riptide GP: Renegade (Switch)

Completed the Career Mode.
You play as Impact and along with your friend Poison you try to get back at a rival rider that set you up with the cops in an illegal hydro jet race. Along the way you recruit different riders on your quest to get back at your rival.

Cheesy story but the gameplay was really fun.
Developed by Vector Unit who made Hydro Thunder.

This reminded me of Wave Race as well.
You can do many different tricks that are all easy to do, unlock riders/hydro jets/decals and do Races/Elimination/Slalom/Freestyle.

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I wasn't aware there was a Riptide game that had a story
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Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD (PC)

Also from my really really old backlog. I first stowed the free version of this game in my Adventure folder and just forgot about it. When I finally opened it, I found it unplayable for some reason so I just went ahead and bought the cheap HD version. It's cool, funny, basically I don't want to say it but it is really a great Monkey Island-ish clone with the same kind of wit, puzzles, and piratey goodness you might expect. Since I got the HD version the same day I played the old one, it was funny to see the intros for both games consecutively as the newer one had a real time message from the developer which I thought was hilarious.

Ashamed to say I put this game off for so long, but at the same time fortuitous that I held onto it long enough to play the HD remaster, as well as see its kickstarted sequel come to life instead of having to wait for it.

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Yakuza 0 (PC)
Quite a good story this time. Side content is as good as ever. Majima is generally more fun to play than Kiryu, though.

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Untitled Goose Game (PC)

Heh. Nice.

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Judgment (PS4)

Judge Eyes > Judgment

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Mac)

(Got to the credits, anyway)

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Super Kirby Clash (Switch)

I completed The True Final Battle.
My Kirby was at Level 56. Used Sword Hero.
Fun game, especially with friends.

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GOGZero posted...

Justice League Task Force (SNES)

I beat the game with the goddamn Batman.

A fighting game featuring key members of the Justice League. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman Green Arrow, Flash and three villains: Despero, Cheetah and Darkseid.

Standard fighting game stuff: 3 Punches/Kicks, special moves. You can also double tap forward to do a forward roll that can dodge projectiles and double tap backward to do a back dash.

Game has some nice looking sprites, backgrounds, decent music and controls. The AI was a little infuriating to deal with at times.

This game. All my childhood hatred.

Anna's Quest (Steam) - 1/18
Songof the Deep (Steam) - 1/22

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God of War: Chains of Olympus (PS3)

I know it's only a handheld game, but man did I ever forget how short this was. I guess it didn't help that I played on New Game+ though. 2ish hours is still incredibly short either way

Final Fantasy 8 (Switch)

I struggled to get through it in past playthroughs due to how slow it is (and eventually quit each time). But the speed enhancement feature on the Switch was just what the doctor ordered. Plowed through it no problem this time and finally beat it.

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Jade Empire (Xbox [XBO])

It was fun enough. It reminded me a lot of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect: flawed games but with plenty of potential. Odd that they never decided to make a Jade Empire 2 and finetune it like they did Mass Effect, but oh well.

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Crypt of the Serpent King (Switch)

A first person dungeon crawler where you go through randomly generated dungeons and collect a set number of keys to fight a boss to proceed to the next level. No story and seven levels.

You kill enemies to gain XP and open chests for gold and health. XP can be used to distribute between 3 different attributes.

Strength (melee attack damage)
Endurance (reduce health loss)
Agility (increases movement and attack speed)

Gold is used to purchase different weapons of various power and range. You can use a Hatchet, Mace, Halberd, Flail and Sword. For ranged weapons, you can get a Crossbow and Bow.

The game is very simple in how it looks and plays.

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Cube Escape Paradox (Android)

It's been 10+ years and we're still doing Room Escape games really? Submachine is done, but the Cube Escape series just doesn't seem to stop. I've had this thing for a year and only just finished it because of that new one that's out. In truth, I was getting bored of the series' surrealism. It was intriguing at first but, I'm starting to realize that Rusty Lake can just do whatever it wants at this point in order to keep selling these games. And it's working.

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Crystar (PS4)

Good storyline and characters, somewhat tedious in gameplay and progression. I'll be writing a bit more about this in a future topic.

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River City Ransom (NES)

Replayed via Switch.
This time around I had fun playing through the game with the Debug Password Shin Mode with Maxed Stats and Money.

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Doom (Switch)

Surprisingly Ive never played this before. I played Doom 2 when I was a kid, but strangely not the original. It was a lot of fun. Thy Flesh Consumeds levels were pretty nuts.

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Ion Fury (PC)

Excellent game. Might as well be Duke Nukem 3D 2. Has a final boss that puts the Icon of Sin to shame. It did drag on a bit however, and has the same flaws as DK3D in that the first 2 zones were probably the most exciting. After that its just sewers and tunnels and then it got a bit exciting again in the penultimate zone with a factory and plant but then the final part was just a mini-boss rush of sorts and the final boss while exciting was basically the Icon of Sin with disco fever. There also wasn't any varied enemy design and new ones kept being introduced every zone. Like a single new enemy. Per zone/chapter.

The secrets and easter eggs though are epic. You got Carmageddon, Resident Evil, Dangerous Dave, but probably what really got me was a reference to Silent Hill 4: The Room. Like I would've expected other games in that series to be referenced, but really, that game? Whatever, it's already redeemed in my eyes. It was so spoopy a reference that even though that level's music permeated the scene, the moment I stepped in there and heard the phone ring I just noped out of there. I just got them anxiety flashbacks from back in the day.

I am frankly enamored by the fact that this game is made on a 20 year old engine. It's just such a 90s game all around and brings back a ton of nostalgia from that era. On the difficulty scale, its definitely harder than Duke3d but easier than Blood. Its got influences from all around though. Looks to be an epic labor of love. I wish a level editor would be made for this. Custom Ion Fury levels would be heaven.

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Late January update: I've played a lot of different game sthis month, but the only one i can distinctly say I've finished is...

Dishonored 2 (PC)

Great game. I hadn't played the original. I had a fantastic time skulking about the world, though. The level design and attention to detail is the biggest standout in Dishonored, as everything in the world feels very real and not merely a contrived video game playspace. Definitely recommend.

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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice (3DS)

I thought this game was paced pretty poorly, especially in the first 3 cases and especially compared to the first game, which I replayed recently. But it makes up a lot of ground in the last two cases and ended up as a nice wrap-up for the AJ-DD-SoJ trilogy, and for Apollo and Athena especially.

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We Know the Devil (Steam)

This is a short VN about summer camp, friendship, magical girls, and Biblical horror. The story/setting is confusing at first but the dialogue is witty and it has some emotional weight to it. Recommended!

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I relayed/beat HL 2 and beat Old Man's Journey.

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20XX (Switch)

Replayed. Beat it with a friend in online co-op.
I was Ace and he was Nina.

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