Games You've Beat in 2016

[toxicitizen]

Quadruple post? Holy shit, you guys are slacking off. Think I should probably play something a little longer now...

 

Anyway, Crazy Taxi.

 

Don't think I really expected to ever play this one. I'm not even sure when I got it, to be honest. I'm also not sure you can actually beat it given it's extremely arcade-focused nature but whatever, I got all the achievements, which means I cleared all the licenses as well as all the special levels. So, I pretty much went through all the content. 

 

The core concept of the game is very fun but it's pretty rough around the edges. It's ugly,  the controls aren't great (boosting and drifting are completely unintuitive compared to what you'd expect from an arcade racing game) and there's a lot of room for improvement. It really shows its age and it's also a good example of why it sucks that SEGA killed all their HD remaster efforts a few years ago. It's a shame we never got Crazy Taxi 2 on Steam because I'd probably move on to it right away. Also Skies of Arcadia and Jet Set Radio Future. Damn it, SEGA!

[Mr. GOH!]

I know it's a few days old, but you're right; MM2 is objectively the best mega man game.

[CorgiShinobi]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven.

 

I Platinum'd the game tonight and the hardest trophies are the online ones as the online community is essentially dead almost two months later. It's not surprising as the online is so laggy that not many people went for the 5 online matches trophy even the first week. Didn't help that it was hidden and you get two trophies by only doing one 2v2 online match.

 

If you go in only wanting to have fun, it is a fun as hell game. It's when you try to go for extras and meet certain conditions, that's when you start noticing flaws in its design. Luckily you can unlock everything in the game's Shop with the game's point system. You'll pretty much need to as some bonus conditions become impossible not because of difficulty, but because you can become over-leveled and absolutely wreck the AI opponents.

 

The only challenge once everyone is max level are the free Add-on Missions that give you cool costumes (and stuff). These are the ones that can be hard to S Rank as some of the characters you play as are what you call "tech" characters. That means their moves are all about setting up moves and positioning. I left two of those missions sans-S Rank and unlocked the remaining two costumes with most of my points.

 

So I would say I logged in roughly 40 hours into this game, but about 12 of those hours was purely in pursuit of the Platinum. It's one of those Platinum trophies where it's about dedication rather than reaching some skill ceiling. Also could I truly call myself a JoJo fan without getting it?

[Mister Jack]

[CorgiShinobi]

[Mr. GOH!]

Tharsis. After a dozen or so attempts, I made it to Mars with my full crew intact and without resorting to cannibalism! I was not sure how the endgame worked, so I only sent my captain to the surface when I could have sent everybody. Oh well.

[toxicitizen]

Well, after my quadruple post I figured I should probably stop spamming the thread so much, so I've been holding off on posting until I had a few entries to make.

 

Evoland.

 

Been interested in this one for a while but I think I only got around to buying it somewhat recently through a Humble Bundle. I actually enjoyed it a lot. The story is the most basic JRPG plot imaginable but I thought the graphics/gameplay evolution gimmick was cool enough to carry the entire game. I kept playing because I wanted to see what neat things the game would do next. It starts out looking pretty much like a Game Boy game and by the time you reach the final town you're basically playing Final Fantasy VII, pre-rendered backgrounds and everything. There's even a Diablo-like dungeon in there and I think the final boss was meant to be Ys-like but you really shouldn't try to imitate Ys combat unless your controls are fucking tight, so that one didn't quite work for me.

 

But yeah, overall it's a fun little experimental JRPG. Definitely gonna have to grab the sequel at some point. This could make for a legitimately great game if it was fleshed out a little more.

 

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Jazzpunk.

 

I... I think I hated this game. I mean, I dunno, hate is such a strong word. I don't think the game is worth the energy required to actually hate it. But holy shit, what the fuck did I play here? It's basically a non-stop barrage of shitty "omg lol so random xDDDDD" jokes. I can seriously count on one hand the amount of jokes that actually landed, and the game is constantly throwing them at you, so... yeah. 

 

The worst part is that there's some cool ideas in there. I actually liked the structure and premise. It kinda felt like a Blendo game, and I love those, but Blendo's games actually have interesting things happening in them. Jazzpunk does not. 

 

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Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas.

 

This is basically a shittier version of Wind Waker. I think it was originally a mobile game (it certainly looks like one) but it somehow ended up releasing on Steam.  I'd heard good things about it when it first came out so I eventually picked it up in a bundle.

 

It doesn't look or play great and it's the most simplistic Zelda clone imaginable. For the first couple hours, I thought it was kinda boring. I also thought it did a terrible job of telling you where you needed to go.  But then I started talking to NPCs more and realized that's how you discover new islands to sail to and explore. That's when the game finally clicked and started to grow on me. Turns out the Zelda formula is solid enough that even a shitty clone can actually be pretty fun!

 

 

So, that's what I've been playing for the past week. Oh, I also got into a bit of an achievement hunting mood and finally did a replay of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons to finish 100%ing it but there's not much to say about that one other than "It's still pretty damn good".

Edited August 20, 2016 by FLD

[Mister Jack]

Dying Light: The Following

 

It's an interesting expansion. While parkour is still around, the landscape is mostly flat so the focus is now on driving upgradeable dune buggies. I definitely give them points for trying something new, and for the most part it works. The downside is that despite driving off-road vehicles, the game strongly discourages you from going off road. The terrain is rocky, there are roadblocks everywhere, and there's no minimap so most of the time the best route is going to be the roads.

 

The story is better, though the ending still kind of sucks. Either way, there's enough improvement here that I will probably buy the sequel, assuming that they leave in the 4 player co op. I definitely enjoyed it more than Dead Island.

 

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[Mr. GOH!]

Days Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut. I liked it a lot. Felt very Days Ex-y. The DLC kinda broke the flow of things and made the levels afterwards seem too easy.

[toxicitizen]

This is probably the last game I'll be able to squeeze in before Mankind Divided so I'll just post it now.

 

Among the Sleep.

 

That would be the horror game where you play as a two-year-old child. It didn't exactly blow me away but it's not a bad way to spend a couple hours. It has great atmosphere and can be genuinely creepy at times. Seeing things through the eyes of a child can make for some pretty interesting visuals. For example, there's a prologue chapter that was released as free DLC and in it there's a section where you go to the basement and the furnace takes on a monstrous appearance, which I thought was pretty cool.

 

It suffered from diminished tension a bit early on because after the first couple chapters it started to seem like it would be more walking simulator than horror game. Creepy things would happen but I'd never actually encounter any enemies and it started to look like I wasn't in any real danger. Then I got to a chapter where a monster did show up and started stalking me and I suddenly turned into a giant pussy. It was great! After that, the game was a bit more tense because I couldn't be sure whether another one would show up or if it was back to just being smoke and mirrors again.

 

Also, that ending was surprisingly dark. Kinda makes me curious to replay the game and pay closer attention to the environment to see if it was foreshadowed more than I realized. 

[Mister Jack]

I beat DOOM 2016 again, but this time on the pc.  I rushed through it on the PS4 because it was a Redbox rental, but after I actually bought it I decided to take my time and get every secret, every collectible, and every optional challenge.  Took me about 20 hours to 100% this game, which is perfectly reasonable for an FPS.  I hope they do a sequel because this is one of the best shooters I've played in a long time.

[toxicitizen]

I hope they do a sequel because this is one of the best shooters I've played in a long time.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't worry too much about that.

 

Owners: 1,042,059 ± 26,064

 

And that's just on Steam. Assuming it performed similarly on consoles (and with the crazy positive buzz it got, I expect it very likely did), a sequel seems like a sure thing.

[TCP]

Pokemon HeartGold Version

Holy shit. This is the pinacle of the Pokefranchise. First, you explore a new area with 250ish Pokemon, most of which aren't horrible. Then!!! You beat the gym leaders and beat the Elite 4 (who are actually 5). Ok game over you think. NOPE. Now you hop on a boat and go to the area from the first game!!!!!!!! And beat those gyms. Then face Red, the character you played as in Red/Blue, ON TOP OF A SNOWY MOUNTAIN. Jesus fucking shit. For a baby game, it was pretty intense. 

[Hot Heart]

Tales from the Borderlands

 

Pretty pretty pretty good. It made me miss the Borderlands games but then I remember I don't actually enjoy the shooting part. It had some nice twists and turns and some good gags and a neat bunch of characters. Plus, Rhys and Gortys are voiced by Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson so you get to imagine it's like The Last of Us... right? Just me then.

 

While it's a cool bit of bizarre spectacle, it kinda grates that there's one gag that is just basically a massive rip-off of Spaced's "unspoken telepathy" shoot-out stuff. Spaced being the earlier Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright TV precursor to Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz/The End of the World ("The Cornetto Trilogy")

 

I'm not sure about the ending but I'd probably be up for a sequel if they have one planned/it was successful enough.

[toxicitizen]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

 

I already posted my thoughts in the Deus Ex thread so I'll keep this brief. Basically, it's tempting to compare it to MGSV. The gameplay is the best the series has ever had (although unlike MGSV it's more iterative and not a complete departure) but the story was a disappointment. That comparison isn't fair to Mankind Divided, though. MGSV's story was an insult wrapped in dog shit whereas Mankind Divided's isn't actually bad. It's just not what I would expect (or want) out of a Deus Ex game. Which is a bit baffling because they had already figured out how to do a Deus Ex story with Human Revolution! It wasn't perfect but it got an A+ for effort and felt like Deus Ex. It's like they took what they had and instead of adding what was missing they removed whatever parts they had gotten right.

 

That's just the main story, though. The side-missions were great and the game was just overall a very solid experience. I don't know if it'll be my GOTY but it's definitely on the short list.

Edited August 27, 2016 by FLD

[Mister Jack]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

 

Took me about 20 hours when you include all the side missions.  I don't know if there are missions I missed but I did all the ones I came across and I feel like I discovered most, if not all of them.  My feelings are mixed. 20 hours is an okay length for most games, I suppose, but I was expecting a lot more out of a Deus Ex game.  The ending is also nothing but sequel bait and the game only having two proper boss fights, one of which was a side mission, was kind of a letdown.  I know bosses were the weak point of the last game, but I thought they would try to fix them, not downplay them to almost nothing.  It's still a good game, but I'm glad I only paid 36 bucks for it.

[toxicitizen]

There was a second boss?! I knew I missed a few side-missions but damn. Weird thing is I didn't really rush or ignore anything. Was that side-mission a bit hidden or something? I know I also missed something with Otar because I don't have an achievement relating to him. But I have no idea why. He never contacted me again after a certain point.

[Mister Jack]

There was a second boss?! I knew I missed a few side-missions but damn. Weird thing is I didn't really rush or ignore anything. Was that side-mission a bit hidden or something? I know I also missed something with Otar because I don't have an achievement relating to him. But I have no idea why. He never contacted me again after a certain point.

 

It was really more like a mini-boss. It was the serial killer from that one side mission. I count it as a boss because the fight takes place in a room full of traps like the final boss does.

 

[toxicitizen]

 

It was really more like a mini-boss. It was the serial killer from that one side mission. I count it as a boss because the fight takes place in a room full of traps like the final boss does.

 

Oh, nevermind. I did that. Now that you mention it, I thought it was kinda weird that the place was covered in all these mines and shit. But yeah, you fucked up!

 

 

 

When you get to her apartment and the game clearly wants you to follow the blood trail, if you stop for a second and take a closer look around the apartment you'll quickly see something isn't quite right. Then, if you hack her computer you'll get an optional objective and if you follow that up you can end the side-mission without a fight. 

 

 

 

Best side-mission of the entire game, imho. At least, out of the ones I played. Required some actual detective work but without the game just pointing you straight to it with objective markers.

[Mister Jack]

 

 

It was really more like a mini-boss. It was the serial killer from that one side mission. I count it as a boss because the fight takes place in a room full of traps like the final boss does.

 

Oh, nevermind. I did that. Now that you mention it, I thought it was kinda weird that the place was covered in all these mines and shit. But yeah, you fucked up!

 

 

 

When you get to her apartment and the game clearly wants you to follow the blood trail, if you stop for a second and take a closer look around the apartment you'll quickly see something isn't quite right. Then, if you hack her computer you'll get an optional objective and if you follow that up you can end the side-mission without a fight. 

 

 

 

Best side-mission of the entire game, imho. At least, out of the ones I played. Required some actual detective work but without the game just pointing you straight to it with objective markers.

 

 

I did do all that, but when I talked to her doctor and the timed prompts suddenly came up during the conversation it caught me off guard and I didn't press him in time. My last save was a ways back too so I just said "fuck it."

 

[FMW]

Castlevania Circle of the Moon

Castlevania IV

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance

Castlevania Rondo of Blood

 

I'm on a mission to beat them all.  The problem?  Castlevania Bloodlines has never been rereleased since the Genesis.  I can play a Japan only Turbo GraphX 16 Castlevania game (Rondo of Blood) on virtual console but not Bloodlines.  I do not understand this.

[deanb]

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

 

I don't feel it ends "abruptly", it flows as an arc within the game pretty fine, but yeah clearly a set-up for a sequel given no doubt Jensen is gonna be visiting that Rahlia place at some point. Now I've New Game+ unlocked I think I'm gonna go pop on Witcher 3 n wrap that up.

[TheMightyEthan]

Castlevania Circle of the Moon

Castlevania IV

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance

Castlevania Rondo of Blood

 

I'm on a mission to beat them all. The problem? Castlevania Bloodlines has never been rereleased since the Genesis. I can play a Japan only Turbo GraphX 16 Castlevania game (Rondo of Blood) on virtual console but not Bloodlines. I do not understand this.

That's what emulators are for.

[Hot Heart]

inFAMOUS: Second Son

 

I can't really fault it since it doesn't outstay its welcome, but it felt somewhat... insubstantial. Maybe Witcher 3 has ruined open-world games for me.

 

It was p fun overall. I liked the different powers but I never felt like I really got to fully exploit them. Like, invisibility started to feel redundant when there were too many non-instant-subdue enemies about and neon grenades had way too small a range and timer even with the upgrades (plus, you can't see shit anyway with everything going on). Neon was good for getting the secret agents and using Video to land on the containers being carried by helicopters was cool though. I think I enjoyed the little calls Delsin makes to the DUP hotline every time he tags one of the big billboards for a district showdown.

 

Example:

 

The other thing is how much they modelled the actual characters on their voice actors. Delsin is Troy Baker, Fetch is Laura Bailey and Reggie is Travis Willingham. It's funny because I've seen the latter two so much on Critical Role (except they sound and act very differently)

 

Onto First Light next, which I grabbed on PS+ aaaaages ago because I was going to play the game eventually.

[deanb]

Yeah a solid game, but you've kinda hit the nail on the haid in being not totally memorable. Pretty for sure n all, but Densel just isn't super memorable compared to Cole. The ending felt pretty weak imo which is what kinda marred a lot of it.