Games You've Beat in 2017

[MetalCaveman]

3 hours ago, FLD said:

Darksiders Warmastered Edition.

Man, I love this game. It has aged a tiny bit and at this point this was (at least) my third playthrough, so the first half of the game was a bit dull. But overall it's still a solid Zelda clone with a pretty cool comic book art syle. Also,

feels good to have finally completed it. It's not particularly challenging but it has a few mind-numbingly time consuming achievements. This is one of those games that I was on track to platinum back on PS3 but ended up putting off and never going back to finish. Then I played the original PC release but the achievements were super fucking buggy where even some non-missable story ones didn't unlock. So, yeah, this was long overdue.

Not gonna jump into Darksiders II right away but I am looking forward to replaying it even more. I only played it the one time at launch, so I don't remember it as clearly as I did the first one.

I've never been able to get the Aerial Predator achievement, tried it a ton of times on 360 and couldn't get it, tried a couple of times on PC, failed and gave up.

[toxicitizen]

1 hour ago, MetalCaveman said:

I've never been able to get the Aerial Predator achievement, tried it a ton of times on 360 and couldn't get it, tried a couple of times on PC, failed and gave up.

Yeah, I remember it being a bitch on console and it was honestly even worse with the Steam controller because I suck at using the trackpad for stuff that requires precision. But then I had the brilliant idea to try using the mouse instead and got it on my first try. It makes it so much easier lol.

[TheMightyEthan]

@FLD On 360, for the achievement for riding Ruin for a certain distance, I literally just went to that desert arena, rubberbanded the controller so he'd run in a circle, and went out to get food.

[toxicitizen]

I scotch taped mine and just grabbed the first Dark Tower book and read for a while.  That's one of the really annoying/stupid ones because you only get him at the very end of the game and you don't even have that many opportunities to ride him. And I think it has to be done in a single playthrough, because at one point I started a new game to grind kills for another achievement and I'm pretty sure that caused the counters for that one and the Ruin one to reset. 

Edited May 21, 2017 by FLD

[MetalCaveman]

I used the rubberband method.

[TheFlyingGerbil]

I played Toren today. Finished it in one sitting which is probably a good thing as it would not have pulled me back in if I'd left it. It had mixed reviews as a flawed ICO-esque game so I wasn't going in expecting the world, but oh boy. When they said ICO clone I wasn't expecting the PS2 level graphics and animation. I don't even think it was ironic. Just bad. Still you could tell it could have been a good game and heck I did finish it so I can't say it was a complete waste of the small outlay I made for it.

[Hot Heart]

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

One of those games I'd started a long while back but then never finished. Decided to get it out of the way over the weekend. I really liked the first one and this seems just as good, although I was playing solo here whereas the puzzles tend to change with multiple players. It has some smart and atmospheric levels with some cool chase sequences and boss fights.

[danielpholt]

Just now, Hot Heart said:

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

One of those games I'd started a long while back but then never finished. Decided to get it out of the way over the weekend. I really liked the first one and this seems just as good, although I was playing solo here whereas the puzzles tend to change with multiple players. It has some smart and atmospheric levels with some cool chase sequences and boss fights.

I've had that downloaded for 6 months. Did you happen to have a look at the co-op functionality at all? I wouldn't mind giving it a go with my partner, but I'm not sure how she'd handle some of the more demanding areas.

[Hot Heart]

2 minutes ago, danielpholt said:

I've had that downloaded for 6 months. Did you happen to have a look at the co-op functionality at all? I wouldn't mind giving it a go with my partner, but I'm not sure how she'd handle some of the more demanding areas.

I hadn't looked at it on this one but if it works the same as the original then it might switch up the "tools" (in solo, Lara has the special glowy staff whereas maybe another player gets it normally?) and slightly alter some of the puzzles so you need to alternate pressure switches, set up zip-line tight ropes for each other, etc.

The combat can get a bit hectic but it's never truly challenging, especially if you hunt out some of the health and ammo upgrades, and the boss fights are more about puzzling them out than dexterity. It's also got an incredibly generous checkpoint system so there should be minimal frustration.

However, that said, there are some puzzle areas that can prove tricky because of the reliance on reflexes or good timing. Then again, that was mostly in the optional Challenge Tombs and it's probably alleviated somewhat with the co-op aspect. Also, the way it's designed, the actual challenge is the optional things it sets for each tomb like finding all the little secrets, beating a time limit, etc.

Give it a try.

[CorgiShinobi]

Yesterday I finished Mass Effect Andromeda.

90 hours with pretty much everything done, but only 67% trophies. If I wanted, I could get a few more under my belt, but it would be some pointless grinding fighting rather average AI.

I think the biggest flaw to the game is that I came out of it all unsatisfied. Not peeved or upset, but left wanting. The game threw tons of little side quests for me to do, but a lot of them were tedious. There were some that were interesting, but some got bogged down by having to planet hop from one place to the other simply to go to one spot and spend 5 minutes there talking and fighting. Best example would be the Salarian Ark conspiracy side quest. It's an interesting story element, but it gets weighted down my having to go from one planet, scan stuff, go to the next, scan stuff, and oh wait here's a fight with two guys...

Combat was definitely the game's strongest attribute, but I do have one gripe. In the beginning it's not clear what abilities will be the best for your play style. Sure some seem like they'll work, but until you actually get into the game, your thoughts might change. Originally I was about cloaking and weapons. Eventually I realized that cloaking is kinda a waste of a power since the AI is either dumb or easy to dodge.

I must have respec'd four times until I decided on being Vanguard with Turbocharge, Backlash, and Shockwave. Eventually, if you do actively seek out level progress, you can pursue other powers. Eventually I upgraded Singularity which was a good overall power. It's just a shame I never really got to try out the various Tech powers. I mean, for the trophies I did work on the Remnant VI one because it's an easily missable one if you don't care about Peebee.

Speaking of squadmates; I couldn't stand Peebee and, for the most part, Liam. He did have his moments, but I can see why he's the least liked one in online discussions. The ironic nature of a crisis response specialist creating crisis. Personally, I can't stand Peebee because she's annoying and very much one dimensional. The, "I'm obviously running from my past, so I gotta keep moving, moving, moving!"

Cora and Vetra almost fall into the same scenario, Vetra's whole person being about surviving and looking after her sister, and Cora basically talking about Asari this and Asari that. I romanced Cora though because, I dunno, I kinda liked her style (and ass). Point being, it seems like when you romance some of these characters, they actually become more of a full character. Cora opened up more about not being the Pathfinder, her dreams outside of fighting, and she was actually a sweet person under the tough shell. I watched online how Vetra could be a bit of a dork and you actually see more of her opening up from the big sister persona.

The only squadmates that felt like good characters were Drack and Jaal. They had the most potential and I felt it was very well executed. Drack is an ancient krogan, something kinda rare to see in Mass Effect as krogan tend to die off before their 1600 years are up. The experience he had and insight of what has happened to the krogan in his lifetime added to bridge both Milky Way lore and the Andromeda narrative. Hell, he actually plays a role in the main plot, just like Jaal, if you happen to bypass all the extra stuff. However, it's a bit shoehorned in and made for a rather cheap moral decision.

Jasl is just great all around. Makes me wonder if more care was put into him than the others because he was from a new species. Like, oh yeah we know about these Milky Way species, so whatever. The angaran guy though, lets make sure he's important and basically fills in some plot points. Seriously, it felt like you would be missing out if you didn't bring him along most of the time. Some side quests had additional options if he was in your squad too.

I'll have to post some of the interesting bugs I came across. They were frustrating, but I had some fun ones. I couldn't save this one though where I shot a Chosen Kett in the head and the body ragdoll flew right at me going ridiculous fast. I think that's how I got through the game, finding those little moments to make it worth my time.

6.5 Nomads outta 10

[Thursday Next]

Finished Psychonauts again this week. The last level (in particular the netting you have to climb) is super frustrating. I find it odd that for a game that is otherwise brilliant in its breadth, depth, story telling and gameplay that it has such an awful section in its finale. 

[CorgiShinobi]

So before the month was up, I grabbed Tales from the Borderlands for free off PS Plus.

This game was so much better than you would expect. Borderlands, even with its better sequels, never had what I would call an A+ story. Eventually we got Handsome Jack as a great antagonist, but aside from that, most of the characters are forgettable and you only stayed for the guns and the chuckles.

Tales from the Borderlands actually has a soul and makes excellent use of the series assets. I don't want to spoil anything as its quite the experience if you haven't tried it out. I mean, even the intro credit music is stellar and perfectly matches the tone of the episode. The only downside would be that sometimes the choice dialogue isn't what it appears to be. You have to remember who's saying the dialogue, and at times it doesn't feel like you're given enough time to make your preferred choice since you have to sometimes think how it will sound coming out of Character A instead of Character B.

The ending is something else. That's all I'll say outside of spoiler, but for those who have finished it:

The hell is with that cliffhanger?! Rhys and Fionna just disappear/teleport?!

As it is a Telltale game, I actually only ran into one major glitch. There's a moment at the beginning of Episode 3 where you as Fionna are evading turrets alongside Rhys. I got to the part where you get to the end of the hallway and attack a bandit, but instead it repeated the scene while Rhys was still struggling with the bandit. So Fionna was talking to an invisible Rhys with a Rhys down the hallway.

[Mister Jack]

I just beat that game too. Telltale should really do more games with original characters. It allows them to actually have stakes to the conflict. Playing as Batman or whoever, you know going in that he'll be just fine, but I found myself worried for the Tales cast at several points. It makes for much better drama.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Mister Jack]

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

I dunno, this was pretty underwhelming.  I was playing with a friend, so I still had fun, but why do your other two AI squadmates disappear the second someone joins you?  Doing all these missions with just two people was a pain in the ass.  The mandatory stealth missions were super aggravating too.  I still got a bunch of missions I haven't beaten, even after finishing the story, but I don't know that I really even want to.  The game was okay.  I don't want to give the impression that it's terrible because it's not.  It's just unambiguously average.

[TheMightyEthan]

I just finished the final showcase event in Forza Horizon 3, which marks the end of the campaign, such as it is, so I guess that means I've beat it.  I'm still only at like 35% overall completion though, so there's a lot more left for me to do.

[Mister Jack]

Life is Strange.

This one was okay but I don't feel like it nearly lived up to the hype people were giving it.  The engine it uses pales in comparison to others in the genre, even Telltale's.  The lip syncing was really bad and sometimes their lips didn't move at all.  I would be willing to look past that if the rest of it was better, but I didn't really think it was anything special.  The time puzzles were the best part.  Those were fun and I wish the whole game was about them, kind of like Ghost Trick or something.  During the parts where you're expected to get by without them, the areas were often confusing to navigate and the objectives were tedious and not fun.  I actually had to look up a walkthrough at one point just to figure out where I was supposed to walk to find a stupid bottle.  That is ridiculous for a visual novel. I also thought the writing was uneven and inconsistent at times.  And I hated probably half of the characters, especially Chloe.

Spoiler

I almost can't believe the game expected me to sympathize with Chloe when she acts like such a selfish bitch all the time, especially to her mother and to Max whenever she doesn't go along with her terrible ideas.  I got tired of her shit REAL fast. She becomes a little better at the very end, but that wasn't enough for me to forgive everything she put me through over five episodes.  I gleefully pushed the Sacrifice Chloe button and never looked back.  The ending sucked otherwise, though.  Everything you did is undone so that none of the choices you make throughout the entire game ever even mattered.  Even Mass Effect 3's ending had more of an impact than that.

Like I said, it was okay but I doubt I'll ever play it again.

Edited June 14, 2017 by Mister Jack

[toxicitizen]

SteamWorld Heist.

Well, this was way better than you would expect "2D XCOM" to be. It seemed like a weird way to follow up SteamWorld Dig but it's a vastly superior game to it, so it ended up working out pretty nicely. It's also a way meatier game, it took me around 20 hours to beat according to Steam. Almost makes me regret waiting for it to be bundled, but then I remember that these guys always release their games as timed exclusives on Nintendo handhelds, so whatever. Hopefully they won't take as long to release SteamWorld Dig 2 on Steam.

6 hours ago, Mister Jack said:

That is ridiculous for a visual novel.

Lolwut? Life is Strange isn't a visual novel...? Actually, didn't you also refer to Telltale's games as VNs in another thread recently? That's not what they are. If anything, they're the modern version of a point-and-click adventure. Just look at Telltale's first few episodic series up to the first season of The Walking Dead and you can see the formula gradually evolve into what we have now.

[Mister Jack]

13 minutes ago, FLD said:

Lolwut? Life is Strange isn't a visual novel...? Actually, didn't you also refer to Telltale's games as VNs in another thread recently? That's not what they are.

That's debatable.  There are people see such games as the western interpretation of the genre since adventure games back in the day were known primarily for their puzzles and these newer games prioritize narrative over puzzles.  Still, whether you think it's a VN or an adventure game, my gripe remains unchanged.  Walking around in a confusing environment trying to find a bottle is boring no matter what the genre is.

Spoiler

And they make you do it TWICE.

 

[toxicitizen]

16 minutes ago, Mister Jack said:

That's debatable.

I honestly don't think it is. They prioritize narrative but you're still spending most of your time walking around in an environment, interacting with things and solving puzzles (however downplayed they may be). It's still an adventure game, they just replaced pixel hunting with QTEs. Visual novels are, well, novels. You read them, that's what they are by definition. There are some VNs like Danganronpa, Zero Escape and Ace Attorney that overlap into adventure territory but you're still spending most of your time reading in those. The same is not true for Life is Strange and Telltale's games, their core DNA is fundamentally different.

 

[Saturnine Tenshi]

Yeah, I'm not seeing it MJ.

[CorgiShinobi]

Yeah, going to have to disagree on them being visual novels. These are still very much point-and-click adventure games, except they've evolved to incorporate full 3D movement and QTEs alongside controllers. They're not grandiose in the the adventure aspect all the time, but that's true of older games as well. To further my claim, think back to the old Telltale StrongBad game on Wii where you were literally pointing and clicking on things to progress the game.

Anyway, to get to why I was posting here.

Borderlands The Pre-Sequel

I had left this unfinished, but thanks to completing Tales from the Borderlands, I was motivated to get back into it. Only thing is I didn't bother doing all the side quests. As I remember it, this is where Borderlands can shine through their side quests, but the amount I played felt like time wasters. You know, something for me to do to add more gameplay time to my experience. I wouldn't call them all chores, but there were definitely side quests that were a chore.

Nearing the end I found the game to be biased toward multiplayer. Playing it solo became difficult because the game begins throwing waves after waves of enemies your way until you defeat the boss of that area. Hell, I was really frustrated at the airship one right before you enter the moon. I had the damn thing dead to rights, but I began dying (or whatever it's called) and the thing flies away. I almost got it back before dying, but it held onto the tiniest slivers of health possible.

Why do I bring this up? Because when I went back to face the boss again, all the tough adds were still there and they were all the tough ones that are only suppose to show up when the boss is nearly dead. I immediately got pummeled when I stepped through the damn door! I only passed that boss because I cheesed it by staying in the doorway to the area. Even then there were so many bombs, lasers, and bullets flying at me. Try shooting down a cowardice starship from a single vantage point.

It doesn't get better once you get near the final boss, but it's basically the same principle. 20+ enemies firing at you and after some time more spawn to get in your way of killing the boss. As for the story, it was alright in understanding more about Handsome Jack, but that's it. It doesn't make sense anywhere else aside from it gives you stuff to shoot.

Firewatch

A single playthrough experience that was worth paying $7.99 for. I don't know why the game is choppy on PS4, but the main issue for me was Henry's (player character) movement was sluggish at random. Sometimes it was because you were at the end of a day/scenario, but other times it felt like he was walking with a limp. Either it was framerate or the actual environment. Speaking of, sometimes I would become stuck on certain items. Kinda frustrating, but I got over it.

With that out of the way, the game definitely gives you reasons to stay for the adventure. While I would say I didn't like some of the longer walking segments, usually there was a strong motive for getting to Point B. I didn't spoil the game for myself, which is good because the game only has the story as its selling point. Sure the environment is very scenic, but there are spots where it's just wandering through trees. Believe it or not, one of its best moments is at the beginning of the game.

As for actual story:

Not sure how I feel about the actual resolution. Like, there wasn't any is the thing. I guess that's realistic, but Delilah was acting like there was nothing we could do. Girl, I used the disposable camera and took photographic evidence! What's hard about, "Hey, we found the body of a missing boy and have evidence that his father was tracking us." Yeah the guy ran off to another part of the wilderness, but you yourself can prove you're not crazy.

Granted, the point is that both you and Delilah are suppose to move on from the forest, but still... Yeah at first people would think you're crazy, but damn it I kept notes from Ned's hermit pit! And it's not like the fire is going to go into the depths of the cave, so Search and Rescue can still find it.

[CorgiShinobi]

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

Man, the sequel must be excellent if the Uncharted series has so much acclaim. Granted, the game is 10 years old and mechanically games have vastly improved. But I'll start with the good because most of the time I start out negative.

The game's strongest attributes are the characters and story. I can see why people would love Drake; he's like a mix of Marty McFly and Indiana Jones. Elena is a great female character, one that while not always in the spotlight, gives credit to there being good characterization of a female partner who isn't just a love interest. Sully seems fun, well, in that old school adventurer type way. You don't get much of him besides knowing he's not just a skirt chaser. That there is some skill behind the man even if he is just the A.I. follower commenting on your adventure.

Story kept me interested most of the time. Here and there I wasn't sure about the logic of the level design in respect to Drake's progress. I mean to say, Drake needs to get where Elena was, but getting there requires you to hop across two towers, Spider-Man along some interior bricks, and so forth to eventually end up in the right place. Fun to play, but odd in the perspective of just navigating an old fortress other people seem to traverse just fine.

Which leads me to the big negatives. In my latest status update, I talked about the shooting. I was adjusting my aiming sensitivity for most of the game because it never felt quite right. Add on to the fact that some times, even with the reticle on the enemy, shots wouldn't connect. I could only assume the reticle was only a general area the bullets could hit. I'll never forget shooting a guy with a shotgun near point blank, but somehow most of the pellets missing and him killing me with his shotgun.There were obviously better weapons than others, but most times your pistol variant was the most reliable. Only exception was that godly M8 in the final chapters of the game.

But overall, as I was alluding to earlier, it was annoying that there were as many fights as there were. Like, I just unearthed a hidden passage, but somehow enemies still found their way in? The whole, "Quick, before they get back!" Well, except they're already stationed in there and have bullet sponge armor (or body fat, I guess). At times, I just didn't care for conserving ammo and shot at an enemy until I saw them fall down. Then they get back up and do what I call dodge-dancing.

Also, it was weird to have, what, six QTEs the entire game? Not to mention it's not the most intuitive to have the button prompts located in the lower left corner of the screen. That final boss battle incorporated most of these faults and was absolutely frustrating. Nothing like getting to the near end of the battle and not hitting  .

I do look forward to the sequel as I do want to have a better experience with this cast of characters.

P.S.
I hope whoever thought of those jet ski segments has reevaluated their life and prayed for forgiveness.

[Mr. GOH!]

I beat Batman: the Telltale Series. I enjoyed it quite a bit; the changes to the Batman canon were interesting, but not so drastic it didn't feel like Batman. I think some of the villains need better voice actors, though, especially the more flamboyant guy-in-a-weird-costume villains. I hope it gets a second season, as this one really sets up a Batman near the beginning of his career (though it's not an origin story) quite well.

[toxicitizen]

Metro Redux.

The announcement for Metro Exodus gave me the push I needed to finally play Last Light. The Redux bundle just so happened to be on sale at the time, so instead of playing the copy I already owned I said fuck it, grabbed the bundle and replayed the original as well. The short version is that I enjoyed them so much that I ended up ordering the books they're based on. Really looking forward to reading those. For the long version:

 

Metro 2033.

I already played this one years ago but I'm really glad I chose to replay it. The original release was very much a flawed gem and the Redux version gives it a lot of much needed polish. New mechanics and QOL improvements from Last Light were backported to it, including improved stealth mechanics that were sorely needed. It's still not really designed for stealth play but at least the stealth isn't super wonky now.

Ultimately, it's still a flawed gem, albeit a much less flawed one now and certainly my favorite of the two games. It just has better atmosphere and more memorable levels and moments overall.

Metro: Last Light.

In Last Light, stealth doesn't feel like an afterthought and most of the levels are designed with it in mind. That's a massive improvement as far as I'm concerned and unarguably makes Last Light the better game mechanically. It's unfortunately a bit of a double-edged sword. The problem is mainly with the story. It starts out interesting enough (especially coming right from 2033) but you spend half the game chasing after things and always ending up falling just one step behind. It's kinda frustrating and feels like you're not making progress. It does get better in the second half but it's still not as interesting as the first game. Metro 2033 has you going on this desperate journey through the metro to save your home station from this creepy, unknown evil. It's scary and exciting and is paced pretty appropriately. Last Light is more ordinary by comparison, with a bigger focus on the human politics of the metro and it suffers from pacing issues with some sections that felt way too slow or long to me.

Another problem is that, due to the story and focus on stealth, you're up against human enemies most of the time. The ratio of combat against humans vs mutants is almost reversed from the first game. That was a little disappointing because the sections on the surface or the ones that focused on horror were some of the best ones from 2033. As much as I enjoy sneaking around dark tunnels and silently taking out human guards, that wasn't what made me love Metro 2033 so much. Last Light is still a great game, I just didn't like it as much as 2033.

 

I played both games in Spartan mode, which is balanced more like a shooter with plenty of filters and ammos. I still need to do a Survivor mode run of both games because I really like the survival horror-ish balance and resource management of the original 2033 more. I kinda regret not going for Survivor on my first run but I have to do both for achievements anyway, so I figured I'd get this one done first. There aren't any achievements for it but I think I'll combine my Survivor run with Ranger mode to keep things interesting. I really love the idea of a more immersive, HUD-less mode with more lethal combat (both for the enemies and you).

Edited June 26, 2017 by FLD

[Hot Heart]

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

I'd held off doing the last mission and was just doing side missions and collecting things; even though I know the game doesn't lock you out from doing stuff after clearing the story.

Mechanics-wise, it's the best AC game and there's plenty of enjoyment there, but the story -- both the past and present narratives -- at this point, is just... eh. Having twin protagonists seemed more like a way to get a female protagonist in a "mainstream" release than actually doing anything that interesting. There's a potentially deliberate contrast with how Unity ended and how Syndicate sort of retreads the same steps even though I thought there'd be something made of having a "spare" protagonist.

In Unity, the protagonists confront the villain in some secret underground vault when he's just gained the precursor artifact, and Elise dies. Here, the fight is almost identical but both protagonists survive... even latecomer Henry.