Games You've Beat in 2011

[Battra92]

L.A. Noire (Platinum) + DLC.

 

I'm really trying to finish my backlog one step at a time. Because I was so busy at work and not at home - my partner managed to finish Yakuza 4, Ar Tonelico, Red Johnson, Broken Sword 1-3, Grey matter and so many others.

 

<3

 

I'm assuming Ar Tonelico is good. I have considered picking it up but I have Neptunia to finish and Atelier Rorona to start. o_O

[WTF]

Well my partner enjoyed Ar Tonelico and well if she finished it, it's probably good and easy to get an ending. I haven't finished Rorona or Ar Tonelico though I started both of them. I've put them on the backburner for now while I finish Infamous 2, a Demon's Souls playthrough, the LoS DLC, AC:B( -.- why did i not finish this as yet? I should've waited and bought it for the PC considering I didn't play more than 4 hours).

I did finish Neptunia, which was mostly I have to finish this soon and I can honestly tell you that while I enjoyed parts of it towards the end it just became a skip fighting animation while half asleep to finish the game sort of game. I wish I'd platinumed it while I was still playing it.

I'm also doing a Persona 4 playthrough since this is 2011 and I wanted to keep a journal to follow the game on a day by day basis but I got so busy the past 2 months...

[Saturnine Tenshi]

Ar tonelico was orchestrated by the folk behind Atelier Rorona. Though the Atelier series preceded Ar tonelico. AT adopts some of the lighter synthesis elements you'll find in the Atelier series while really focusing more on story and romancing the female protagonists. There are also some neat battle systems in the trilogy. I could go on a garrulous spree of praise, so yeah, it's my favorite role-playing series.

[WTF]

Ar tonelico was orchestrated by the folk behind Atelier Rorona. Though the Atelier series preceded Ar tonelico. AT adopts some of the lighter synthesis elements you'll find in the Atelier series while really focusing more on story and romancing the female protagonists. There are also some neat battle systems in the trilogy. I could go on a garrulous spree of praise, so yeah, it's my favorite role-playing series.

 

Pretty much this ^

 

Though I do feel Atelier has evolved as a series (love the art-style, reminds me of European fairytale art touched with modern Japanese art tastes) and I really look forward to play Meruru when it gets here in 2012 (or if my Japanese improves I'll import it I suppose but doubt that's going to happen right now).

[Saturnine Tenshi]

I still prefer the 2D art of the earlier(or DS/PSP) titles to the 3D introduced with the Arland series. Nevertheless, I do have to agree with the fairytale art. It's just stunning.

 

Though Totori is, by far, the quintessential Arland lass. Atelier, even. SO ROVERY AND FILIGREE!

 

I'm pleased that with Totori(and Meruru) Gust have returned to glory with their soundtracks. They had a bit of a departure there(not with AT, but Atelier), and that's long been one of their strong suits. MK1&2, Rise, Rorona and Annie weren't impressive. Still decent, but not up to par.

 

But yeah, still look forward to Meruru.

[Battra92]

Might have to check it out when my backlog is smaller and its price goes below $30.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

The only time it drops in price is when NISA does a re-stock. That isn't often, and it sells out quickly. But I'll let you know if they do.

[WTF]

Finished inFamous 2 on Heroic with a good ending. All I can say is

 

Now don't get me wrong. The game is actually fun to play and it is good but for some reason the ending pretty much bummed me out.

Now I know they can pretty much make inFamous 3 if they want - there are hints that they could but to be honest this could also quite easily be the end of the series which in a way is quite odd. I did like the second game more than the first and though Cole was replaced with a different voice actor - it didn't feel too different and his character model probably staying somewhat similar to the old one makes it feel that way.

I do feel sorry for the character. It was good pulp I'll give it that. I mean it's not some highly intellectual sort of thing but you get the same feeling you do when certain comics end or certain stuff happens.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

 

Initially, I felt that way when Trish died. Then I just wanted Sasha. Trish deserved to die, the ho. If she loved me, she would have loved me as I was: an evil bastard.

 

 

Haven't played the second one yet, but my roommate has it.

[CrowKnow]

Red Faction: Guerilla... at least smashing stuff was fun

[Hot Heart]

Finished inFAMOUS 2 and got the good ending. So sad.

 

...but the story across both games makes no fucking sense.

[Saturnine Tenshi]

Just finished the first inFAMOUS. The evil ending is so sad. >:

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

Forgot to update; I completed Jamestown for the PXOD review.

[excel_excel]

Beat the Witcher 1 last week! Took a while to hit its stride but WHEN IT DID it was greattt!

Edited June 17, 2011 by excel_excel

[CorgiShinobi]

I finished inFAMOUS 2 a while ago, but now I'm working on trophies so that means I'm going all evil now. I really don't like Nix, at all. There are times where you do feel for her, but then she says something and it's like, "Well, forget you then..."

 

Finished inFAMOUS 2 and got the good ending. So sad.

 

...but the story across both games makes no fucking sense.

 

If you go Good ending, the story makes sense. With the Evil ending, it's very counter intuitive to the plot of the first inFAMOUS.

 

With spoilers:

 

With the Good Ending, it follows along with Kessler's plan to rid the world of the Beast. However, the only method Cole is left with is the RFI. This has the consequence of ridding the entire world of Conduits, or basically "superheroes." If you think about this option a bit more, it fulfills Bertrand's "Legacy" in that he had sought out the genocide of all Conduits.

 

I don't see much room for a sequel with this ending, even if the lightning at the end revives Cole. Other Conduits have been the source of the opposition in the series. Who/What will be next?

 

With the Evil Ending, I can definitely see a sequel, but Cole would have to be the antagonist while we are left with a group of other heroes. They have been given powers by Cole through the Beast's method, but they are angered by the death of all their non-Conduit friends and family. This however, all together, goes against the motive of the two games. Whether you were Good or Evil in inFAMOUS, you were always going to defeat the Beast. With inFAMOUS 2, either you defeat the Beast or you become the Beast.

 

I guess you could consider this a product of the RFI. Cole never intended to sacrifice himself, and so you could perceive this as the true nature of Cole. Is he someone who will succumb to fear, much like Kuo, when an outcome will result in his death? That all the other times, he was merely confident enough that he would survive, but now he is faced with his absolute demise?

 

Edited June 17, 2011 by Atomsk88

[Saturnine Tenshi]

From the first game(inFAMOUS):

 

 

I really felt attached to Sasha. And knowing that Kessler was actually me just amplified that. I mean, she was basically cast off by Kessler for some reason and found me in the process. Though I'm uncertain whether she was aware he was[/] Cole. The whole going back in time to save his family(thus Trish) thing didn't make me too happy, but the implications of Sasha+Cole, assuming she wasn't using me in the first place, had greater impact.

 

 

I'll probably get around to the sequel in the next month or so. Don't plan on touching the "good" route at all.

[CorgiShinobi]

But Sasha tries to manipulate you, and the reason why she became angered with Kessler was because she was unable to control Kessler. After all, Kessler is the second strongest Conduit in the inFAMOUS universe, right under the Beast.

 

It was only because of his age that Cole could defeat him, but even then, right down to his last health point, Kessler didn't show any sign of weakening.

 

I wonder, now that Cole knows (inFAMOUS 2 material)

 

the source of the Beast, could the Good Ending Cole eventually learn the one-way time travel power so as to stop Kessler from having the Ray Sphere created? Kinda seems counter productive and pointless, but perhaps having all the Conduits killed off has a negative consequence.

 

[Saturnine Tenshi]

 

Even if she was being manipulative — and I sort of picked up on it — I don't mind. Of the two, uh, "interests" I felt obligated to adore Trish. And I just found her scathing. From my perspective, Sasha wouldn't have weaseled her way in if Trish didn't push me away. I know she'll warm up to you in the good ending, but my qualm is that she shouldn't have to. She's a transient lover. A Dust Man.

 

On the other hand: didn't Sasha save you and subsequently die because of such in the comic books? I'm pretty sure that's how it went down.

 

Also: time travel never fails to make my head hurt.

 

[SanaEquiesterer]

I beat Duke Nukem Forever yesterday. I knew it was short (10-12 hours) but I beat it sooner than I expected. After that alien hive level with all the women that people got in a hubbub over the game really simmers down as far as lewd content goes. It felt like a new episode to Duke 3D with modern technology. No outer space levels, which disappointed me.

 

After you beat the game you unlock extras, one of which shows a development timeline. I thought it was a little sad that what could have been great fell so far. What they had in both 1998 and 2003 looked great for the time.

[Hot Heart]

If you go Good ending, the story makes sense. With the Evil ending, it's very counter intuitive to the plot of the first inFAMOUS.

 

The evil ending does sound pretty dumb. Thinking it over, I guess the good ending does sort of work...

 

I could be missing something as I don't recall all the details of the first game, nor have I found all the dead drops in the second.

Kessler was working to combat The Beast by creating the Ray Sphere to give Cole his powers. I'm assuming he had no idea that the Ray Sphere is what actually created The Beast and the plague in the first place (despite coincidental timing). So, poor Cole was doomed right from the off as Kessler ruined 'his' life as well as making his sacrifice a necessity. In some sense it's one of those self-fulfilling prophecies that time-travel stories are so very fond of.

 

It's just a lot of the writing feels too much like throwing in reveals just for shock value.

'OMG, it's YOU from THE FUTURE'

'Woah, they're really A MONSTER?!'

'OMG, The Beast was that person all along!'

 

[CorgiShinobi]

I get the feeling this should all be in the inFAMOUS thread.

 

Anyway, all I can say without another spoiler tag is that, with inFAMOUS 2, the plot reminds me of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. That you can't prevent it, but merely prolong a significant event. In this case, everything was accelerated instead.

[P4: Gritty Reboot]

Beat Fortix 2 for PXOD review.

[toxicitizen]

I finished the first Valkyria Chronicles last night. Excellent game that every PS3 owner should give a shot to.

 

And I finally played the last case in L.A. Noire today. Such a great game, even if it's extremely repetitive.

Team Bondi really deserve high praise for doing something different and succeeding at it. But holy shit what a sloppy story that was.

 

People gave shit to David Cage because of Heavy Rain's plot holes and how misleading he was with his twist. But at least it was written semi-competently. The man has a basic understanding of plot structure.

 

Brendan McNamara didn't really seem to have any sort of direction to his story with L.A. Noire. You get that there's a bigger idea this is all leading to, but it's like all the pieces just barely fit together for the sake of fitting together without any deeper meaning to any of them. The best part of the plot, imho, was the homicide desk, which is pretty much the middle part of the game and not really related to the "main" story :/

 

Oh, and what an unsatisfying ending.

 

 

I had a feeling that Cole Phelps was going to have a fate similar to John Marsten, but shit, at least Marsten went down like a badass. It literally took an army to kill him. Cole Phelps just... drowned in a sewer? Seriously?!

 

And not only that, but all that unresolved stuff. It's obvious from the funeral scene that the Vice Squad wasn't brought to justice. So there is no satisfaction for being screwed over by them.

 

And at first it was a nice twist to play as Jack Kelso. I figured it would last a case, maybe two, and then they'd start working together and I'd return to Cole. But instead Kelso becomes the new protagonist and you only get to play one last time as Cole for all of 5 minutes in the very last case. That reeks of McNamara writing himself into a corner and realizing that he couldn't logically resolve his plot with Cole on the Arson desk.

 

Hmm, now that I've written all that I kinda feel like I should post it in the L.A. Noire thread instead

 

 

But still, like I said, great game. I'll be playing any case they release as DLC (which, imho, is being handled the right way with the Rockstar Pass). Give me 2-3 years and I'll be ready to play a sequel.

Edited June 20, 2011 by FLD

[Hocking]

I've just finished off Red Faction: Armageddon.

 

Loved the story, although it did come off as being rather dry and long winded. Guerilla was a bit more of a Sci-Fi epic and Armageddon seems to be attempting to cling onto the formers atmosphere rather unsuccessfully. Guerilla had a feeling of a greater purpose, fighting for a reason not just for the sake of it. Armageddon I think lost that necessity and felt too much like a half-arsed summer blockbuster.

 

Ending spoiler;

 

It also struck me as quite odd that in order to save the planet; You need to repair the terraformer that was sabotaged at the start of the game, using your nanoforge. Mason carries this thing around with him the entire game, allowing you and on occasion forcing you to repair things. I felt that the ending was cheapened when Mason eventually does exactly that after years of living underground with the other Martians. Yet he could have just have easily done that in the first place. Just too simple for my tastes.

 

 

Gameplay wise though, it's an absolute blast. The infestation mode is also rather nice, although not enough people seem to grasp the need for teamwork. I ended up soloing it for the 'chevos in offline mode.

[Strangelove]

Just finished inFamous 1 with the good ending. Loved the game overall and I REALLY want inFamous 2 now, but I think ill wait and just replay the first one with bad karma.