Your 2015 Gaming Diary

[Ronnie]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

I would also highly recommend The Witcher 3. Also, Alien Isolation is wonderful. The Last of Us? Definitely worth playing.

 

Not really a fan of spooky or zombie games so Alien and Last of Us are out, ditto first person shooters and I really don't think the Witcher is my kind of game.

 

What sort of experience are you looking for? I would imagine Journey would be right up your street. It's short, but it's something that should definitely be experienced.

 

I think I would be quite into third person action games with light RPG/shooting elements. I fell in love with Mass Effect 3 on Wii U. So things like Uncharted, Tomb Raider, Order 1886, Creed, maybe Batman seem like good fits.

 

Otherwise I'm very keen to play things like Journey, Resogun, Transistor, Tearaway, Trials and then No Man's Sky, Rime, The Witness, Firewatch, Adrift when they're released.

 

This might seem a bit out there but...Assassin's Creed: Black Flag? It's actually really beautiful and is very well made. I was surprised by it.

 

Unless it's a problem from a story POV I'd be keen to start with Syndicate and jump on board the new gen bandwagon. I can always go back and play older games but if I'm getting a PS4 I want something that'll show it off to its full.

 

Oh also, I loved Infamous: Second Son. The visuals for that are beautiful and very colourful, I think you might like that! And it was just a great game I thought.

 

Thanks will look into Infamous. Mordor seems a little mindless to me so probably not my kind of game even though it's obviously very popular.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Thanks all for the suggestions.

 

 

 

Not really a fan of spooky or zombie games so Alien and Last of Us are out, ditto first person shooters and I really don't think the Witcher is my kind of game.

 

If you're not into games that'll get your heart racing, then stay away from Alien.

As for The Last of Us, it's tense in places, but it's still an adventure game at heart. Very story driven. It's similar to The Walking Dead series in the sense that you experience it for the adventure, characters and journey, rather than for the sake of being scared. I'd recommend it, still.

 

I think I would be quite into third person action games with light RPG/shooting elements. I fell in love with Mass Effect 3 on Wii U. So things like Uncharted, Tomb Raider, Order 1886, Creed, maybe Batman seem like good fits.

 

Tomb Raider is the best fit for that, imo. Alongside that, as @Eenuh mentioned, Infamous is a pretty great game. I loved it. Shadow of Mordor is more sword combat focused and it's got an awesome combat system. Definitely worth a look in, imo.

 

You can get a lot of these games for cheap prices now, too.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and recommend Watch Dogs. It's got very mixed feedback from a lot of people, but I personally enjoyed it. It was my first real open world game of that type, but I enjoyed the mechanics/the hacking. Some will no doubt say GTAV is the more superior game, but there's something about Watch Dogs that I can't help but like.

 

Otherwise I'm very keen to play things like Journey, Resogun, Transistor, Tearaway, Trials and then No Man's Sky, Rime, The Witness, Firewatch, Adrift when they're released.

 

A good selection of games there. Our (@Eenuh and my) personal favourites off PSN are:

 

Resogun

Transistor

OlliOlli2

Journey

ROCKET LEAGUE

Race The Sun (I enjoyed it)

FEZ

Rogue Legacy (she was addicted to this)

The Unfinished Swan

Hohokum (I really liked this, although it's very trippy)

Hotline Miami

Strider

Road Not Taken

Valiant Hearts

 

There's quite a good selection of games on PSN.

 

Unless it's a problem from a story POV I'd be keen to start with Syndicate and jump on board the new gen bandwagon. I can always go back and play older games but if I'm getting a PS4 I want something that'll show it off to its full.

 

 

 

Thanks will look into Infamous. Mordor seems a little mindless to me so probably not my kind of game even though it's obviously very popular.

 

I thought the same as you (it took a lot of people on here *cough @Sheikah cough* to convince me to get Black Flag). However, it does look pretty damn beautiful. The theme and setting within it is great, imo. I'm a bit more cautious about Syndicate after Ubisoft's problems with Unity (I didn't play it, but just the feedback from it wasn't winning a lot of followers) whereas Black Flag received tons of positive reactions. You can get it for cheap now, too.

 

The most beautiful games visually are:

 

The Order

Drive Club

The Witcher

 

Drive Club may not be your type of game, but if you're looking for a racing game that shows off the power of the PS4, this may be it. It's one of the most visually stunning games that I've ever played.

[Ronnie]

Given all the hype about Last of Us I may need to check it out, even though zombies are a bit of a turn off.

 

Funny you should mention Watch Dogs, I'm actually tempted to start with it. I've never really played an open world game (GTA doesn't interest me in the slightest). I know it didn't get the best reviews, neither did the Order, but I'm not expecting to find either game amazing as such, I'm more curious about the mechanics and presentation, coming from a mostly-Nintendo gamer.

 

Rogue Legacy looks great, def keen to try that. Plenty of PSN games there to sink my teeth into thanks.

 

I'll reserve judgement on Creed until the review for Syndicate comes out, hopefully they've learned their lesson from Unity. The pirate theme in Black Flag doesn't really do it for me (even though I loved it in Wind Waker).

 

Racing game wise I looked at Drive Club but think that Need for Speed would suit me better, it looks really interesting, especially as I'm primarily a single player kind of gamer. I like the FMV stuff in N4S. Will see what reviews say. They should just bring Wip3Out back.

 

There's a few games on Xbox I really want to play: Ori (I'm primarily a platformer/Metroidvania kind of gamer), and Below mostly. Oh and Recore looks interesting, and Cuphead obv. Argh so many games!

Edited August 10, 2015 by Ronnie

[Hero-of-Time]

@Ronnie why are you after buying a PS4? Given your post history I would have thought you wouldn't want one and the console wouldn't be a good fit for you. I'm just curious. I wouldn't want to see another dazzybee situation where he bought the console ( despite people telling him it wasn't for him ) and then complains about the lack of games that interest him.

 

Update time.

 

Finished my other playthroughs of Streets of Rage 2 (3DS) over the weekend. So that's now crossed off the list.

 

I started Mousecraft (PS4) a few weeks ago and finished it off last night. Another great little game, courtesy of my PS+ subscription. It reminded me of a the Mario vs Donkey Kong games. Great little puzzler that really made you think about where you place your blocks, especially towards the end.

 

Continuing with my quest to finish all the Metal Gear Solid games before V hits, I started Metal Gear Solid 3 (PS3) over the weekend and finished it off last night. With me earning the platinum many moons ago, I could just set about my way, without worrying about nabbing trophies.

 

The character of Big Boss is such an interesting one and has far more depth than Solid Snake. Going through what he went through, you see exactly why he took the steps he did in the later games.

 

The games has some of the best characters in the series. Eva , Ocelot and Boss all add something special to the story. Ocelot especially came into his own during this outing. While I liked him in the original, he was a whole new level in this one.

 

The ending still hits me hard. It was one of the best twists in a game that I have ever seen ( still think Infamous holds the crown, though ) and I still get choked up as Eva is telling the story.

 

 

This is still one of my favourite games of all time. An absolute masterpiece.

[Ronnie]

@Ronnie why are you after buying a PS4? Given your post history I would have thought you wouldn't want one and the console wouldn't be a good fit for you. I'm just curious. I wouldn't want to see another dazzybee situation where he bought the console ( despite people telling him it wasn't for him ) and then complains about the lack of games that interest him.

 

I'll admit, looking through the Amazon listing of the big PS4 games was a little depressing, they all seemed pretty similar and not really my cup of tea... BUT there are plenty of games that do interest me, which I've listed above. Uncharted 4 looked incredible at E3, Tomb Raider looks fun, Horizon, Tearaway etc, some of the smaller games like Rime, Journey and No Man's Sky, and I'll need something to play ME: Andromeda. Certainly not jumping ship from Nintendo but I think the console will suit me fine, I'm keen to play some of these big budget games and it's also great for indies.

 

And for the record re: references to my post history… I've never argued against the quality of these games (apart from poking fun at the Order). My argument has always simply been than the bigger budget games are all pretty samey. Doesn't mean they're not great games, I haven't played them, so am in no position to judge.

Edited August 11, 2015 by Ronnie

[Ganepark32]

Finished up Never Alone: Foxtales this morning, the DLC for Never Alone. Loved the game when I got it after Christmas so jumped at the chance to play more of the game.

 

It only encapsulates 3 levels/chapters but what's there I thought was pretty good. They haven't done much to tighten the gameplay so it is still a little finicky, although thankfully the bolus isn't here this time so the issues of throwing that are gone. Platforming is still a little hit and miss but they have put in a few more puzzles in terms of how you progress and having to figure them out to allow the water to flow in a particular direction is enjoyable.

 

The story is a short but sweet one and the cultural insight videos again were another highlight. Would've liked a few more than 5 but happy enough as they are an enjoyable insight into the Inupiat culture.

 

So yeah, short but sweet return to Never Alone that I thought was definitely worth the price of return (think it's £3.29 so not too bad there).

[Murr]

Well I completed my first WiiU game of the year, only took me till August to play something on the WiiU other than Mario Kart 8.

 

I completed Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, I had to take the screenshot below because we'll not see those 2 names together on closing credits again

 

 

The game looks incredible on WiiU. So many memories flooding back when on Dragon Roost Island near the start of the game. It had been a while since I played it on Cube so I did find myself a little rusty in the dungeons. I liked the Triforce charts and shards were a little easier as that was one thing that I found tiring on the Cube version.

 

So going to continue with giving the PS4 a break and going for a Wii / WiiU / 3DS title next. I've got A Link Between Worlds untouched for 3DS which is tempting me, But with all the Kirby love I've seen over the past few pages thinking I may go with Kirby Adventure Wii.

 

Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag (PS4)

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4)

The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)

Thief (PS4)

Valiant Hearts (PS4)

Abe's Oddysee: New N Tasty (PS4)

Far Cry 4 (PS4)

The Walking Dead Season 1 & 400 Days DLC (PS4)

Never Alone (PS4)

The Unfinished Swan (PS4)

The Walking Dead Season 2 (PS4)

The Witcher: Wild Hunt (PS4)

Batman Arkham Knight (PS4)

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD (WiiU)

[Hero-of-Time]

Started and finished The Legend of Korra (PS4) yesterday. I bought it when it was on sale ages ago and my 17 year old niece was pestering me to start playing it. If I had to describe the game using only one word I think I would use DULL.

 

The game is littered with padding. Bosses appear numerous times throughout the game and they soak up so much damage that some of the fights last about 10 mins. Normal enemy fights are quite basic but they cheapen the fights by just throwing a bunch of them at you at the same time, while being trapped in a Devil May Cry/Onimusha style arena.

 

The gameplay is very basic. You start off with no element powers but gradually you get them back. The problem is that most of them become redundant once you unlock Water and Air, with Earth being the most useless of the lot of them. You can block and counter enemies but using the dodge button is far more effective.

 

I'm not sure whether to call it a day or do another run through on extreme difficulty and nab the remaining trophies.

[Ronnie]

Finished Yoshi's Wooly World last night, and loved every minute of it. The collectables nature of the gameplay could get (very) frustrating but I just ended up not bothering with completing each level at 100% health, got all the others though. Visually looks absolutely stunning, the soundtrack is pretty good and the levels can be as easy or as tough as you want depending on if you're collecting everything. The power badges were a nice addition, I was happy to use the "uncover secrets" one every so often. Great game, my one negative would be I thought the final boss was a little on the uninspired side. I think they could have done a lot more. The last level was a bit meh as well. Overall though, great game.

[Ganepark32]

Finished up The Vanishing of Ethan Carter yesterday. Didn't take particularly long to finish but enjoyed it and grabbed all of the trophies to 100% it.

 

The game looks great and the atmosphere it builds with those visuals as well as the soundtrack, which is dark and brooding but also inviting, is incredible. The little touches like hearing branches break in the distance really gives it an eerie feeling that you want to investigate.

 

It's not exactly heavy on the gameplay side of things, essentially boiling down to a couple of puzzles and solving a couple of murders in terms of the chronology of the events which led to the murder. These latter bits I thought were done quite well, finding key areas involved in the death of a character and then you have to piece together the order of the events from taking note of what each location tells you.

 

The actual puzzles are also well done. The one involving a house and having to correctly put the right room at each doorway in particular was a nice idea and really makes you think about the layout of the house inside and out to solve it.

 

As a narrative experience though, which it tells you from the outset that it is, I found the way it relays the story and the overall story itself a bit muddled and confused. It could've been better presented but I'm guessing they've purposefully done it so to tie in with the whole Paul Prospero, Supernatural Detective character that you play.

 

The initial load time for the game as well is a bit ridiculous but there is no loading at all throughout the game so I guess it can be overlooked for giving you everything straight from the boot up of the game to explore.

 

Overall, I thought it was pretty good though and would recommend. That little loose end they leave with one of the trophies though is making me hope that there is more to come in another game because its just so random.

[drahkon]

The lady and I got the 120th star on Super Mario Galaxy 2 this morning.

 

This game is almost perfect. It features a couple of annoying design choices, e.g. everytime a Launch Star appears: short cutscene interrupting gameplay.

Still...Minor issues. Amazing game.

 

My girlfriend had trouble with the later stages, especially with Prankster Comets. But she wasn't half bad.

 

 

Now it's time for the green stars : peace:

[Glen-i]

UH-OH!

Glen's talking about a slightly controversial game!

 

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So, yeah, I finished Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time yesterday and am about to give my thoughts on it.

 

As you probably have already guessed, I think this game is unfairly judged. More than a few people might say that it's awful and puts the series to shame. But compared to the previous M&L game, Superstar Saga, I think I might like this game a little bit more.

Although it's hard to say, they're quite different.

 

Let's talk about the story.

It's a Mario & Luigi game, so obviously, it's very, very silly.

Back in the distant past, the Mushroom Kingdom was attacked by alien mushrooms known as Shroobs.

As luck would have it, Present day Princess Peach decides to try Prof. E.Gadd's new time machine to go to that exact point.

Naturally, she goes missing. Cue Mario & Luigi going back in time to try and find her.

 

The time travel story is nothing more than an excuse to get Mario & Luigi to team up with their younger selves. In fact, the story just doesn't make sense at all. There's more plot holes than actual time holes.

Not neccessarily a bad thing, it is a comedic game after all.

But one thing I have to point out is that this game might just have the most forced plot twist in videogame history, it's hilariously bad.

 

So after the second major boss, Mario's given a drawing by someone who's lost most of his memory.

 

Ominous... and just a little bit rubbish.

 

If you're wondering what's behind the dirt, congratulations! You're smarter than Mario & Luigi, because they never think to try rubbing the dirt off.

At least not until they're actually explicitly told to do so in the second last area!

 

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Even after seeing this, they continue to collect the pieces of that very star and then are completely blindsided when it turns out the true final boss was sealed in there!

 

That's a blunder that would embarrass Kirby!

 

Another thing I'd like to talk about is just how bleak this game is.

 

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That's Toad Town. It's in complete ruin and as far as I know, the only survivors are two elderly Toads who run a shop.

This is the music that plays.

 

	Audio

 

Geez, that's a bit much, isn't it? This is meant to be a family-friendly game, right?

 

That's the most obvious example, but dig a little deeper and you realise that until the very end of the game, Mario & Luigi are barely making a damn difference to what's happening.

 

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Apparently, until a giant alien Yoshi came along, snarfed them all down and transformed them into monsters, there were loads of Yoshies, now there's only six.

 

Anyway, did you know that Luigi's Mansion happens in a place called Boo Woods? This game teaches you that.

 

The game is still pretty funny though, with the most well known example being the L33T HAMM3R BROZ.

 

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Enough of the story, let's talk about the gameplay.

Most of the gameplay takes place on the bottom screen, and this game doesn't really make great use of the dual screens.

 

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@Dcubed had so much fun watching that whenever I played this at his house. Oh, and not-very useful maps!

See, when the DS actually came out, everyone was tripping over themselves to use the dual screens, but this game focuses on a different feature of the DS, the 4 face buttons. It was definitely an interesting way to go, that's for sure, but compared to later installments, it does feel a tiny bit basic now.

 

But something I absolutely adore this game for is the Battle System. It's quite different to Superstar Saga and set the ground work for the later installments.

It has far more elaborate attacks, both yours and the enemies, and decided to replace Superstar Saga's Bro Attacks for Bro Items.

 

Instead of a button combo the player has to press to pull off an attack, the bro items require you to play a small minigame to maximise damage done. It ranges from timing mini-games, to memorisation, even to good old button mashing. It's far more interesting and rewards skill very well.

 

There is one issue, and it's a biggie. Instead of being tied to some kind of MP meter, the bro items are actual items that you buy and find. Because of this, you can get some ridiculous setups that completely break the game.

 

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Those badges give you more EXP if you defeat an enemy with a Bro item. And because they are so plentiful, as soon as I got these badges (After the first major boss), I proceeded to kill every single enemy I met with bro items and I didn't even come close to running out.

 

Because of this I made mincemeat of the game in about 12 hours and 12 minutes. And I fought every enemy I saw and got every item I could.

 

Oh, but it gets even more broken. About half way thorugh the game, you can start buying these.

 

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The Supreme Slacks are the best equipment in the game and are a rare drop in the final dungeon.

 

 

The Copy Flower is easily the best item in the game, there is no contest. It is a Bro Item. Using these beauties, I was able to beat bosses in 2 solid hits. Not even kidding. It makes the game an utter joke.

 

Which brings me neatly into the most common complaint people have, the final boss.

 

The final boss is notorious for apparently taking far too long to beat. I've heard stories of it taking an hour.

This annoys me, because I'm pretty sure any competent player could beat it with little difficulty if they knew what they were doing.

 

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The last Bowser fight is a very short affair that doesn't take more than 2 minutes, even if you suck.

 

 

I didn't even do that good on the last form. I flubbed a few times using Copy Flowers, which lengthened that fight by 2 turns. 3 forms took me around 10-12 turns to beat. It is not hard. It is not long. It is not the worst boss fight in RPG history. Stop exaggerating.

 

Of course, it would take a bit longer for first-timers, because the last form has multiple targets you have to hit before you can do proper damage.

(Mix Flower to get rid of the tentacles and do damage to the feet, Red Shell to get rid of the feet, then finish the job with Copy flowers, couldn't have taken me more than 5 minutes)

 

You know, I'm half tempted to record me beating that boss again just to prove my point, but maybe later.

 

Now of course, there are genuine flaws that this game has that are totally fair. I've already mentioned the stupid story. But there's also no exploration. Everything is insanely linear, sure there are the occasional side paths that net you items and such, but it's impossible to get lost in this game.

And it's a real shame.

 

But all in all, while this is not the best M&L game, it is in no way terrible, it's still a lot of fun, and I still enjoy it even after 10 years of L33t speak. The humour is there, the battle system is broken but fun, and it makes for a good, quick RPG.

 

Also it's got this.

 

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Lufia: The Legend Returns - GBC

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - WiiU (Not 100%)

Demon's Crest - SNES (Not 100%)

The World Ends With You - DS

Gunman Clive - 3DS

Gunman Clive 2 - 3DS

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - 3DS

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D - 3DS

Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe - 3DS

Banjo-Tooie - N64

Metroid Zero Mission - GBA (Not 100%)

Child of Light - Wii U (Single Character challenge)

Super Smash Bros - 3DS (Everything, baby!)

Super Mario World - SNES

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - 3DS (Credits seen)

Super Mario 64 - N64 (120 stars)

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D - 3DS

Final Fantasy 8 - PS1

Tengami - WiiU

Earthbound Beginnings - NES

Puzzle & Dragons Z - 3DS

Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition - 3DS

Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies - Wii

Pokemon Blue - GB

Kirby Dream Land 2 - GB

Kirby's Fun Pak - SNES

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards - N64

Kirby: Nightmare In Dream Land - GBA

Kirby and the Amazing Mirror - GBA

Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii

Super Smash Bros. - Wii U (100%)

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - DS

 

[Hero-of-Time]

I cracked on with Korra yesterday and got the platinum. Extreme difficulty was a piece of cake with the right setup and only took a couple of hours.

 

I started Rain(PS3)yesterday and have just this moment finished it. Possibly the best gaming experience I've had this year. Stunning. Simply stunning.

 

People often say that Journey is one of the best examples of gaming being art and I think Rain fits into that category just as well, if not better.

 

The bond created between myself and the characters was much stronger than the one that gets created by playing with a person in Journey. I really wanted to help the girl when she was in trouble and was genuinely gutted when I failed her.

 

The visuals and music are outstanding and help create the mood of the game perfectly. Some of the music pieces, especially the piano keys, are hauntingly beautiful.

 

It's a shame you don't have a PS3 @Fierce_LiNk as I think this game is right up your alley. @RedShell have you played it before? Curious to hear your thoughts on it.

 

Once again, brilliant game. Well played, Sony. Well played.

[Happenstance]

Just completed Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. Very interesting and beautiful game, one I expect I'll be thinking about for quite a while as I try to piece together just what happened. I feel like while everyone will be able to appreciate the game, English people will get the most out of it. Just walking around the villages, homes, pubs, Doctor's surgery etc I felt like I was recognising so much! The whole area is so well designed and thought out. For the first few hours I was anxious the entire time. I never actually expected something to jump out at me but the devs did such a good job with the atmosphere in the game and the feeling that some major had happened that you just didnt understand.

 

I can understand why some people arent happy with the lack of an explanantion and while it would have been interesting to know what really happened, I think its just as interesting to come to your own conclusions. Did Kate and Stephen contact alien life, an angel, God? Who were you actually playing as during the game? Why was I walking so slowly, even while holding the run button? :p

 

 

EDIT: Just taking a quick look at the conversations going on elsewhere from people who have also completed it has my head spinning with the theories going around. I love stuff like this.

 

The Order 1886

Mortal Kombat X

The Witcher 3

You Must Build a Boat

Batman: Arkham Knight

God of War III: Remastered

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture

 

Edited August 14, 2015 by Happenstance

[RedShell]

@RedShell have you played it before? Curious to hear your thoughts on it.

I started playing it a while back, but it didn't take long for me to hit a brick wall in the form of a particularly annoying stealth section. You know me and stealth gameplay, they just don't mix.

Shame though, because it is indeed a lovely game. Perhaps I'll give it another try sometime when I'm feeling a bit more patient.

 

Anyway, time for an update to my diary...

 

Recently I played through Max Payne 3.

 

 

Picked it up in the bargain big for a couple of quid, having had my eye on it for quite some time now. Despite not being very good at the game and getting killed at lot, I found it pretty enjoyable.

Worst thing about it is definitely the frame rate, this is a perfect example of a game pushing the hardware too far. Visually stunning though for PS3, could pass for a current gen game at times.

Game made me laugh quite a bit too being set in Brazil, as although my Portuguese isn't great I was still able to understand the majority of what was being said by the NPCs/enemies, which was usually a ridiculous amount of swearing. Not quite as bad as the coprolalia of Resident Evil 4, but not far off either.

The TV shows were also highly entertaining:

 

 

And last night I finished the campaign on Sound Shapes, another lovely little game courtesy of PS+.

 

 

Nice blend of platforming and rhythm based gameplay, very simplistic but there's also enough depth to keep things interesting, and actually quite challenging at times too.

Death Mode in particular seems like it can be incredibly tough! Attempted the first few yesterday, but I can tell it's going to get frustratingly difficult, there's a little bit too much randomness/luck involved in some of these challenges I reckon.

Will definitely keep going back for more punishment though, and of course to mess with the level editor, which I haven't really played with properly yet as I wanted to unlock all of the objects beforehand.

 

As far as mobile goes I've been playing two awesome iOS games, Silly Sausage in Meat Land and Punch Quest.

Silly Sausage is quite possibly the best free mobile game I've ever played, it offers a surprising amount of content and challenge, and is one of the few F2P games I've played that actually has an end!

 

 

And Punch Quest is a super addictive endless runner/beat 'em up in which you need to travel as far as possible while punching the crap out of everything in your path. Simple stuff, but very entertaining.

 

 

Beat:

in January:____________

Resogun (PS4) 100%

Shovel Knight (Wii U)

Alien: Isolation (PS4)

Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS) started in 2014

LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4)

Duck Tales: Remastered (PS3+)

Dark Souls II (PS3) started in 2014

The Swapper (PS4+)

in February:____________

InFAMOUS First Light (PS4+)

Apotheon (PS4+)

Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS) started in 2014

Yakuza 4 (PS3+)

in March:____________

Rogue Legacy (PS4+)

OlliOlli 2 (PS4+)

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (3DS)

3D Out Run (3DS) 100%

Papo & Yo (PS3+)

Valiant Hearts: The Great War (PS4+)

Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise (Wii) replay

Mighty Switch Force! 2 (3DS)

in April:____________

BOXBOY! (3DS)

Catherine (PS3)

New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U) started in 2014

Woah Dave! (PS4+)

Driveclub (PS4) 100%

Never Alone (PS4+) 100%

Yakuza: Dead Souls (PS3)

Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) replay/DLC pack 2 100%

in May:____________

Race the Sun (PS4+)

Hohokum (PS4+)

The Unfinished Swan (PS4+)

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (PS4+) replay/100%

Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush (Wii U)

Splatoon (Wii U)

in June:____________

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (PS4+)

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U replay/DLC

Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4)

Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)

in July:____________

God Hand (PS2)

Rocket League (PS4+)

Entwined (PS4+)

Journey (PS4) replay/100%

in August:____________

Max Payne 3 (PS3)

Sound Shapes (PS4+)

 

Total: 44

 

Unfinished:

-

 

iOS:

SHREDD

Love Live! School Idol Festival

Smash Hit

REFLEC BEAT +

Turbo Dismount

Brickies

Nom Cat

Temple Run 2

Jetpack Joyride

Mighty Switch Force! Hose It Down!

Lara Croft: Relic Run

Human Cannonball

Groove Coaster 2

Does not Commute

Silly Sausage in Meat Land

Punch Quest

 

 

[Fierce_LiNk]

I cracked on with Korra yesterday and got the platinum. Extreme difficulty was a piece of cake with the right setup and only took a couple of hours.

 

I started Rain(PS3)yesterday and have just this moment finished it. Possibly the best gaming experience I've had this year. Stunning. Simply stunning.

 

People often say that Journey is one of the best examples of gaming being art and I think Rain fits into that category just as well, if not better.

 

The bond created between myself and the characters was much stronger than the one that gets created by playing with a person in Journey. I really wanted to help the girl when she was in trouble and was genuinely gutted when I failed her.

 

The visuals and music are outstanding and help create the mood of the game perfectly. Some of the music pieces, especially the piano keys, are hauntingly beautiful.

 

It's a shame you don't have a PS3 @Fierce_LiNk as I think this game is right up your alley. @RedShell have you played it before? Curious to hear your thoughts on it.

 

Once again, brilliant game. Well played, Sony. Well played.

 

I do love the look of it and it's another one of those games that is tempting me to just pick up a cheap PS3.

 

I've got a fair few Plus games, so it would be worth it. Hmm.

[nekunando]

After clearing 9 games throughout July, it's beginning to look pretty likely that I won't complete any games in August

 

With Xenoblade Chronicles eating up most of my gaming time this month, I can't really see how I'll fit much else in. In fact, if I manage to stick with it then it could well take me until near Christmas to get to the end

 

Just gotta take it one day at a time..

[Hero-of-Time]

Finished Code of Princess (3DS) this morning.

 

No Miiverse community meant I had to take a quick snap myself of the credits as proof.

 

 

Not a bad little game. I can certainly see its Guardian Heroes roots when playing it.

 

The writing in the game is fantastic. The banter between the girls ( didn't even realise that Ali was a lass until it was pointed out ) and Allegro is hilarious. There are plenty of LOL moments scattered throughout.

 

There was only one real difficulty spike in the game but I don some leveling up and came back to kick the boss' butt. Leveling up became super easy once I got a burst weapon.

 

Load up a boss fight stage.

Jump into said boss.

Hammer the burst button.

Profit.

 

I think my final level was in the 60s.

 

I went back and replayed the final stage to see the other ending. I chose the second option first, which gave me a final boss battle. However, the first option skips the battle due to the way the story plays out. Feels a bit cheap.

 

I may upset @Grazza here but my only negative is the way Solange is dressed.

 

 

I like seeing skin as much as the next guy but in here it's just stupid. The outfit doesn't even make any sense, not to mention that the Princess looks like she's in her mid teens. Its the same issue I have with Wayforward's art, where they have these underage looking girls with skimpy clothes and massive racks. It's just weird and creepy.

 

Next up, I started my next Metal Gear game yesterday. I have MGS4, Peace Walker (never played this one before)and Ground Zeroes to finish and decide to go through Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) first. Really I should have went with Peace Walker as that is essential playing/viewing if you want to have an idea of what's going on with MGSV and if I run out of time then 4 would have been the better one to skip. I figured if I played 4 first it then motivates me to finish it and get to Peace Walker. With only a couple of weeks left, and me being away next weekend, the race to have them finished is truly on.

[Grazza]

Finished Code of Princess (3DS) this morning.

 

No Miiverse community meant I had to take a quick snap myself of the credits as proof.

 

I played this before Miiverse existed, but I'm surprised there's no community for it. OK, it's a bit fruity, but it's no Senran Kagura Burst!

 

I may upset @Grazza here but my only negative is the way Solange is dressed.

 

I like seeing skin as much as the next guy but in here it's just stupid. The outfit doesn't even make any sense, not to mention that the Princess looks like she's in her mid teens. Its the same issue I have with Wayforward's art, where they have these underage looking girls with skimpy clothes and massive racks. It's just weird and creepy.

 

It's funny, I genuinely don't see these characters are young-looking as you see them. With Solange and the MSF girls, they have cartoony faces, but there's no part of their body that would make you think the artist is trying to make them look underage.

 

Fair enough though. : peace:

 

Personally, I had some fun with Code of Princess - certainly enough to complete the story mode - but in the end thought the graphics and controls let it down. Whilst I loved the character designs (especially Brunette Solange ), I didn't like the way they were presented as 2D cut-outs that could be rescaled in-game (as opposed to pixel art that had been re-drawn for each plane). I suppose it was a necessity considering the 3-plane gameplay, but I still don't think it suited a low resolution.

 

As for the controls, they just felt sluggish in general. Both issues, I feel, could have been alleviated if it had been on a far more powerful (and HD) console.

 

I like a good brawler, but Code of Princess (and indeed Senran Kagura) now seem far less relevant on a machine that has the sublime Bare Knuckle II. : peace:

[Hero-of-Time]

@Grazza I was meant to mention the visuals earlier and totally agree with what you said in the Code of Princess thread. Had this been released on the Vita or a HD console the thing would have looked sooooooo much better. As it is, it looks like a low resolution, blurry mess at times. Compare this to something like Dragons Crown and the visual quality between the two games is like night and day. Shame.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I thought I'd give FlOw a little playthrough yesterday and had a lovely time with it. Initially, my thoughts weren't great because I wasn't a fan at all of the motion controls. Would rather just use the analogue stick and I think I'd find it even more relaxing playing it that way. Aside from that, I really, reeeeally liked what I played. It's very beautiful to look at, quite trippy actually. I can definitely see myself going through it again at some point, even for just a small burst of gaming because it was quite soothing.

 

I only have Flower left to play through before I can say that I've done the trinity (Journey making up the other part).

 

I'm playing through a few other games atm. So should be able to update my list soon.

 

Games of 2015

 

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Finished and Platinumed

Transistor - Finished

The Walking Dead Season One - Finished and Platinumed

inFAMOUS Second Son - good ending completed

Watchdogs - started in 2014, finally finished main story

The Walking Dead Season Two - Finished

The Order 1886 - Finished

BLOODBORNE - Finished

Never Alone - Finished

Hohokum - Finished

The Witcher 3 - Story (and many other quests!) completed

Journey - Finished

FlOw - Finished

[Jonnas]

After taking a short break from gaming in general, I played Klonoa 2 for the GBA. Not a shabby game, but not really worth talking about, either, pretty meh.

 

What I did complete was:

 

Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator

 

A world with 7 layers...? I'll bite, that's new

 

This game was an odd one. Appeared on a GOG sale out of the blue several months ago, never had heard of it before. Description said it was a JRPG from 1999 made by Americans (!) for the PC (!!), which is bizarre to say the least. The game looked appealing, so I got it.

 

It's intriguing in many ways. It's like, every time the game presents me with something cool, it decides to include baffling mistakes in that gift.

 

A pleasant surprise is the story, which is quite unconventional for this genre (for example, I bet you're expecting that sealed demon to escape, or that legendary hero to appear at one point. Nope, they really are just backstory this time). The setting has quite a few interesting concepts and appealing characters, and the plot kept me guessing the whole time, something that a JRPG hadn't made me feel in a very long time.

 

On the other hand, the pacing and dialogue in cutscenes is weird. Characters change opinions in a matter of seconds and fall in love with people they just met. Others leave a room through dead ends, or running right through soldiers who won't lift a finger to stop them (one particular instance involves a villain leaving a henchman to deal with the invading main characters, leave through the front door, and the main characters break through that same door literally two seconds later, somehow missing him. The villain was going to deal with stuff happening across the planet, and he got there in the time we spent battling the henchman). I know it's 1999, but it's really cheesy.

 

 

This is what a battle looks like in this game

 

The gameplay is the good ol' travelling through towns and dungeons, and battling in the meantime. A few neat things that this game provides are dialogue options with NPCs (depends on your current party members), and puzzles resembling point&click adventures. This leads to bizarre puzzles where you can only enter places with high-pitched sounds if your party is wearing accessories that protect against sound-based attacks I think I would've liked these more if they didn't come up only a couple of times in the game.

 

The battle system is more miss than hit. On one hand, it's clearly based on Chrono Trigger's with a few neat ideas on the mix. On the other hand, battles are really slow, which would not be too bad by itself (it's a fixed encounter system), but the dungeon design is atrocious. You go through a long hallway to activate a lever that opens the door to a room that contains a key to another hallway with another lever to another room with another key that may finally be the one that leads to the dungeon boss, all while fighting enemies. That sentence describes every dungeon crawl in the last third of the game (early dungeons avoided being boring by being short), which are only made bearable by the nice scenery and the desire to continue the plot.

 

 

Early dungeons are only the size of that blue part. But this entire picture is actually just one fourth of a late-game dungeon.

 

The visuals look dated, but not bad (it's what one would call "aging gracefully"). The backgrounds look nice, and the characters look very expressive. On the other hand, most enemies and NPCs are recolours. Another bizarre thing about the game: there's barely any soundtrack to speak of, only background noises (this works both for the game and against it).

 

Despite the flaws, I definitely liked it, it's great to play a JRPG with fresh ideas. Completed everything, including sidequests.

(Also, I didn't want to spend so many words in this review, but I guess there was plenty to say )

 

And for now, I'm back on Civ 5 for a quick match, and then I'll see.

 

Played/Beat/Completed:

-Binding of Isaac + Wrath of the Lamb Beaten (Last played: 11th January)

-Hitman Contracts Beaten (2nd February)

-Sonic CD Completed (19th February)

-Puzzle Agent Completed (17th February)

-Teslagrad Completed (8th March)

-Q.U.B.E.: Director's Cut Beaten (14th March)

-The Whispered World Completed (11th April)

-Rogue Legacy Beaten (6th May)

-Kirby's Dream Course Beaten (4th June)

-Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Completed (7th June)

-Out There Somewhere Completed (26th June)

-Spelunky Beaten (29th June)

-Kuru Kuru Kururin Beaten (19th July)

-BEEP Completed (20th July)

-Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament Completed (8th August)

-Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator Completed (16th August)

 

Currently Playing:

-Civilization V

-Dragon Quest III

On Hold/Hiatus:

 

Dropped:

-Enemy Mind Needs gamepad (25th March)

 

Edited August 17, 2015 by Jonnas

[Fierce_LiNk]

I managed to finish Arkham Knight yesterday. Aside from a few things here or there that annoyed me, I thought that there were a lot of cool things about the game and a looooooot of awesome, awesome moments.

 

I'd say that it lived up to expectations for me. I didn't go into it really pumped, but I can say that I definitely enjoyed it. There's a few things I'd like a little more of, a small handful of things I'd like a bit less of, but there was plenty there to enjoy. The story is a hard one to judge, I think it's better than Arkham City's story, particularly towards the latter stages.

 

Anyway, DONE. Onto the next one.

 

 

Games of 2015

 

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Finished and Platinumed

Transistor - Finished

The Walking Dead Season One - Finished and Platinumed

inFAMOUS Second Son - good ending completed

Watchdogs - started in 2014, finally finished main story

The Walking Dead Season Two - Finished

The Order 1886 - Finished

BLOODBORNE - Finished

Never Alone - Finished

Hohokum - Finished

The Witcher 3 - Story (and many other quests!) completed

Journey - Finished

FlOw - Finished

Batman: Arkham Knight - Main story completed. Can't be arsed collecting all of the Riddler trophies.

[Jimbob]

Finished Flower. Again, like Journey this is a nice, simple and enjoyable game from start to finish. Loved it, so beautiful to look at. Such an elegant story, this is simple and enjoyable gaming.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I've just finished up Everybody's Gone To The Rapture. I've waited for this game for quite a while and I'm happy to finally be able to play it.

 

Stunning game and experience. It's amazing how English this all felt, from the aesthetics to the voices/script work. I wanted to explore everything within it.

 

Not sure it's for everyone because the pace of it is a bit marmite. Personally, I thought it was really thoughtful and lovely and awesome and *aaahhh* Some will find it sluggish and lacking in clarity in some ways. Imo, that all added to the experience. I spent most of my time looking at the scenery.

 

Games of 2015

 

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor - Finished and Platinumed

Transistor - Finished

The Walking Dead Season One - Finished and Platinumed

inFAMOUS Second Son - good ending completed

Watchdogs - started in 2014, finally finished main story

The Walking Dead Season Two - Finished

The Order 1886 - Finished

BLOODBORNE - Finished

Never Alone - Finished

Hohokum - Finished

The Witcher 3 - Story (and many other quests!) completed

Journey - Finished

FlOw - Finished

Batman: Arkham Knight - Main story completed. Can't be arsed collecting all of the Riddler trophies

Everybody's Gone To The Rapture - Finished