Your 2015 Gaming Diary

**Fierce_LiNk** · November 12, 2015

Hero-of-Time said:
I actually cancelled the Amazon order not long after I ordered it. I've been good this year in terms of buying games only when I'm ready to play them. I still have other stuff on the backlog that could be played and figured I don't actually need Witcher yet.

I'm sorry Flinky. Go easy on me....

Eenuh · November 12, 2015

Hero-of-Time said:
I actually cancelled the Amazon order not long after I ordered it. I've been good this year in terms of buying games only when I'm ready to play them. I still have other stuff on the backlog that could be played and figured I don't actually need Witcher yet.

I'm sorry Flinky. Go easy on me....

Wait, what?

Why would you do thattttt?!?? :'(

It is honestly one of my favourite games ever! I just finished it a few days ago and loved every second of it. And because I couldn't get enough, I dived straight back in with the DLC. This game is so good, you should play it!

Also as I finished it, means I need to update my list to include The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt!

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Ganepark32 · November 16, 2015

Was in want of something of a palate cleanser before I jump back into Uncharted, Mad Max or Far Cry 4. So had a quick look through my library on the PS4 to see if there were any short games that I got through PS+ that I could blitz through and found a couple.

Started up and finished Entwined on Saturday. I really enjoyed this and definitely hit the spot as the palate cleanser I was looking for.

Very simple gameplay and mechanic wise but requires some quick reflexes and good dexterity to guide the fish and the bird through the gates correctly. Found it a little tricky at times, mainly for the fish as I'm not great with my left hand, but managed it all in 2 sittings.

There's still the Challenge mode and a few trophies to mop up that I'll do here and there but got exactly what I wanted out of it, which was a short but fun interlude before tackling something bigger. Loved the look of it though and the soundtrack is pretty awesome as well, very relaxing even when it gets a little tricky. Gave me a slight Rez-esque feeling playing it which has made me want to return to that or Child of Eden

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Hero-of-Time · November 16, 2015

I had the intention of starting Rodea over the weekend but that didn't go to plan. For some reason I decided to put DriveClub (PS4) in and have a quick blast. When I fired it up I seen that it was double XP for using BMW cars. I figured this would be a good chance to grind some of the trophies I needed.

I started with the drifting trophy. I needed about 600,000 fame points to reach the trophy total. With it being double XP, this also allowed me to level up very quickly.

I then turned to netting a few more accolades by just doing single race events. Again, using a BMW allowed me to grab some serious XP. I finally reached level 50 this morning.

I just have the one trophy left ( requires me to do 150 races..I think ) and I should have the platinum and be able to finally put the game on the complete shelf. I will try and crank a few races out everyday this week, just to keep picking at it.

RedShell · November 16, 2015

2 new additions to my diary, Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water and Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash.

Project Zero was a game that I was really expecting to enjoy after seeing it on the Treehouse Live vids at E3, but it actually ended up being quite the disappointment. I just found the pace of the game so unbelievably slow and the character animations for opening doors and picking up items were simply ridiculous.

For those that aren't aware, the reason for this slow movement (when collecting items at least) is a gameplay mechanic whereby a ghost hand will occasionally try to grab you as you're moving toward the item, so they try to build tension as the character is leaning in to grab whatever it may be. But there are a lot of items/notes to pick up in this game, and even more doors to open, so let's just say it gets old real quick. Think my final playtime was somewhere around 12-15 hours, and it genuinely feels like 50% of that time was spent just picking up items and opening doors!

And then there's the atrocious chapters involving...

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...the security cameras.

Where you have to watch a screen as it flicks between multiple camera feeds showing different rooms/areas of the building you're in, and when you see something peculiar on screen you then need to go to that area to investigate. It's a cool idea let down by the fact it takes 10 years to open each bloody door, the fact you need to repeat this process multiple times (returning to the surveillance room each time) and the fact that this exact style of gameplay (in the very same location) is repeated in another chapter!

So yeah, needless to say I struggled to get through the game. It also failed to deliver any sense of fear.

Compared to Alien Isolation which I played earlier in the year, this was a complete and utter snore-fest.

As for Chibi-Robo! Zip Lash, this was a game that I wasn't particularly expecting much from (and that got slated by many reviews/gamers) but I ended up having a fantastic time with it. Sure, it's by no means a great game, but at the same time I do feel people have been a bit hard on it.

For all the weird design choices in the game (and there are quite a few ) there are many moments of fun. And Chibi-Robo is just such a rad character I couldn't help but enjoy seeing him zip around on his power cord. Loved collecting the various snacks too, which were actually incredibly impressive from a visual standpoint! The super realistic Pizza from Pikmin 3 has met its match!

And that tune when you collect a snack... Dem Disco vibes.

Music on the whole was pretty damn awesome, and I'd often find myself just sitting on the end of level high score screen, listening to multiple loops of the music that plays there.

It's a shame this could well be the last we see of Cheebo and pals, a game in the style of the GCN original in HD would've been something else.

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Dcubed · November 16, 2015

The slow picking up of items in the Project Zero games always crack me up, it just looks so ridiculous

Also yeah, gonna give another shoutout to Guacameele. It's a solid game and a really great little co-op title. Me and Glen-I had a blast when we played through it!

Glen-i · November 16, 2015

Recently, I finished the 6th of the purchasable Streetpass plaza games, and so I think I'll talk about the two newest ones that I completed this year.

Streetpass Fishing and Streetpass Zombies

The Streetpass Mii Plaza got a couple of new games a while back. And considering I enjoyed all four of the previous ones (Especially Mansion), I jumped right on these two!

First I'll talk about Streetpass Zombies.

In this game, your Mii arrives at Hobbiville, a place where Mii's indulge in their hobbies.

It's facing a bit of a crisis though, because...

Yeah, what she said.

So naturally, it's up to you to help Dr. Scarlet find a cure.

Yes, it's an excuse plot. But who cares?

The gameplay revolves around the beat-em-up genre with you using a variety of weapons to fight all sorts of goofy looking zombies. There's 30 stages in total, ranging from simple "get to the end" stages to protecting an important building from waves of the undead.

It's a decent length, considering the price. That's for sure.

But fear not, you are not alone! This being a streetpass game, the people you pass in real life will provide you with the very weapons you need to be victorious!

The cool thing about the weapons is that it's based on the actual hobby that person has set in their Mii settings. For example, the majority of people I passed put "Video Games" as their hobby, so when I pass those people, I get provided with a Wii Remote to fight with.

Each weapon has various functions and attacks, so getting the right weapon for the situation can make a big difference.

Oh, and every selectable hobby has a weapon, every single one. And some are very, uhhh... special. Including...

Being a lazy sod!

Wasting time on the internet!

Studying simple arithmetic!

And being the king of "Staying Alive"!

It all gives a very comedic feel that helps make the game pretty memorable.

It's not too challenging, with a healthy supply of Mii's, you shouldn't ever see the Game Over screen, and the high-score chasing and sub-missions should provide you with enough to do.

So I'm gonna move on to Streetpass Fishing.

This, as the title suggests, is a fishing game. Your Mii goes to the "Streetpass Isles" (Where do they come up with these genius names) to indulge in a spot of fishing. But on your first trip, your boat is attacked by an absolutely colossal fish and you accidentally drop all your bait into the sea.

Bugger! Career ruined! BUT WAIT! Helpful tour guide, Coraline, has an idea for you to continue to fish.

2839826-screen+shot+2015-04-01+at+3.32.53+pm+(2).png

Mooch bait off of everyone else!

So like the filthy hobo you secretly are, you hassle people for free bait, and then proceed to hunt down and fish up the 5 "Legendary Monsters" that roam the Streetpass Isles.

The gameplay is pretty easy to guess. You choose an area, and fish.

You use the touch screen to reel in fish. Simple enough.

Each area has a challenge for you to complete, and clearing this challenge unlocks more areas, which have different fish. There's 160 different fish to catch, so this is definitely going to last a while.

The bait you get comes in a variety of colours and certain fish like certain bait, so choosing the right area to match the Mii's you're with is paramount. It's also good to have a lot of Mii's at once as well, as they help you pull in the more larger fish.

See that Yoshi hat? My Mii has that hat, he wears it all the time!

It's much simpler than Streetpass Zombies, but I do prefer this game. (Shouldn't be surprising though, these guys did Streetpass Mansion)

There's something really nice about just popping this on when I get Streetpasses and just landing a few fish. It's definitely a slow burn kind of game, as I only saw the credits a week ago, and I've still got over 50 fish to catch, but I'm still enjoying it.

If you enjoy fishing games and have access to consistent Streetpasses, you should definitely give this a go, you won't be disappointed.

Although for both games, if you don't get Streetpasses for whatever reason, your enjoyment is going to be severely diminished, but that goes without saying really.

And with that...

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Blade · November 16, 2015

I finished Witcher 3 last night. Brilliant game. Thoughts are contained in that particular thread.

I bought it on release in May and been playing mainly that.

Kaepora_Gaebora · November 16, 2015

I've had a bit of time on my hands recently so, amongst other things, I've had more time to try and complete games that have been sat in my collection.

To satiate my desire to buy Halo 5, which I can't afford at £50, I decided to nab The Master Chief Collection back off a friend and play the first two in the series, which I've never completed before.

I was trying to think of their contemporaries when originally released to compare them to, and I have to say I don't think Halo CE holds a candle to Metroid Prime. I just think the shooting coupled with the exploring and progression was much more dynamic and engaging compared to CE.

Having said that, I did really enjoy both Halo games. Ever since I completed GoldenEye on 00 Agent mode yet still got routinely smashed in local multiplayer, I've always been a single player experience type of guy. So I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the story a fair bit, and it made it worth doing the rinse and repeat of wave after wave of enemy.

I completed both on Heroic mode and, to my shame, must admit I did find plenty of occasions where I simply ran away from the battle and pushed over to the next check point rather than get battered for the umpteenth time. Still, every route is legal, right?!

The actual Master Chief Collection itself is still a mess. I didn't get the achievements for completing two of the levels so as it hasn't registered them, it hasn't given me the "campaign complete" one of for doing them all on Heroic. Not sure I'll want to go back through them again so soon but I'll see. And I must have found about 3 games of multiplayer in all my time searching, it's still a shambles! 343 definitely bit off more than they could chew, and I think this game must have had an impact on Halo 5's sales figures.

So after doing these two I've now completed all the main line Halo games; 3 back in 2008 as I got it with my Xbox 360 and 4 last year as part of a co-op run with a friend on MCC. All in all, I'm still a Gears man but it did get me thinking of what games I've completed this year, which are as follows:

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Hero-of-Time · November 17, 2015

Played some more DriveClub (PS4) last night. I managed to knock out a few more races and only have 99 more to grind. I'm pushing myself to get it finished before Battlefront arrives. It's a real bore now that I don't need to level up anymore. Luckily I can jump into party chat and the random banter helps make things go quicker.

RedShell · November 17, 2015

Hero-of-Time said:
Played some more DriveClub (PS4) last night. I managed to knock out a few more races and only have 99 more to grind. I'm pushing myself to get it finished before Battlefront arrives. It's a real bore now that I don't need to level up anymore. Luckily I can jump into party chat and the random banter helps make things go quicker.

Can't believe you picked grinding on Driveclub over Guacamelee!

Hero-of-Time · November 17, 2015

RedShell said:
Can't believe you picked grinding on Driveclub over Guacamelee!

I'm so close to finishing it though.

nekunando · November 17, 2015

I don't feel like I'm playing anything particularly brilliant at the moment and I'm finding myself picking up a few older games that I've always been interested in trying without ever really thinking they were 'must-have'.

I've just seen the credits roll in Steel Diver this morning. It was OK but, much like my recent complaints about regenerating health in some games, there's often little consequence to steering into mines, missiles or other obstacles due to being able to just head to the surface for a few moments to completely repair your submarine. I never felt like I had to push myself to be any better at steering or attacking in order to make it through the campaign, which is a shame

It has, however, been a decent diversion for a few hours and it was nice to be playing a game that makes use of some of the features of the 3DS I've actually never finished Face Raiders so I may take care of that next

I've also been chipping away at Rayman Raving Rabbids on Wii. Again, it's decent enough but it doesn't feel particularly polished and this sort of emphasizes the fact that it was a launch game. It's still fun, though

I ordered Donkey Kong: Jet Race at the weekend so expect to see it this week but I have a feeling it'll hit me the same way as both of the games I just mentioned in that it will be good but not great. When I add that to Grand Slam Tennis and Virtua Tennis 2009 earlier in the year, my Wii purchases have been pretty questionable in 2015 and somewhat a contrast to my desire not to fill my collection with a lack of quality. Hmm..

Ugh first aid · November 18, 2015

Just going throw this out there. @Glen\-i have had to put up with my crazy obsession of undertale for a good while now. Out of all the games I've played this year, no game has quite hit it off like this.

I could rant and rave about it, however that would just be spoiling it for people. ;D it's honestly the best £6.99 I've ever spent! ( Heck I even bought a copy of it for my best friend so technically I bought it twice! )

All in all I highly recommend Undertale! It's short, has great great replay value, The music's amazing, Characters are wonderful and it's a real breath of fresh air IMHO.

S.C.G · November 18, 2015

Ugh first aid said:
Just going throw this out there. @Glen\-i have had to put up with my crazy obsession of undertale for a good while now. Out of all the games I've played this year, no game has quite hit it off like this.

I could rant and rave about it, however that would just be spoiling it for people. ;D it's honestly the best £6.99 I've ever spent! ( Heck I even bought a copy of it for my best friend so technically I bought it twice! )

All in all I highly recommend Undertale! It's short, has great great replay value, The music's amazing, Characters are wonderful and it's a real breath of fresh air IMHO.

Undertale! I've been meaning to play this, I hear it mentioned then I think to myself "Hmm I really must play that" and then I keep forgetting, I'm going to buy it now while I remember.

I won't get around to playing it right away, as I have loads of other games to play as well but at least then it will be in my Steam Library - along with around fifty-odd other games I haven't played yet but will do one day! - and £6.99 does seem rather resonable.

Annnnd bought! One step closer to playing it now. : peace:

I've finished maybe a handful of games this year, I don't tend to post about them, especially if they are for VC Weekly or a review, I should populate a list of those games I've actually completed.

For now though, the last game I completed was Electronic Super Joy, there's no embargo on it seeing as it's already out but in any case I found it to be a most enjoyable platforming game, the review for it should be up on site tomorrow so look out for it.

Dcubed · November 18, 2015

Good man! Undertale is a great RPG that's very reminiscent of the Earthbound series (and I'm not just saying that, it's clearly inspired by it - hell its director got his name from first making an Earthbound mod called Radiation's Halloween Hack)

Hero-of-Time · November 18, 2015

DriveClub (PS4) 69 races done....30 to go. Getting there.

Ronnie · November 18, 2015

Would people recommend playing Tomb Raider before Uncharted Collection, or vice versa? Or mix and match?

Also, Guacamelee is amazing. One of my favourite games ever.

bob · November 18, 2015

I'm still trying to play the games i didn't beat this generation before i can upgrade to next-gen. So last night i started up Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox 360.

I say started up, i'm actually carrying on from where i left off. I checked, and my last save was from April 2012, so it's just a short hiatus. Thing is, once again, i can't remember what i was doing, what the controls are, etc. Still, i bumbled around a bit, and did a couple of side quests. If i get to play tonight i'll try and continue the main story, but i have no idea how far through i am. Hopefully i can just pick it up!

Hero-of-Time · November 19, 2015

DriveClub (PS4) is complete.

I got home to find Battlefront had arrived early, so I had to blitz the final 30 races, allowing me to start Battlefront without having this niggling at me.

I then fired up Star Wars Battlefront (PS4)...

Quote
Put a fair few hours into this last night and had great fun.

While the game is installing you get to run around the base on Hoth as Darth Vader. This serves kinda like a tutorial and lets you get to grips with things. It's a nice touch, instead of just sitting waiting at the install screen.

I started with a couple of the single player missions. Flying the X-Wing and then riding the Speeder Bike were amazing. The Speeder Bike took some getting used to, though. I think I died 4 times in a row straight away. I found the best view for the bike was first person mode, while the X-Wing was best using third person.

I jumped into Blast game type, which is essentially TDM. It took a while to get used to the maps but once I did I was running riot.

I then had a go of the vehicle battle mode ( can't remember what it was called ). You have to protect your transports from the opposition and take out their transports in the process. One of the guys on the other team must have got a power up or something as he was flying around in the Falcon. I kept gunning for him but it has a large amount of health, especially compared to the Tie Interceptor.

I LOVED this mode. It felt like a mix of Rogue Squadron and the battle arena levels in Lylat Wars. Very fun.

I then tried the Rebel Assault mode. I was on the Imperial team, so we had the AT-ATs on our side. These matches take a loooooong time to finish but , again, it was very fun. Holding areas and protecting the objectives was key to winning this game. It was close but we managed to pull it off.

The only negative I really have about the game is that i'm not keen on the Hoth map in the Blast game type. There's too many winding corridors and it makes it hard to pin down where the enemy are on the radar.

I had a few games this morning, before heading off to work. Yeah, loving what I played so far. I agree with what some reviews said when they mentioned it feeling more like an arcade shooter. Gutted i'm off to the flicks tonight. I just wanna head home after work and play on this.

RedShell · November 20, 2015

Finally got around to playing through the first (and no doubt only) PC game I'll play this year, the critically acclaimed, Undertale.

I now fully understand why @Glen\-i didn't do his usual write-up in here for this game, as to not potentially spoil it for anyone else. It's definitely the kind of thing you want to go into with as little prior knowledge as possible.

Anyway, while I found the game enjoyable (despite not being a huge fan of the genre) and can see why it's been received so well, I certainly wasn't blown away by it. Having said that, you've got to admire the fact that this game was essentially created by an individual, and having some experience of solo game development myself (although far from on this sort of scale) I am very much aware of the kind of determination it requires.

You truly have to be filled with determination.

But yeah, Undertale gave me a lot of laughs, the writing is absolutely fantastic. The characters are brilliant, the music is great, and I obviously loved the quirkiness of it all.

It's also fun just discovering aspects that have been inspired by or reference other games.

The attention to detail is really quite remarkable, actually puts a lot of studio developed titles to shame!

It's unfortunate the game is being held hostage on PC though (something that was touched upon in this thread a while back) as it could work on console just fine. Although, those bits... would probably need to be modified slightly.

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Magnus · November 20, 2015

RedShell said:
Anyway, while I found the game enjoyable (despite not being a huge fan of the genre) and can see why it's been received so well, I certainly wasn't blown away by it.

First Uncharted 2 and now Undertale? Are you a vampire? I ask because you clearly have no soul.

bob · November 20, 2015

He could also be ginger of course. They don't have souls. In fact, his name...Red Shell. Definitely a ginger.

Nicktendo · November 20, 2015

Streetpassed @BowserBasher in York today! At least I think it was him..!

killthenet · November 21, 2015

I've been playing through Super Mario 3D World again recently and realised that I don't really remember completing the original Super Mario Bros. I definitely played it enough but I can't really remember anything past the first Koopa battle. I decided to play through it tonight on my 3DS, without using warps, and just completed it. It's incredible how tough the game is, I have to admit that I used the Virtual Console restore points a few times, otherwise I don't think i'd have made it past the first world. It really shows how much the average attention span has changed and how Nintendo give the player a lot more chances in their newer games. Super Mario Bros. is so viciously unforgiving, I can't imagine many people who don't have fond memories of it giving it more than a few tries these days.

It's fascinating how Nintendo managed to make such a perfect game at their first try. You would have thought that in 1985 that 12 levels more or less identical to the World 1-1 would have sufficed, it surely would have been enough to make buying a NES worthwhile. But Nintendo packed so much variety and complex level design into the game that it really must have been a noticeable step-up from the competitors, even to the most casual of onlookers.

Edited November 21, 2015 by killthenet

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