Your 2015 Gaming Diary

[Rummy]

Finished off the Kirby main quest, good stuff all round. Something I love so much about Kirby and just can't quite place what. The mostly silent yet effective story? The fact they don't mind just branching out into new stories all the time? Obvs the gameplay and choice, and this had some good final bosses and decent challenge.

Did a few of the extras(arena, drum dash, a single fighters run) and working through DededeTour atm - another interested take on the original main quest, quite an enjoyable extra for that.

Done a tad more NSMBU too, but posted more about that in its own thread.

 

Current 2015 Gaming

Kirby Triple Deluxe - Main story complete, 100% sun stones! Dedede Tour and extras to go.

NSMBU - Meringue Clouds/Rock Candy Mines - maybe 10 stages to go? All others star coin'd.

Smashing, generally - training/playing with Toon Link amiibo! Having mates round this eve too.

 

To be done

Shovel Knight

Lego City Undercover

Earthbound

<consider finishing Ages then Seasons?>

[nekunando]

I've played SSX 3 a couple of times since my last post, taking care of a few of the random challenges on Peak 1 and pressing forward with a couple of events on the recently unlocked Peak 3. I'm finding it very difficult to judge this game as I'm not entirely sure how much I'm enjoying it..

 

Despite the insanity of the tricks you can pull off in the game, I've always felt that performing the tricks felt unsatisfactory. Even controlling your snowboarder can be awkward at times, especially when travelling at pace

 

Races aren't particularly compelling, especially when you have to compete in the exact same event for 3 successive heats. I always hated that repetition

 

Having said all that, though, I'm still feeling compelled to go back and finish it off, at least with one of the characters. Maybe I just need to get better at it

[bob]

I've played SSX 3 a couple of times since my last post, taking care of a few of the random challenges on Peak 1 and pressing forward with a couple of events on the recently unlocked Peak 3. I'm finding it very difficult to judge this game as I'm not entirely sure how much I'm enjoying it..

 

Despite the insanity of the tricks you can pull off in the game, I've always felt that performing the tricks felt unsatisfactory. Even controlling your snowboarder can be awkward at times, especially when travelling at pace

 

Races aren't particularly compelling, especially when you have to compete in the exact same event for 3 successive heats. I always hated that repetition

 

Having said all that, though, I'm still feeling compelled to go back and finish it off, at least with one of the characters. Maybe I just need to get better at it

SSX 3 was never going to be as good as Tricky. One of my favourite games ever.

[nekunando]

SSX 3 was never going to be as good as Tricky. One of my favourite games ever.

 

1080 > SSX : peace:

[bob]

Does 1080 have THIS?

[nekunando]

Does 1080 have THIS?

 

Thankfully not.. nor does it have DJ Atomika

[Hero-of-Time]

Yesterday there was a topic on Gaf about the best cutscenes in games. A lot of people posted stuff from Final Fantasy VII-X. This got me in the mood to play through one of them, especially as my recent games have been somewhat smaller titles.

 

I consulted my trusty Vita to see which one to play.

 

 

I'm not the biggest fan of IX, despite it having some amazing cutscenes, so I passed by that one. Both VII & X are getting released on the PS4 soon, so I would rather wait for those. That left me with my favourite Final Fantasy game to play....

 

 

Now, despite it being my fav, I have only ever finished it the once. I played it when it first came out ( think I was around 18 years old ) and got right to the end but couldn't beat the bosses. Back then I didn't realise that grinding didn't help at all and it was all about the junction system.

 

Fast forward a few years later and I played through it again, this time understanding the mechanics of the game. I played it from start to finish and loved every minute of it.

 

Anyway, about this play through. Firstly the game looks and plays amazing on the Vita. Being able to map the controls how I want is a blessing and the graphics look very crisp on the OLED screen.

 

The first cutscene you get to see if this.

 

Simply fantastic.

 

The Balamb Garden music that greets you when you first play is beautiful and just one of the many amazing tunes that you hear throughout the game.

 

	Audio

 

I spent a fair bit of time at the start just walking around the overworld with Quistis and drawing all the spells I could to the max. This set me in good stead when facing off against Ifrit.

 

After that I met up with Zell, who I love.

 

 

Dude is such a funny character. I remember when I played it back in the day I spent ages looking around clothes shops to find some 3/4 length denim jeans to sport a look like his.

 

With Zell in tow I then headed off to Dollet, which gives another amazing cutscene and piece of music.

 

 

	Audio

 

Whilst travelling to your destination you come across your next party member.

 

 

I was never a fan of here or any of the quirky characters in the FF games. She's up there with the likes of Rikku and Vanille for being annoyingly cheery. Saying that, she's probably less annoying due to the lack of voice acting.

 

Not long after that I came across my first real boss battle of the game. Time for some awesome boss battle music then.

 

	Audio

 

I grabbed Siren during this fight and then went on to beat the boss very easily. I did manage to grab a few new bits of magic off him as well ( think it was double ).

 

The next section was a pain in the butt. Getting chased by X-ATM092 is always a hassle. I didn't bother trying to defeat him and instead just pegged it whenever I could. Sadly, I missed the cutscene of Quistis kicking its butt with the turret as I accidentally ran into a building.

 

Back at the Garden I had to get changed for my graduation. The ballroom cutscene was amazing at the time of release and it still holds it's charm today.

 

 

One thing that always annoyed me about the lead up to that scene was the following picture. The jaggies were unreal!

 

Shame your legs aren't as pretty as me

 

After that I called it a day. Here's my play time for my first session on the game.

 

Not a bad going for one day. Here's my play time so far

 

I plan of playing the card game a bit today and hopefully getting some rare cards of various Garden students. I'll also do some more drawing to top up my magic and then tackle Diablos. Looking forward to playing some more of this during my lunch break and when I get home.

 

Edited January 28, 2015 by Hero-of-Time

[RedShell]

Finally finished Dark Souls II last night!

Was close to giving up on it several times, but after a bit of grinding/stat redistribution (and luck ) I was able to kill that damn dragon. :awesome:

The rest of the game was pretty easy, especially the final boss, which was a piece of piss in comparison to that thing.

 

Beat:

Resogun (PS4)

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

 

Completed:

-

 

Unfinished:

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

Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS) started in 2014

Driveclub (PS4)

InFAMOUS First Light (PS4+)

The Swapper (PS4+)

 

[Sheikah]

 

Now, despite it being my fav, I have only ever finished it the once. I played it when it first came out ( think I was around 18 years old ) and got right to the end but couldn't beat the bosses. Back then I didn't realise that grinding didn't help at all and it was all about the junction system.

 

Fast forward a few years later and I played through it again, this time understanding the mechanics of the game. I played it from start to finish and loved every minute of it.

 

Anyway, about this play through. Firstly the game looks and plays amazing on the Vita. Being able to map the controls how I want is a blessing and the graphics look very crisp on the OLED screen.

 

The first cutscene you get to see if this.

 

Simply fantastic.

 

The Balamb Garden music that greets you when you first play is beautiful and just one of the many amazing tunes that you hear throughout the game.

 

	Audio

 

I spent a fair bit of time at the start just walking around the overworld with Quistis and drawing all the spells I could to the max. This set me in good stead when facing off against Ifrit.

 

After that I met up with Zell, who I love.

 

 

Dude is such a funny character. I remember when I played it back in the day I spent ages looking around clothes shops to find some 3/4 length denim jeans to sport a look like his.

 

With Zell in tow I then headed off to Dollet, which gives another amazing cutscene and piece of music.

 

 

	Audio

 

Whilst travelling to your destination you come across your next party member.

 

 

I was never a fan of here or any of the quirky characters in the FF games. She's up there with the likes of Rikku and Vanille for being annoyingly cheery. Saying that, she's probably less annoying due to the lack of voice acting.

 

Not long after that I came across my first real boss battle of the game. Time for some awesome boss battle music then.

 

	Audio

 

I grabbed Siren during this fight and then went on to beat the boss very easily. I did manage to grab a few new bits of magic off him as well ( think it was double ).

 

The next section was a pain in the butt. Getting chased by X-ATM092 is always a hassle. I didn't bother trying to defeat him and instead just pegged it whenever I could. Sadly, I missed the cutscene of Quistis kicking its butt with the turret as I accidentally ran into a building.

 

Back at the Garden I had to get changed for my graduation. The ballroom cutscene was amazing at the time of release and it still holds it's charm today.

 

 

One thing that always annoyed me about the lead up to that scene was the following picture. The jaggies were unreal!

 

Shame your legs aren't as pretty as me

 

After that I called it a day. Here's my play time for my first session on the game.

 

Not a bad going for one day. Here's my play time so far

 

I plan of playing the card game a bit today and hopefully getting some rare cards of various Garden students. I'll also do some more drawing to top up my magic and then tackle Diablos. Looking forward to playing some more of this during my lunch break and when I get home.

 

Correct choice.

 

Best game of all time.

[Glen-i]

Correct choice.

 

Best game of all time.

 

Oooooh. Those are mighty big words.

 

The creepy thing is, I've started playing this as well. The only difference is I've never played it before.

I wouldn't say I'm enjoying it as much as Hero-Of-Time is. The junction system is cool, but drawing is a right pain. And it's not a good sign when I don't want to use summons because they're agonisingly slow and unskippable.

I also seem to be finding most of the characters very unlikable.

 

Squall's a jerk, I can't take Scyther seriously because... Well, I spelt it that way on purpose, I really want to punch Zell in the face, Rinoa's introduction was better on Theatrhythm (That's an incredibly dumb reason to dance with someone!) and the only thing I've learned about Selphie is she likes trains.

 

Quistis is bearable, but Laguna is the only character I actually like.

 

The music is brilliant (Theatrhythm taught me that) and the cutscenes are very impressive. But it's not looking good for 8.

[Sheikah]

I'm so glad I played this game before the cynicisms of adulthood set in.

[Hero-of-Time]

Correct choice.

 

Best game of all time.

 

For me, OOT has the top spot. Easily the best FF game though.

 

I'm so glad I played this game before the cynicisms of adulthood set in.

 

Indeed.

 

Squall is an amazing character with genuine growth, unlike a lot of other FF protagonists. The character really spoke to me while playing the game as a teenager.

 

I had a very productive lunch break. I managed to nab the rare Quistis card and MiniMog card from the Garden students. Took some doing though. I kept drawing matches and they would never use them. Luckily when they did use them I managed to secure a win and nab the card. Once you get a couple of the rare cards then it gets easier to win matches.

 

Looking forward to facing Diablos when I get in from work.

[nekunando]

All of this talk of Final Fantasy VIII is starting to inspire me

 

I've never been through one of the main games in the franchise, only ever experiencing the Crystal Chronicles games. I've only ever finished The Crystal Bearers on Wii, which actually wasn't bad, but is it time to give the only mainline game I own, Final Fantasy VII, a try..?

[Sheikah]

For me, OOT has the top spot. Easily the best FF game though.

 

 

 

Indeed.

 

Squall is an amazing character with genuine growth, unlike a lot of other FF protagonists. The character really spoke to me while playing the game as a teenager.

 

I had a very productive lunch break. I managed to nab the rare Quistis card and MiniMog card from the Garden students. Took some doing though. I kept drawing matches and they would never use them. Luckily when they did use them I managed to secure a win and nab the card. Once you get a couple of the rare cards then it gets easier to win matches.

 

Looking forward to facing Diablos when I get in from work.

 

Are you going to go all out and get the Lionheart on Disc 1?

[Hero-of-Time]

All of this talk of Final Fantasy VIII is starting to inspire me

 

I've never been through one of the main games in the franchise, only ever experiencing the Crystal Chronicles games. I've only ever finished The Crystal Bearers on Wii, which actually wasn't bad, but is it time to give the only mainline game I own, Final Fantasy VII, a try..?

 

I wouldn't bother. No offence but you seem to like smaller games. I honestly can't imagine you sticking 60+ hours into a game. You're not a fan of the genre either, are you?

 

Are you going to go all out and get the Lionheart on Disc 1?

 

Nah. I've always fancied doing that though. You would just wreck the game.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Hero-of-Time

[nekunando]

I wouldn't bother. No offence but you seem to like smaller games. I honestly can't imagine you sticking 60+ hours into a game. Your not a fan of the genre either, are you?

 

Hmm.. I haven't played that many in the genre, but the time investment may not be ideal

 

I was enjoying Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast before I moved house, which I was quite a bit of the way through, so may attempt to get back into that after a hiatus of about a year and a half. Where on earth does the time go..?

[Glen-i]

I'm so glad I played this game before the cynicisms of adulthood set in.

 

That's kinda harsh, I'm a really upbeat guy!

 

I'm not saying FF8 is outright bad, but I can tell it's not going to knock 6 out of the park.

In fact, I first played 6 when it was released on Wii VC. I think I was around 20 then.

 

Also, I've only just started! Give me time to play it a bit more before you dismiss me as a grumpy old man. Who knows? I may grow to like the characters.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Glen-i

[Hero-of-Time]

Cracked on with Final Fantasy VIII some more last night.

 

I started off playing cards for a bit in the Garden. I managed to nab quite a good collection and then headed outside and rubbed the magic lamp to fight Diablos.

 

I kicked Diablos' butt. He's such a pushover if you have Blind. Hit him with that and everything is gravy. He kept using Demi which won't kill you but lower your life enough to get your limit breaks. A few Renzokuken/Rough Divides later and he was mine.

 

 

After that I hopped on the train to Timber and became Laguna for a spell. I love how funny/goofy that guy is. When he gets his leg cramps it's hilarious. Squall's commentary during this whole ordeal is also a laugh.

 

Actually, I forgot how comical and lighthearted the whole game is at times. It's not just the main cast either, some of the NPCs and cutscenes with enemies are quite funny as well. The scene where everyone is critical of Rinoa's shoddy model was hilarious.

 

After meeting up with Rinoa ( who was actually hoping for Seifer...I see how if is ) I attacked the train and fought the boss. Dude didn't stand a chance as I junctioned my attacks to Fire and had Zell and Selphie cast Cure on him. He fell pretty quickly.

 

I arrived at Timber again, bought the latest issues of Pet Pals and then saved the game and called it a day.

 

My goal for today is to grab a bunch of magic from enemies around Timber, while i'm on my lunch break and then when I get home i'm gonna try and get to the end of the first disc.

[Murr]

Completed Thief last night. I enjoyed it to a certain point. The first few missions were pretty decent, The brothel one was pretty good and not just because of the boobs everywhere (but my PS4 screen capture button was spammed alot then )

 

There were some really good missions later on like the mansion break in for blue prints and breaking into the massive safe in the tower. But then I found it went downhill from there.

 

Wasn't particularly keen on fighting mutated freaky humans either, killed the games flow for me that.

 

The list now stands at:

 

Completed:

Assassins Creed Black Flag (PS4)

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4)

The Last of Us Remastered (PS4)

Thief (PS4)

 

Playing:

Knack (PS4) I started on easy, realized you don't get trophies for completing it on easy so will restart on medium.

 

But I'm thinking of taking a break from PS4, I've got Link Between Worlds on 3DS untouched, so thinking I'll make that the next game to complete.

[Jimbob]

Playing through Guacamelee, on the 2nd to last boss. And i'm getting quite annoyed by the boss's complete move spamming. Probably will give it a break before going back in with a fresh and clear head. Then will need to move onto something from Nintendo, as i've got a lot of games to clear on that side compared to that on the PlayStation side.

[nekunando]

I think I'm done with SSX 3 for now.. and maybe forever It's just not growing on me and having scores and combos wiped out by unclear out of bound areas or obtrusive scenery is making for a frustrating experience

[nekunando]

As a follow up to my previous post, I feel like January has somewhat fizzled out gaming wise after an immensely enjoyable start to the year

 

I obviously didn't expect it to be the case but my time with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow on Gamecube probably turned out to be my favourite gaming experience of the month Viewtiful Joe and Rogue Leader both played their role in January too but I haven't been taken in with anything since bringing Sam Fisher's mission to an end last week.

 

This evening saw me play through roughly half of The Last of Us: Left Behind, which is likely to see me into February tomorrow, and a quick blast of a couple of Wii VC titles, namely Mega Man X and Pilotwings. Can't seem to decide on a game to sink my teeth into at the moment, though

[Hero-of-Time]

As a follow up to my previous post, I feel like January has somewhat fizzled out gaming wise after an immensely enjoyable start to the year

 

I obviously didn't expect it to be the case but my time with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow on Gamecube probably turned out to be my favourite gaming experience of the month Viewtiful Joe and Rogue Leader both played their role in January too but I haven't been taken in with anything since bringing Sam Fisher's mission to an end last week.

 

This evening saw me play through roughly half of The Last of Us: Left Behind, which is likely to see me into February tomorrow, and a quick blast of a couple of Wii VC titles, namely Mega Man X and Pilotwings. Can't seem to decide on a game to sink my teeth into at the moment, though

 

I feel exactly the same.

 

I started off strong and finished 8 games in the month but now I feel completely burnt out.

 

I'm also having trouble settling on a game. I'm on disc 2 of Final Fantasy VIII but it's not grabbing me like it did when I was a teenager and the constant switching of parties is killing the game for me at the moment. I played a bit of Hyrule Warriors, just to try the DLC and I think im done with that game now. It's essentially turned into one MASSIVE grind that isn't fun. I played a bit of Far Cry 4 but quickly knocked that off.

 

I'm contemplating just cancelling my Monster Hunter preorder and taking a break from gaming for a few weeks. Maybe I just need to recharge my gaming batteries, I dunno. Saying that, I have had a desire to play through some Saturn games the past couple of days. No idea why though.

[nekunando]

I have had a desire to play through some Saturn games the past couple of days. No idea why though.

 

You should do just that

 

The games you mentioned seem to be the kind of long, time-consuming affairs that I've been keen to steer clear of in recent times. Monster Hunter would no doubt be another slog so it may be a good idea to relax with a few old favourites

 

As for me, SSX 3 has actually frustrated me a little more than it should. The games I've played this month have fallen into one of two categories, those worth keeping and those that need to be sold. SSX 3 seems to occupy a middle ground where I haven't really been enjoying it but it offers just enough that I don't feel justified in getting rid. It'll most likely sit incomplete on the shelf, mocking me..

[Hero-of-Time]

Played 5 hours of Final Fantasy VIII this morning. Feeling much better about it today. I guess I was just exhausted off the gym yesterday and the switching between games doesn't help thing either. Fell much more focused today.

 

Just finished fighting off Norg. Man, I hate that fight, always have. It's such a pain having to keep changing the orb colours and then try and attack him at the same time. Still, managed to get through it alright.

 

I feel I need to go magic hunting again. It's been a while since I stocked up and imagine there are now more powerful spells to be had now that i'm in Fishermans Horizon. I've had the Enc-None ability equipped so I have been keeping my level low but my magic needs a boost. Saying that, I could just hit the card game hard and refine some powerful magic that way.

 

Yesterday I started my session at Winhill, which has an awesome theme.

 

	Audio

 

So charming and relaxing.