Your 2016 Gaming Diary

Hero-of-Time · January 25, 2016

Started and finished Tales from the Borderlands (PS4) over the weekend. Absolutely loved it to bits.

I'm always a little wary when games get crazy amount of praise. I get a little worried that a game may get hyped up too much and when I do play it the game doesn't meet my expectations. In the case of this game, it actually went the other way, with my expectations being surpassed.

Out of all the Telltale games that have been released, I've only played the first season of The Walking Dead. That game had me hooked, with its gripping storyline, dark setting and emotional story. Tales from the Borderlands had me gripped in the same way but the storyline was more lighthearted. I honestly lost count of the times this game made me laugh out loud. The writing and characters are top notch and I was very eager to see how things played out.

It was great seeing the world of Pandora again. It's been a long time since I played the first two games but seeing a few of the characters in this game was a welcome surprise. By no mean do you need to play the first two games to understand whats going on here. It's a separate story but gives nods to those who have played the original games.

Special mention has to go to the opening scenes/music of each episode. I felt like I was watching an anime, in the sense that I was looking forward to seeing what the new opening would be. I freaking LOVE the song from the start of episode 4 and really enjoyed the one from episode 2.


	Audio


	Audio

This is EASILY the best game i've played so far this year. Granted, it's still early but I honestly love the game to bits. I highly recommend people with a PS4 and those who enjoyed The Walking Dead to buy this game. I'm not sure if it's still on sale ( season pass was just over £6.00 ) but knowing what I do now I would have happily paid top dollar for it.

Outstanding game. :bowdown: :heart:

I was also in the mood to play another platformer and decided to play Super Mario 3D Land (3DS). I started it on Saturday afternoon and ended up nabbing all the special coins, getting all the gold flags and finishing the first 8 worlds and all the special levels as well. I'm not counting complete yet as i'm gonna go through it with Luigi next.

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Honestly, I remember this being a longer and more challenging. Dunno whether it's because i've played through it before or whether my platforming skills are better but I went through the game with little to no effort. Still, a great little game and one that I was happy to play through again.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Hero-of-Time

dazzybee · January 25, 2016

I think I'm the only person in the world that thinks FFVII is turd.

...only because I hate turn-based games though. I appreciate it's a brilliant game, but it's not for me.

No you're not. I thought it was when it first came out and everyone creamed about it and I have no interest in replaying it again. In fact, it put me off RPG's completely and I've barely played any since!

drahkon · January 25, 2016

@Hero\-of\-Time Glad you enjoyed Tales from the Borderlands. I knew you'd like it : peace:

So, what's next for you? Still burnt out on gaming?

Will casually collect some more hidden packages in GTA: Vice City this evening while listening to old GameGrumps episodes

As I mentioned in the dedicated thread, I am soooo tempted to buy The Witness...

Switiching between and old action-classic and a relaxing puzzle game might be a good idea.

**Retro_Link** · January 25, 2016

Another game finished! I was going play Grim Fandango Remastered but realised that I hadn't downloaded it to my console yet. I thought I'd play a little something in between whilst that was downloading, so I had a browse before deciding on playing...The Unfinished Swan.

I know nothing about this game. @Eenuh has played this, but I hadn't got around to it yet. I think @Retro_Link was telling us to play it as he's a fan?

Anyway, what can I say? The game is absolutely wonderful. Beautiful music. Gorgeous, yet minimalistic visuals and a pretty good story behind it, too. A perfect Sunday afternoon game, to be honest.

Highly recommended. Although, I imagine the majority of people have played this by now. Definitely enjoyed my time with this game. It's been a pretty cool start to 2016!

Games of 2016

Flower - Finished

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Finished

The Unfinished Swan - Finished

Yep

The Unfinished Swan is fantastic. Also if you want to go for trophies there are a few tricky little collectables to find in there scattered about.

I'll have to replay it on PS4 sometime for sure.

Next time you find yourself between games @Fierce_LiNk... it's Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons time;)

Hero-of-Time · January 25, 2016

@Hero\-of\-Time Glad you enjoyed Tales from the Borderlands. I knew you'd like it : peace:

So, what's next for you? Still burnt out on gaming?

Honestly loved it to bits. I've been at work just listening to the song from the start of episode 4 constantly.

I'm clearly not as burnt out as I make out to be, as i'm close to 10 finished games for the month.

Not sure what's next. I may start Grim Fandango. I'm still plugging away at Super Mario 3D Land with Luigi, so there's that to do. I need to get that finished off before Final Fantasy Explorers arrives this week.

I started Steins Gate on the Vita the other week and been playing that on and off, as well.

Kav · January 25, 2016

...i'm close to 10 finished games for the month.

Haha! I've finished 1 game since this time last year; Splatoon.

Although I'd been fed up with gaming and Splatoon didn't do anything to help invigorate me.

I've built up a back-log though that's for sure! Haha

nekunando · January 25, 2016

Like I suggested previously, I gave MadWorld one final chance. Unfortunately, I died again after sinking 25 more minutes into the mindless, unsatisfying violence so I believe that I'm done with it :nono:

**lostmario** · January 25, 2016

, as i'm close to 10 finished games for the month.

You are a beast, :bowdown:

I'm at 5 completed this month after finishing this yesterday morning.

Nothing like a bit of retro gaming on a sunday morning.

That character select screen, good times.

First time I'd played the megadrive turtles game, not as great as Turtles in Time on the SNES but still a really good game.

Notable differences:

Sound effects are poorer as expected

No throwing enemies into the screen

Boss battles different and for me, better.

The levels seemed a lot longer.

Took me just over an hour to finish it using one continue. Leatherhead was surprisingly the hardest boss for me, I couldn't get used to his attack pattern until I had wasted 2 lives. Krang and Super Shredder were so easy to beat. Shredder doesn't do anything...

What is going with Raphael in the end game pose???

Currently playing Mad Max, just put over 15 hours into it and only 100% completed 2 regions, there just so much to do. Going to continue taking my time with it as I'm really enjoying playing it and don't really want it to end anytime soon.

**Fierce_LiNk** · January 25, 2016

Yep The Unfinished Swan is fantastic. Also if you want to go for trophies there are a few tricky little collectables to find in there scattered about.

I'll have to replay it on PS4 sometime for sure.

Next time you find yourself between games @Fierce_LiNk... it's Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons time;)

I'm not sure if I'll go back into it, at least not straight away. I've started Grim Fandango and so will probably persevere with that now.

I remember you talking about Brothers. I'll look into it. I wonder if you'd like Hohokum. I love it. Thought it was extremely quirky.

Glen-i · January 25, 2016

A few short write-ups on little games I finished recently.

First up is Game & Watch Gallery 2 on 3DS VC.

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For those of you not in the know, this is a collection of Game & Watch games faithfully recreated (Classic Mode), along with remade versions of each game featuring Mario characters and tweaked mechanics and rules (Modern Mode).

The 5 games are Parachute, Helmet, Chef, Vermin and Donkey Kong.

Being Game & Watch games, they are all about chasing those high scores. With every 200 points you get, you're rewarded with a star. Collecting lots of stars unlocks extra features such as a museum, showing off other G&W titles, a sound test and even another playable G&W game, Ball, which isn't that great... But still!

The games are solid if you're the kind of guy who likes those games that only end when you inevitably lose and the stars are a great incentive to improve your scores.

But there's one thing that unfortunately makes this game a little redundant now.

And that's the WiiU VC version of Game & Watch Gallery Advance, which came out recently.

Not only does it have more than triple the amount of games 2 has, but it also pilfered the two best games 2 had to offer, Donkey Kong and Chef.

(It also nicked Parachute, but just the Classic version)

So if you have a WiiU, I can't honestly recommend getting this game. Not because it's bad, it does what it sets out to do remarkably well, but there's very little incentive to go for it, what with half it's games being playable on the WiiU.

Anyway! Next up is...

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That's dangerously close to something I won't mention...

It's Radiohammer! It came out last Thursday on the 3DS.

It's a Rhythm game that costs less than 4 quid!

To be honest, I was a little bit skeptical with that price but I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised with how much this game had to offer.

You play as a bunch of people who work for Radio Hammer, a pirate radio station all about helping to protect the innocent while literally hammering out beats.

Whether it be perverts, aliens, zombies or even the dreaded line cutters, they have to dish out justice live on air and not be a complete embarrassment to music.

The gameplay is simple enough, enemies run towards you and you have to time your button presses to the beat to whack them away with your rhythm hammer.

There are two lanes they can attack from and you have to press the right button for either the top lane (Up, Right, A or X) or the bottom one (Down or B).

Miss a beat, and you lose health, lose all your health and it's Game Over.

It's easy to learn but the difficulty curve is just right, with slow easy-to grasp songs right at the start, building up to pretty tough, fast songs at the end.

Of course there's a few other things that spice up the gameplay, now and again, presents from your fans will appear to the left of your DJ and if you press Left or Y before it disappears, you can get a power-up. But careful now, some presents are in wack green boxes, and these are actually traps, which cause a negative effect.

It's completely up to you whether you go for them, because there's no penalty for ignoring them, but to get the best score you're gonna have to really pay attention and only get the good pressies!

Do well enough and you'll also build up a fever meter.

Fill it up, and for a short amount of time all the notes you hit will be marked as a "Perfect" no matter how sloppy your timing.

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It also gives you funky backgrounds.

There are over 40 songs, despite being about a minute long makes this 4 quid package pretty good value.

There's also an extra mode (Fittingly called "Another Mode) which gets rid of the 2-lane action but ups the speed at which enemies attack you and adds audio cues, making it feel more like the Rhythm Paradise series in some ways. It's a nice way of mixing things up.

Not to mention a bunch of achievements for you to get.

The only downsides are that while the songs are catchy and work well for a rhythm game, they're not particularly memorable, but it's not a big deal. They do the job.

There's also no 3D effect at all. I suppose this was done to maintain framerate, but it's still a little bit disappointing.

If you like Rhythm games, I do recommend Radiohammer. It's great for just booting it up, playing a few songs and shutting it down again. You'll finish the main story mode in about an hour, but the optional challenges will keep you going for a while!

And with that...

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - SNES

Shovel Knight - 3DS (Custom Knight amiibo playthrough)

Game & Watch Gallery 2 - GB

Radiohammer - 3DS

Jimbob · January 25, 2016

Witcher 3 is done. What a fantastic game indeed.

bob · January 25, 2016

I was going to play some more Just Cause 3 tonight, but The Dark Knight is on ITV2 and that film has to be watched. No matter what.

Ganepark32 · January 26, 2016

Finally managed to finish up Fallout 4 yesterday afternoon. Much like Just Cause 3 before it, this started to wear a bit thin the more I played and after 50+ hours, I'm now happy that I've finished it up as I don't think I could muster heading back to the Commonwealth for more, at least for the foreseeable future.

It started out well and I was really enjoying wandering the Commonwealth to see what was there, what was happening and such and loved the random events you'd come across (such as coming across a group of raiders escorting someone from Vault 81 presumably back to their camp and the ensuing fleeing of said person back to their vault once I'd killed all of the raiders). I didn't really get the complaints that the location was smaller than previous entries as there is so much to see and do and on that front, it was great.

However, the actual role playing element and the story weren't really up to scratch. I'm not going to compare it to other wRPGs but I felt that it lacked in the narrative department, not really giving much reason to care for the people of the Commonwealth above or below ground, and the story, at least with the way I took it, didn't leave much of a mark on me.

It was a good game, don't get me wrong, otherwise I wouldn't have put 50 odd hours into it but the quality of what was there, I thought, quickly dwindled to things that you'd already done before just with a different character asking you to do it and little to no reward.

After that was done, I took a leaf out of Flinky's book and bought Flower on the PS4 as it was on sale and I couldn't say no to it at that price. Plus, I'd always wanted to play it. And must say, I wish I'd played it a lot sooner.

It was a beautiful little game that while short, I found very easy to just lose myself in and let myself relax with. Found myself wondering where the time had gone while playing it last night as 2 hours had passed by like nothing. The bright colours and the beautiful soundtrack really helped and complimented the experience and the whole concept of petals floating on the wind was simple but very enjoyable. Adding in the elements of being able to paint the grass or light it up was also nicely done.

The motion controls worked a lot better here than they did in their other game, flOw. Picked them up easily here and I think it's one of the few instances where I didn't feel that it was unnecessary. Sure, they could've done without the motion controls but it gave it an air of floaty-ness and impreciseness that I thought befitted the whole concept of petals floating on the winds.

It's something that now proudly sits alongside the likes of Hohokum as something I'll go back to now and again just to relax and chillout as it manages it so well.

Also managed to unlock all songs on Amplitude, finish the campaign on Intermediate, finish all songs with 3 bars, and have made good progress in getting up to speed on Advanced. So I'd consider it a harder finish now than my previous entry :grin:

Completed

Axiom Verge (Started Dec. 2015)

Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition

Resogun* (Rookie complete, 3 difficulty settings to go)

Super Exploding Zoo

Among The Sleep

Amplitude

Just Cause 3 (Started Dec. 2015)

Fallout 4 (Started Nov. 2015)

Flower

I've got A Boy and His Blob on the go, Volume to go back to and finish up and have just installed Tomb Raider on my PS4 as I've had it sitting for awhile but I've got a hankering to play through it all again as it's been long enough since I last did it on the 360. Also picking up The Witness and have plenty more games that need playing through alongside these (SOMA, God of War 3 Remastered, Uncharted 2 & 3 Remastered, Dishonored, Mass Effect Trilogy, Beyond Good and Evil HD, Mad Max, Divinity Original Sin, etc.) so more than enough to keep me occupied for the next couple of months.

Blade · January 26, 2016

I finished Uncharted: Drake's Fortune last night. Really enjoyed it! See my thoughts in the Unchartered Collection thread.

Onto the next one!

Hero-of-Time · January 27, 2016

Blitzed the Luigi run on Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) and the game is now done.

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Not sure if i'll bother starting anything new yet as Final Fantasy Explorers is out this week and I want to play that.

@drahkon you gave up on Vice City? I see you started Dust yesterday. It's a brilliant game. You're in for a treat.

drahkon · January 27, 2016

@drahkon you gave up on Vice City? I see you started Dust yesterday. It's a brilliant game. You're in for a treat.

Heh, funny story. My girlfriend browsed through my PS4 library and asked: "What's Dust: An Elysian Tale?"

My response: "No idea, go ahead and play."

I've had it since it was free on PS+ but never played it. The lady didn't really like it, but I did :laughing: Much more than collecting hidden packages in Vice City :p

So the latter is on hold while I tackle Dust.

I will play Vice City and I will finish of that stupid trophy which requires me to collect 60 more packages...but I won't rush it. As soon as that trophy is mine I'll focus on Vice City and probably won't start anything new expect Crypt of the Necrodancer next week.

AHHHH CAN'T WAIT.

drahkon · January 28, 2016

Made progress with that trophy in GTA: Vice City. Collected 80 packages and now the rubberband-grind is continuing. Should be done in 1-2 hours. : peace: After that I'll collect the remaining packages and then it's time to do the story

Edit: Aaaaand I got it. Now I can enjoy the game

Made some progress with Rogue Legacy that I started again at work today while waiting for some enzymes to finish their duty :laughing:

Man, this one trophy (beat the game with 15 deaths or less without using the architect) is one of the most difficult - if not the most difficult - trophies I've ever tried to get...

I beat 3 bosses and have only died 6 times. One more boss to unlock the final battle...

Edit: Beat the 4th boss. Final boss unlocked. Need to die one or two more times to upgrade, but should be ready to finish it off after that. : peace:

Another Edit: GOT IT. : peace:

Haven't played Dust: An Elysian Tale today, yet. Might play this later for an hour or so

Currently Playing

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

Completed

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Stopped playing

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Edited January 28, 2016 by drahkon

Hero-of-Time · January 29, 2016

Finished and platinumed Steins Gate (Vita) last night. This was my first time playing a visual novel game and I wasn't a fan. Some of the story aspects were decent but it just dragged on for far too long. I also didn't care for the the pervy scenes with girls that looked like kids. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with Japan when it comes to stuff like this? That country is seriously messed up.

I also started Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS). I only played an hour or so yesterday, just to get a feel for the game and its mechanics. It feels really basic compared to Monster Hunter. I'll put some decent time into it over the weekend.

drahkon · January 29, 2016

Finished and platinumed Steins Gate (Vita) last night. This was my first time playing a visual novel game and I wasn't a fan.

You should give 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (and after that Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward).

Exceptional characters and story with some great puzzles (seriously...the puzzles are amazing).

I didn't like the idea of visual novels at first but those two games convinced me that they can be good.

Made progress with GTA: Vice City last night. Finished some story missions.

Oh the nostalgia is sooo real This game blew me away 14 years ago. An open world to wreck havoc in? The future is now. :laughing:

I wish Rockstar would develop singleplayer content for GTA V...but they are all "GTA Online is where it's at" now

The Division Beta will start in a couple of hours. Will give this a go then.

Hero-of-Time · January 29, 2016

You should give 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (and after that Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward).
Exceptional characters and story with some great puzzles (seriously...the puzzles are amazing).

I didn't like the idea of visual novels at first but those two games convinced me that they can be good.

I don't think the genre is for me. I would rather just read a book.

drahkon · January 29, 2016

I don't think the genre is for me. I would rather just read a book.

Shame, you're missing out on one of the greatest stories in gaming history

Glen-i · January 29, 2016

I don't think the genre is for me. I would rather just read a book.

I have to agree with Drahkon. 999 is easily one of the best stories I've seen in a game.

Like, seriously jaw-dropping good.

nekunando · January 29, 2016

I don't think the genre is for me..

Speaking of which, I cleared Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance earlier this evening and I don't have any particularly strong feelings towards it. Like Bayonetta 2 and, to an extent, Onimusha 2 earlier this month, my experience was just OK with my time spent mostly mashing the attack buttons.

With my negative feelings towards MadWorld thrown into the mix, it's becoming pretty apparent that games featuring some sort of melee combat just isn't really for me :hmm: While I may have loved No More Heroes on Wii and Streets of Rage 2 holds some great memories, a lack of interest in trying to get into Devil May Cry 2 or God of War in my collection speaks volumes about the level of appeal, in general, for these types of games.

I'm sure there have been, and will continue to be, exceptions but this January has helped to reinforce that the breadth of games which appeal to me is, and has been, shrinking!

drahkon · January 31, 2016

Finished and platinumed (I love how this has become a verb to a lot of people ) Dust: An Elysian Tale. @Hero\-of\-Time, you were right, it's a brilliant game. Cool gameplay, great presentation, good story, lovely art-style. Such a joy to play and complete this gem : peace:

I've started The Wolf Among Us on PS4 today. Did the first chapter and I'm hooked. I intend to complete this by the end of the week.

I'm slowly coming to the realisation that GTA: Vice City may be there for a long time. After the initial nostalgia has worn off I can only manage to play this for 1 hour straight, max. Not to say I don't enjoy it or it's a bad game, it's just not it right now.

I've ordered Divinity: Original Sin on PS4 from Amazon.de. Cost me 29.99€ (it's 33.97€ now, for some odd reason). Had this on my radar for a long time and for this price...I just had to go for it.

And This War of Mine: The Little Ones (also for PS4) is 19.99€ on Amazon.de (not sure why, though...it's 29.99€ everywhere else). Not in stock, but I've ordered it anyway. Should be here next month. These two and Crypt of The Necrodancer on Tuesday will quite possibly be my only gaming purchases until Uncharted 4. :yay: Unless The Binding of Isaac: Afterbith gets a PS4 release soon...

Currently Playing

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

The Wolf Among Us (PS4)

Completed

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

Stopped playing

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Jimbob · January 31, 2016

Finished Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, thus continuing my "complete 2 games a month" trend.

Interesting game, wasn't a fan of the Guardians or the final boss too much. Thought the game took the satisfaction of killing Harry away with his suicide. Puzzles were ok, combat is as it was. Story was interesting to say the least

Which means, only have Uncharted 3 to play and i'm set for the 4th.

Games Completed 2016

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

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