Hero-of-Time Posted September 2, 2019 Posted September 2, 2019 With another month over, here are the games I played. Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) I Am Setsuna (PS4) Wario Land: Shake Dimension (Wii/WiiU) Control (PS4) Tales of Beseria (PS4) Gears of War Ultimate (Xbox One) Gears of War 2 (Xbox One) Super Lucky’s Tale (Xbox One) It was a bit of a slow month but that was to be expected given that I played 3 long JRPGs. I'll speak about a few of the games I played. As for the others, I spoke about them in other threads on the forum. I am Setsuna was a game that I started back in 2017, got a couple of trophies and but then dropped it pretty quickly after that. I found the setting to be bland and the story to be very generic. I was looking for a JRPG to play through and decided to give the game another chance so I started the game again. I'm happy that I did because I ended up really enjoying the game. Yeah, the story is a rip off of Final Fantasy X, and the snow setting does get a little tiresome, but the battle system is really something special. It's one of those systems where you can pretty much glide through the game without putting much thought into it but when you do learn how it works then you can decimate anything in your path. Going for the platinum, which I did nab, meant learning these systems and in doing so I had so much fun coming up with new attacks and combos. It's just a shame the snow setting is overused in the game because when you do get a glimpse of something new, which only happens right at the end, the game world can look beautiful. After playing through 2 JRPGs in a row I needed a pallet cleanser. I always find a 2D platformer is a good genre for this so I had a look on the shelves and picked out Wario Land: The Shake Dimension. Spoiler Seeing as this was completely snubbed in the N-E Wii line up ( shame on you ) and the fact that I haven’t played through this game since it launched back in 2008, I figured now was a good time to revisit it. Man, this game still holds up. The animations are gorgeous, the fantastic challenge of completing each of the levels tasks and the fast paced, speed running at the end of each of the levels, all made for a stupidly enjoyable experience. I honestly forgot how much I loved the game and this was a pleasant reminder. I feel that this game got pretty hard done by when it was first released. People were spouting the narrative that the Wii already had too many 2D games platformers ( you can NEVER have enough good 2D platformers ) and because it didn’t play like a traditional platforming game, many just disregarded it. To this day it still annoys me that something like New Super Mario Bros. Wii, a game that’s good in its own right but is pretty budget looking a quite safe, was praised left and right and sold by the bucket load and yet this went on to only be enjoyed by those who gave it a chance. Tales of Beseria was another JRPG that I started back in 2017, got a couple of trophies and then called it quits for some strange reason. I decided to start the game again and get it off my backlog and boy am I happy that I did this. This has easily became my favourite ever Tales of game and the party that you gather on your adventures has to be one of the best in any JRPG that I have played. Playing as the anti-heroes is such a breath of fresh air and despite most of them being kinda the bad guys, each of them are very lovable. I honestly loved them all to bits and even side characters like Zaveid were so well wrote that they could have easily fit into the main cast. Every character had a fantastic story arc and none of them were really left on the sidelines. Violet's thirst for revenge, Laphi/Phi trying to find himself, Rokurou's obsession to defeat his brother, Eizen's search for Aifread, Eleanor trying to cope with what side she is really on and Magilou's relationship with the Abbey were all so well done. I'm actually still playing the game. I finished the main story after 50 hours of play time but i'm currently on close to 70 hours as i'm trying to mop up all of the trophies, which will take quite a while to pull off. I've done all the side quests so now it's just a question of doing things like grinding to level 200, finding chests to unlock, getting the shop levels to their highest. Basically all of the grindy ones i've left until the end so that I can just pick away at them in between other games. I did already nab the only missable trophy so that will at least save another play through. Oh and the opening animation was something I watch EVERY time I fire the game up. Tales of Abyss finally got dethroned as having my favourite Tales opening. Easily one of my favourite games I have played this year. In the run up to the release of Gears 5 i've been playing through the other Gears of War games I started off with Gears of War Ultimate and then pretty much went straight to Gears of War 2. It's crazy the jump in quality that happens between first and second games. The second game adds more guns, more enemies, better set pieces and fleshes the story out more. Playing them back to back you can see that the first game was very experimental and Epic were just finding their feet. It was fun playing through the second game again. I don't think i've played through that since the run up to Gears of War 3 back in 2011. 2 2
drahkon Posted September 2, 2019 Posted September 2, 2019 9 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Switch) I Am Setsuna (PS4) Wario Land: Shake Dimension (Wii/WiiU) Control (PS4) Tales of Beseria (PS4) Gears of War Ultimate (Xbox One) Gears of War 2 (Xbox One) Super Lucky’s Tale (Xbox One) It was a bit of a slow month Quote IT WAS A BIT OF A SLOW MONTH Quote IT WAS A BIT OF A SLOW MONTH Quote IT WAS A BIT OF A SLOW MONTH 1 5
drahkon Posted September 4, 2019 Posted September 4, 2019 (edited) My Slay the Spire journey continues. Unlocked everything with the second character and I've started playing with the third. Well...this one is a completely different affair. He (or rather it) has a new mechanic to play around with and it's glorious. Still haven't gotten the hang of it, though. In other news, I've finally started with Matterfall, Housemarque's final arcade-shooter (). It seems to be a very short affair if you only go for one playthrough as it only has 9 levels and 3 bosses spread over 3 worlds. I've beaten the first world. The game immediately bombards you with, I assume, every mechanic/move there is and it's overwhelming. It hasn't entirely clicked, yet, but I've gotten better over time. Seems to be fun, but definitely not Housemarque's best. Considering its probable short length, I'm happy to have only paid 6€. If it was 6 bucks well spent...we'll see. Diablo 3 is done for now. I've reached level 70 with two characters and one of them is equipped insanely good. I'll leave it at that. Maybe I'll come back next season. Great game, glad I've spent aprox. 200h with it on PS4 (I played already it when it was released on console) Edited September 5, 2019 by drahkon 1
drahkon Posted September 6, 2019 Posted September 6, 2019 On 9/4/2019 at 8:40 PM, drahkon said: Seems to be fun, but definitely not Housemarque's best. Now that I'm done with the game, I can say that this is easily the most apt description I can give. Matterfall is solid, but nothing more. Maybe if I took the time to master it, I'd be able to rank it higher, but I just don't want to spend my gaming time with mastering an arcade shooter these days. The game had its moments, though. Occasionally I moved with incredible precision and everything just...worked out perfectly. Very fun. Here's something I thought I'd never say: I started playing a mobile game today. On my new smartphone. Well...at least, it's not one of those "free-to-play, spend 800 bucks on in game currency" affairs. It is, however, a free game. DATA WINGS. Here's how it plays: Spoiler It's a nice, relaxing game with a pretty cool narrative, so far. I'm actually very intrigued by it. I've also bought The Room 3 and The Room Old Sins with money I earned via Google Surveys. I've played the first two installments on a friend's phone quite some time ago. I instantly fell in love with the puzzles and mystery. Looking at my backlog app I'm quite happy with the year, so far. 18 games completed. I've only put 3 games that I started this year on hold, i.e. in the "backlog" section of the app (Dead Cells, EVERSPACE, Wipeout Omega Collection). Not sure if I'll finish them this year, but we'll see. In the "playing" section there's now DATA WINGS and Monster Hunter World. Slay the Spire I'll keep playing, but I've also finished it, kind of... 1
drahkon Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Slay the Spire's third character...good lord. Spoiler The Defect It starts with 3 "orb slots" that you can fill with...orbs. These have a passive ability which activate at the end of your turn, and an ability which you can evoke (either via a special card, or by "pushing" the orb out of the three...if all of your slots are full and you channel another orb, the first orb is evoked) There are four types: Lighting - passive: deal 3 damage to a random enemy; evoke: deal 8 damage to a random enemy Ice - passive: gain 2 block; evoke: gain 5 block dark - passive: increases the dark orb's power by 6; evoke: deal damage to a random enemy plasma - passive: gain 1 energy (what you need to play cards); evoke: gain 2 energy You can also deal direct damage or gain block directly via other cards, of course. What makes The Defect so difficult in my opinion: Its inability to deal lots of burst damage. You need to ensure that you don't take damage most of the time instead of dealing damage yourself every turn. It's something that hasn't clicked with me, yet. I did, however, reach a final boss, just now but my deck wasn't particularly suited for that fight. Definitely a GOTY contender for me. In other news: Reached a new area in Monster Hunter World. Think I'll go and farm some materials to craft better armor
drahkon Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 Quadruple post? Yes, yes it is. You guessed it...it's about Slay the Spire. I did it Beat the game with the third character. Had an amazing deck which essentially let me have enough block to sustain any hit from anyone if battles lasted at least 2-3, which they always do Now to unlock something that I have no idea how to unlock...I assume this will take me at least another 27 hours of play time. And once I've unlocked and beaten this, whatever it is, it's time to do "ascensions". Each ascension changes one thing about a run (e.g. normal enemies are more deadly). Oh boy...getting the Platinum will be tough
Sméagol Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) 17 minutes ago, drahkon said: Quadruple post? Yes, yes it is. You guessed it...it's about Slay the Spire. I did it Beat the game with the third character. Had an amazing deck which essentially let me have enough block to sustain any hit from anyone if battles lasted at least 2-3, which they always do Now to unlock something that I have no idea how to unlock...I assume this will take me at least another 27 hours of play time. And once I've unlocked and beaten this, whatever it is, it's time to do "ascensions". Each ascension changes one thing about a run (e.g. normal enemies are more deadly). Oh boy...getting the Platinum will be tough I'm not going to bother with ascensions (much). I'll try to get the "normal ending" at one point, but for now I had my fun with it. I forgot what my (succesful) decks were (though obviously I can simply check). I found the robot guy to be the hardest to get to grips with. Tried several things, but couldn't get it to work. I think in the end I suddenly bashed everyone with a build that gave me ridiculous amount of energy, using those plasma orbs. My turns lasted for a while near the end. Edited September 9, 2019 by Sméagol 1
Jonnas Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) Holy cow, it's been a busy two months! It certainly doesn't help that I had a bit of a FE Heroes relapse (they added a Summer Lyn and Gala Suit Eliwood, what was I supposed to do!?), but still, very little time to dedicate to gaming. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate World of Light Despite me dedicating so much time to Smash bros. this year, I hadn't actually beat the WoL. But due to my hectic schedule, a bit of this every night was the only thing I had any mental energy I was willing to dedicate to. Turned out to be a lot of fun. Tried out different spirit setups, got to see several cool spirit fights, loved the throwbacks to different games I kept seeing, and I liked how the different themes come together by the end. Plus, I unlocked that Duck Hunt achievement, so I'm pretty happy with myself. Only thing missing is to complete the skill tree, which is a total slog. Might eventually play New Game+ for that, maybe not. Oh, and I used Hero a lot in this mode. Which brings us to... Dragon Quest III I mean, I've been posting a log of sorts in this thread. You can check my thoughts and impressions there. There are actually two post-game dungeons: a SNES one, which I will do, and a GBC exclusive one, which I'll skip because it depends on a useless, grindy GBC mechanic that I've been ignoring. The basic gist of it is that it's a highly enjoyable RPG, even to this day. Sure, the novelty of it has worn off, and its look isn't exactly groundbreaking anymore, but good design lasts forever. This has been a very illuminating experience for me regarding the history of JRPGs, and if you ever manage to get your hands on the original trilogy (coming to the Switch in Asia), I recommend giving them a whirl. My 2019 log (Hide contents) Played/Beat/Completed: -Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (1994) Completed (January 30th) -Dr.Mario (1990) Completed, I guess (March 18th) -Furi (2016) Beat (May 1st) -Noitu Love 2: Devolution (2008) Beat (May 9th) -Fairune (2014) Completed (May 12th) -Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (2003) Julius Mode (May 18th) -Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2005) Beat (May 31st) -Chase: Cold Case Investigations ~Distant Memories~ (2016) Completed (June 6th) -Adventures of Lolo (1989) Completed (June 8th) -Severed (2016) Completed (June 24th) -Crypt of the Necrodancer (2015) Beat (June 27th) -One Night Stand (2016) Completed (June 28th) -Fire Emblem: Shadows of Valentia - Rise of the Deliverance (2017) Completed (June 29th) -Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: World of Light (2018) Beat (August 20th) -Dragon Quest III (1988) Beat (September 9th) Currently Playing: Will always be Playing: -Super Smash Bros. Ultimate -Snipperclips Dropped/Hiatus -Tetris 99 (2019) Never won -Super Mario Bros. DX (1999) Bad port -Fire Emblem Awakening (2012) Hiatus -Fire Emblem Heroes (2017) Need a heavy break Edited September 10, 2019 by Jonnas 1 2
Sméagol Posted September 9, 2019 Posted September 9, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, drahkon said: I did it Beat the game with the third character. Had an amazing deck which essentially let me have enough block to sustain any hit from anyone if battles lasted at least 2-3, which they always do Had a quick look.. In case you're interested: I did get lucky though. I find robot dude's starting artifact not that useful compared to the other 2.. So it's the only one I tend to exchange for a boss relic when I get the opportunity at the start.. This time that got me a Black Star right from the beginning, that's insane. Edit: I see they're working on a 4th character. Edited September 10, 2019 by Sméagol 1
drahkon Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, Sméagol said: Quite the strong deck. Charge Battery is amazing. So is Echo Form, if you can make it work. Interesting decision to replace the starting relic with a random boss relic. Worked out great for you, though. Black Star right at the start is insane 9 hours ago, Sméagol said: Edit: I see they're working on a 4th character. They sure are. Can't wait I've been following the reddit to see how people get along with her. Edited September 10, 2019 by drahkon 1
Sméagol Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 6 hours ago, drahkon said: Quite the strong deck. Charge Battery is amazing. So is Echo Form, if you can make it work. Interesting decision to replace the starting relic with a random boss relic. Worked out great for you, though. Black Star right at the start is insane They sure are. Can't wait I've been following the reddit to see how people get along with her. Looking forward to that update then. Together with @GenericAperson posts about cardgames, I'm getting that itch again. @GenericAperson, you should look into this game if you haven't already.. Just a one-time purchase, and single player experience, but plenty of deckbuilding. 1
drahkon Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 (edited) Spoiler I've reached what I assume is the final act. It has one bonfire, a shop, an elite fight and then the boss, which is the heart. Well...let's see how it'll turn out eventually. I've decided to take a break and get on with the run later tonight or tomorrow. Edit: It went really well... I died...didn't get close to the end But hey, I unlocked everything with the third character. Which means: It's back to the Ironclad and truly finish the game with him. Edit: Reached... Spoiler ...the Corrupt Heart, i.e. the ultimate boss in the game...and...it's insanely difficult? Checked the web and it is supposed to be an optional boss, i.e. one that you should only fight if your deck can handle it. Alright. Will keep that in mind. For now I think I'm just going to play some more normal runs without focusing on the heart and instead just learn the game/cards/relics/synergies/enemies/etc. Edited September 10, 2019 by drahkon
Aperson Posted September 11, 2019 Author Posted September 11, 2019 Definitely interested in getting Slay the Spire sometime. Only problem is that I still need to finish Mario Maker 2's Story Mode... But in my current mood it seems like a game that would be right up my alley. Meanwhile, on Magic Arena (PC) I've been testing a new decklist that would be in line with my real life deck except with a few changes based on intended purchases. These came after playing a few games against friends and the deck's inherent weaknesses showed itself, also because of the advice of a certain Dutchman... I've realised that anything that isn't a creature needs to be low cost in this kind of strategy, that way you can use multiple spells in a single turn and that there also needs to be a creature in the deck that benefits permanently from using them, not just "until the end of the turn". So I came up with this: I replaced some cards with their functional equivalents on Arena, since I built the deck off of a 2016 Starter Deck but only really added through Standard since that was the cardpool I was becoming familiar with playing on Arena. So the two Sure Strikes and the Storm Strike are Brute Strength in real life and Citywatch Sphinx is Sphinx of Magosi in real life. The big addition is Crackling Drake, who's power is determined by how many instant and sorcery spells are in the graveyard or in exile, so the intention is that it keeps getting stronger.
drahkon Posted September 11, 2019 Posted September 11, 2019 (edited) 34 minutes ago, GenericAperson said: But in my current mood it seems like a game that would be right up my alley. You should, however, keep in mind that Slay the Spire has RNG elements in place. On 9/2/2019 at 8:57 AM, Hero-of-Time said: Tales of Beseria was another JRPG that I started back in 2017, got a couple of trophies and then called it quits for some strange reason. I decided to start the game again and get it off my backlog and boy am I happy that I did this. This has easily became my favourite ever Tales of game and the party that you gather on your adventures has to be one of the best in any JRPG that I have played. Playing as the anti-heroes is such a breath of fresh air and despite most of them being kinda the bad guys, each of them are very lovable. I honestly loved them all to bits and even side characters like Zaveid were so well wrote that they could have easily fit into the main cast. Every character had a fantastic story arc and none of them were really left on the sidelines. Violet's thirst for revenge, Laphi/Phi trying to find himself, Rokurou's obsession to defeat his brother, Eizen's search for Aifread, Eleanor trying to cope with what side she is really on and Magilou's relationship with the Abbey were all so well done. It's currently on sale for 10€. I've been juggling Monster Hunter World and Sekiro for the past few days. I'm not sure if I enjoy Sekrio, though, and I've always been interested in Tales of Berseria. Think it's time to put Sekiro away and replace it with my first Tales game since Tales of Vesperia back in 2009 (fuck me, that's 10 years ago...). Edited September 11, 2019 by drahkon
drahkon Posted September 13, 2019 Posted September 13, 2019 Haven't played Slay the Spire since Tuesday because Monster Hunter World and Tales of Berseria keep me occupied MHW...what a game. Can't believe I missed out on it for so long. Tales of Berseria seems good so far. Only 3 hours in but I like what I've seen. Still don't entirely get the battle system but I guess I'll get there eventually. It's great to finally play a Tales game agian @Hero-of-Time I've seen you already got the Platinum for Final Fantasy VIII (no idea why it showed up on my "news feed" on PSN, though). Would you recommend the re-release? I enjoyed it back in the day but never put enough time into completing it 100%. 1
Aperson Posted September 23, 2019 Author Posted September 23, 2019 Took a break from online card games to finally finish Super Mario Maker 2 story mode (Nintendo Switch). I powered through the latter half of building the castle and eventually reached the final boss which had... an interesting execution. Also, this happened during one of the levels. Funny how it took the release of another old school Nintendo game some good three months after MM2 came out to convince me to finally finish Mario Maker 2 even though I'm not getting the Link's Awakening Remake. Now Hollow Knight is the other game I need to finish on the Switch backlog but I'm not too far through that. 1 1
Ike Posted September 26, 2019 Posted September 26, 2019 Wanted to play a short game between Link's Awakening and Dragon Quest XI, so decided to pick up Detective Pikachu from where I left of (chapter 6) and finished it off this morning. Spoiler Annoyed they left 2 plot point unresolved and unexplained at the end. Undecided if I liked the game or not, I guess I liked parts, such as the interactions with Pikachu and the other Pokemon and Tim. The story is obviously aimed at kids though which makes it a bit more frustrating for adults. I've said before in the main thread, but you know the answer before the characters do an you have to wait for them to discover it.
Blade Posted September 27, 2019 Posted September 27, 2019 My time to play games has unfortunately reduced significantly. Working full time as a lawyer, studying for a masters part time and recently having a new born really takes up a lot of time. Below, is a list of games that I have recently been playing or completed: Diablo 3 I bought this on Switch last year and been slowly going through the main story. I actually enjoy the repetitive gameplay but the story is a bit naff. I'm playing through the main campaign at the moment at a fairly high difficulty setting but i'm tempted to play through on the easiest just to get it done. I hear that it is the non-story part of the game which is the best mode. Unsure what others think. I'm playing alone, if that makes any difference as to what mode to play. Super Mario U Deluxe I played it on the Wii U but I am picking up all the ports so I don't have to play the console again. I played this before MM2 was released and I fully enjoyed it. I know people complain about the art style, lack of difficulty or that it adds little new to the table but I personally really enjoyed it. Its Mario, what is there not to like. Anyway, I finished the main story and just need to go back and collect the coins. I also need to start the Luigi DLC Mario Maker I used one of my eshop vouchers to download this as I thought it would be a perfect download only game to have (I generally buy physical). Initially, playing other people's levels were fun and I tend to go back to it regular to see what there is. I am slowly going through the story mode but I haven't put in lots of time into that. I tend to keep playing levels created by others. I have yet to make one either and that mode remains untouched. I am not generally a creative person so I don't have much confidence going into that mode. Super Smash Bros Ultimate I have been regularly playing the game since I received it for xmas. I have yet to finish World of Light but all of the characters are unlocked. I am enjoying it a lot more than I did on Wii U but I do suck at it and always get beat online. Nevermind eh. Doom (2016) I had this on my backlog for ages and have been enjoying playing through it on Switch. I have to say, though it is a bit samey all the way through with little change. A good run and gun game though (I think I enjoyed Titanfall 2 more this gen). I am still playing this but I hope to finish it off shortly Astral Chain Finished this yesterday - thoughts are in the thread. In short; enjoyable experience and probably the most accessible platinum game that I have experienced. There is lots of twists and turns in the story but the execution of it left more questions than answers. I had fun with this game - the action being superb. Xenoblade I had this on Wii but unfortunately reached Sword Valley and my save file corrupted so didn't go back to it until early this year when I decided to pick it up for 3DS. 60 hours played and at Sword Valley when the fucking remake is announced for the Switch. Anyway, decided to shelve it as I want to play the definitive version (and that is not on the 3DS - although it does push the system). I was both pissed off and excited about the Switch announcement. Dragon Quest VIII Despite having both DQ VII & VIII in my 3DS backlog I have yet to play any DQ. With release of DQ XI on Switch, I decided that now is the time to play one. I'm 30 mins into DQ VIII. No thoughts so far. I couldn't decide which one to play so went with the 8 seeing that it had received excellent fan feedback. If I like it, I will then start 7. Should I scrap the playthrough of 8 and just get 11 for Switch? Is it worth picking up the other DQ titles that are on 3DS/DS? 1
Ike Posted September 27, 2019 Posted September 27, 2019 23 minutes ago, Blade said: Dragon Quest VIII Despite having both DQ VII & VIII in my 3DS backlog I have yet to play any DQ. With release of DQ XI on Switch, I decided that now is the time to play one. I'm 30 mins into DQ VIII. No thoughts so far. I couldn't decide which one to play so went with the 8 seeing that it had received excellent fan feedback. If I like it, I will then start 7. Should I scrap the playthrough of 8 and just get 11 for Switch? Is it worth picking up the other DQ titles that are on 3DS/DS? I'd say continue with VIII, if you like that then get XI. They are 2 of the best games in the series so it worth playing both, and you already have VIII. Be aware VII plays a little differently in that it focuses more on each individual town's vignette and there's a lot of going back and forth, it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's worth picking up the DS games, IV and V are great (so is VI but it's a bit... weirder?). 1
Grazza Posted September 27, 2019 Posted September 27, 2019 4 hours ago, Blade said: Dragon Quest VIII Despite having both DQ VII & VIII in my 3DS backlog I have yet to play any DQ. With release of DQ XI on Switch, I decided that now is the time to play one. I'm 30 mins into DQ VIII. No thoughts so far. I couldn't decide which one to play so went with the 8 seeing that it had received excellent fan feedback. If I like it, I will then start 7. Should I scrap the playthrough of 8 and just get 11 for Switch? Is it worth picking up the other DQ titles that are on 3DS/DS? That's some good advice from Ike - play VIII and if you enjoy it, go on to XI. I'm afraid to say VII is not up there with the others at all and is the one game in the series I wouldn't play again. IV, V and VI are all quite enjoyable. Personally, I'd wait for them to appear on Switch, which I suspect they will. 1
Hero-of-Time Posted October 3, 2019 Posted October 3, 2019 (edited) Another month over and another bunch of games have been played. Gears of War 3 (360/Xbox One) Gears of War 4 (Xbox One) Gears of War 5 (Xbox One) Final Fantasy VIII Remastered (PS4) Starwing (SNES/Switch) Super Mario Kart (SNES/Switch) Super Mario World (SNES/Switch) Super Kirby Clash (Switch) Gear of War: Judgment (360/Xbox One) The Gardens Between (Xbox One) Earth Defence Force (SNES/Switch) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES/Switch) Brawl Brothers (SNES/Switch) Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure (Xbox One) Dragon Quest (Switch) Abzu (Xbox One) Gears of War 3, 4 ,5 and Judgment It was interesting playing Gears of War 3 and then rolling straight into the 4th entry. You often see people say that there isn’t much difference between console generations in these modern times but playing one after the other shows that simply isn’t the case. Areas are larger, graphics are noticeably better and the game runs smoother. For me, Gears of War 3 is still the high point of the series. It makes sense why that is the case though. I mean, it was the end of the trilogy and everything was wrapped up pretty well. I still enjoy the newer games but they don’t hold a candle to the originals. I mentioned this in the Gears 5 thread but I’ll mention it again here. I honestly found no real reason as to why they made some of the areas in the game more open other than to tick a box that said they had an open world segments in the game. Gears of War has always been about the moment to moment set pieces and to remove them for large portions of the game in favour of exploration just felt completely off. I have played a little bit of the online modes but not a huge amount. I’m still not a fan of how they have slowly changed the Horde mode. Making it a class based system doesn’t really work for me and I much prefer the simple setup seen in Gears of War 3. Also, I think the matches last far too long now. Having to sit through nearly 3 hours of gameplay at a time just to get through all 50 waves is a bit of a slog. Playing through Judgment again after all of these years helped me appreciate the game a lot more than I originally did. The way the missions are structured into smaller segments where you have to obtain a high score/3 stars is quite a neat idea and one that I wouldn’t have minded seeing making a return. It’s a good way to add replay value to the various stages in the game. I did notice just how much the enemy count was cranked up when compared to the previous games. In some stages it felt like I was just killing an endless wave of enemies, with Locust bodies just constantly piling up on one another. It reminded me of this scene from Hot Shots! Part Deux. I put my Game Pass subscription to good use with the following games. Spoiler The Gardens Between This was an indie game that I have been interested in for a while. Putting my Game Pass subscription to good use, I downloaded the game and played through it. Lovely stuff. The way you have to manipulate time in order to progress offered some very satisfying gameplay moments. The fact that you do all of this using only a control stick and one button is very well thought out. The game doesn’t outstay its welcome and the puzzles never really feel frustrating or obtuse. Abzu This is another game that has been on my radar for a while and yet another game I downloaded thanks to Game Pass. I went in expecting a cross between Endless Ocean and Journey and that’s exactly what I got. The soundtrack is a beautiful one, the visuals are very clean fitting for the game and exploring the sea with your little robots in tow was fun. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon/evening. Rush: A Disney-Pixar Adventure Another Xbox game, another one I’ve wanted to play for a while and another I was able to play thanks to Game Pass. I love games like this. It reminded me off the Disney Infinity games, which I also loved, and the Lego games before them became bloated, open world messes. You get to play through 6 of the Disney/Pixar films, with various slices from the films being the set pieces for the stages. As a big Disney fan I had an absolute blast playing through the game. Over the weekend I had to babysit my youngest niece (7 years old) and I sat and helped her play the game. It was so funny watching her try to play it. Her parents don’t allow her to have things like iPads or a phone, so playing videogames is still a foreign concept to her. I’ve let her play Mario Kart 8 of the Switch before but with all of the assists on she wasn’t really playing the thing. She was getting frustrated a bit when playing on Rush when she couldn’t do what she needed to do, especially during the the Incredible stages, but I helped her and she eventually got the hang of it and picked things up quite quickly. It actually got me thinking about Mario Kart 8. Yeah, the assists are a good way for younger gamers to enjoy the game but in a way it’s a big crutch for them because they aren’t actually learning how to play or control the game properly. Seeing my niece learn how to play Rush and get to grips with an Xbox controller ( no easy thing given how small her hands are ) so quickly was a sight to behold and it proved that such assists aren’t really needed as long as you’re willing to sit and help the kid learn what to do. The achievements on this game are some of the buggiest I have ever encountered. For some stupid reason the game screws up if you unlock multiple achievements at once. It only dishes out one at a time and the others you unlocked end up in a backlog and you have to repeat a stage to unlock it. Eventually I was having to unlock an achievement, close the game and reply a level just to get the thing to pop. Such a strange bug and one that really should have been sorted by now, especially as this game is an exclusive and had help/input from MS when making it. Final Fantasy VIII Best Final Fantasy ever. Playing through the game again just solidified my love for it and even more so now that this version added x3 speed option. Playing Triple Triad and drawing magic from enemies has never been more fun. With this release of the game, once again all of the Squall “Whatever” memes popped up. Probably used by people who have never actually played through the thing. If they had they would see that Squall is probably one of the most interesting protagonists in a FF game. The level of character development he goes through throughout the game is beautiful to watch and seeing him gift us with a smile is certainly well earned. Out of all of the FF protagonists he’s still the one I relate to the most. The OST of this game never fails to impress me. Man With A Machine Gun, Liberi Fatali, Force Your Way, Balamb Garden, The Landing, Fisherman’s Horizon are all classic tunes. Eyes on Me is just the icing on the cake. With this being one of my favourite ever games I wanted to make the platinum a milestone. My next milestone was my 350th platinum but this was quite a way off. I had to nab 17 more platinum trophies before I allow myself to get my final trophy on Final Fantasy VIII. I did manage to pull this off thanks to some crossbuy shenanigans and easy games being on sale. It definitely burnt me out though. Spoiler Speaking of trophies, I also nabbed the platinum for Tales of Beseria. In August I finished the game in around 50 hours but it took an investment of another 50 hours to finally grab the final trophy. Man, what a grind! Still, it didn’t damped my enjoyment of the game at all and it was quite fun trying out the other characters. The Tales games usually have a trough/grindy trophy and this one was no different. It could have been worse though. I think Tales of Symphonia on the PS3 requires you to play through the game something like 6 times in order to get every trophy. Crazy! Super Kirby Clash I was chuffed to bits when this got announced during the last Nintendo Direct. I loved the 3DS version of the game and I put a stupid amount of hours into getting 100% on it. Fast forward nearly 60 hours and I’m not far off from doing the same with the Switch version. I just need to get to level 100, and then upgrade every bit of armour to its final form. Most of this just requires me to pop the game on and grab 2000 Gem Apples every 12 hours. An online mode was added to this version of the game but its addition is both a blessing and a curse. The good side of things is that you get 1.3x experience for playing online and it also has its own stamina meter which means you can play offline, use all of your stamina and then continue playing online. During this phase you will no doubt level up again and that will replenish you offline stamina bar. The bad side of the online portion of the game is the absolute shoddiness of the stability when playing an online match. Honestly, it is atrocious and it once again shows Nintendo’s incompetence when putting together an online setup. This isn’t the first time this has happened either. Super Mario Maker 2, SNES games and Super Mario Party all have big issues when playing online. I played a bit of Gears 5 online last month and that is a game with high end graphics game, runs at 60FPS, has 5v5 matches and runs smooths as can be. This is a 4 player, very basic looking game and it can't even run right. We are paying for this service now and as such the quality of online matches should be improved. Here's a quick look at how bad it is and this is with a wired connection! The lack of options online is another pain in the backside. You can’t see the rank of those who are hosting a quest, so you could join the lobby, realise they are underleveled for what you are trying to achieve but are then stuck because you can’t back out. The only way to leave the lobby is to completely quit the game. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Despite the online issues I still had an absolute blast playing through the game and I really enjoyed the additional missions, weapons, armour and bosses that this version provided. Dragon Quest Spoiler I was over joyed to see that the first 3 games were making their way over to the West and on the Switch. I played through 4-6 a few months back and I was wishing that I had a way to play the original 3 ( don’t own a tablet and I don’t do emulation ). It looks like my wish was granted. There was a lot of disappointment from various outlets about the versions they chose to port over but I honestly wasn’t that fussed. I was just happy to have the ability to play them. Sure, the art work is a little rough but it’s more than playable and doesn’t take that much getting used to. It has its own charm to it, in a cheap kinda way. I really enjoyed playing through the game and seeing how the series first came about. Also, I didn’t notice until about halfway through the game that I was the only character ( no party ) and that I was just fighting enemies in one-on-one battles. The game itself wasn’t that hard at all. I think I defeated the last boss at level 23 and there’s no real tactics to the fights other than be a higher level and obtain the best gear possible. I did enjoy grinding for experience and cash, naturally. Oh, I encountered a few Metal Slimes but I wasn't able to take a single one of them down. Not having a specific weapon or move to help with defeating them really effects how fast you can attack them. I’ve already bought the second game and started my play through of it on Tuesday evening. SNES Games Spoiler With the arrival of SNES games on the Switch, I put the service through its paces and I sat and played through Starwing, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Brawl Brothers and Earth Defence Force. I do love the SNES era. There’s so much charm to the games and they have aged so much better than NES games. It’s a timeless console, IMO. The look of the games ( most of them ) and gameplay of them have aged like a fine wine. I was quite surprised how short and easy Starwing was. This is still the pinnacle of the series for me and it has yet to be beaten. The charming animal voices, the launch at Corneria, the results screen music, all of this brought back a rush of nostalgia. The charm of this game is something that the newer games have yet to capture. Super Mario Kart is a game I loved in my youth and while it does still have a special place in my heart, there’s no denying just how much rubbish the AI pulls at you during the course of the game. This is even more apparent when you have the ability to rewind or reload a save. You can see all sorts of cheating and shenanigans going on. Both Brawl Brothers and E.D.F are games I wasn’t familiar with and I was happy to give them a shot. I ended up enjoying both of them. Brawl Brothers is your typical 16-bit scrolling brawler, like Final Fight or Streets of Rage, and E.D.F is a scrolling shoot-em-up, like R-Type or Gradius. E.D.F got very tough towards the end. Even with using the rewind function the last boss took some bringing down. For me, Super Mario World is still the best 2D Mario game and ALTTP is still the best 2D Zelda game. The endings to both of these games are just perfect, especially Zelda. The way the game ending shows you all around Hyrule and what everyone is doing now that the world is saved is very magical. The music that is played just adds to this effect. Spoiler Also, it’s great to finally have a good Zelda game on the Switch! Oh and I just love the scene to bits. I would have liked to have played a few more SNES games but my Nintendo Online Subscription ran out near the end of the month and i'm still not sure whether to renew or not. Edited October 3, 2019 by Hero-of-Time 5
Aperson Posted October 4, 2019 Author Posted October 4, 2019 Back on the single player game train and finally settling down to properly play Hollow Knight (Nintendo Switch). I appreciate the atmosphere this game was going for but honestly I found it a bit difficult to get into and progress and I didn't quite understand how combat was supposed to work properly and the soundtrack didn't really have any outstanding songs that I'd heared so far. Then I got to Greenpath and I started to appreciate this game a bit more and remembered why I like the Metroidvania genre. It really does feel like a cross between Super Metroid and Dark Souls (as in, the style of combat and it's general tone). The boss battles are certainly challenging. It can be quite easy to get trapped in a corner when trying to avoid the boss' attacks but a bit of practise and being somewhat sparing in your strikes seems to go a long way in this game as you can't spam attack and get anywhere. So anyway, I'm out of Greenpath and made a short tour through the Fog Tunnel to get to Queen's Station which is currently how far I've got in the game. I also got a nifty new dash powerup that has opened up the map a bit more. Still playing Magic the Gathering Arena (PC) in an attempt to get enough coins to acquire booster packs and build some decks based on the new Throne of Eldraine expansion but as is always the case with these free to play "live service" games the rate in which you acquire stuff without paying for it is atrocious. I refuse to fall into the trap that Wizards wants though and will continue to acquire everything just by playing the game. I love the wildcard system in this game that allows you to get any card in the game you want rather than necessarily hoping that it's in a booster pack that you can find, it's a better way of building decks than on Pokemon Trading Card Game Online but that does have a rather good trade feature that lets you swap certain cards for others and that helps to build decks and I wish Magic Arena also had this feature. Building a pure Dreadhorde deck is taking a very long time (but most of the deck consists of Rares so that's perhaps not too surprising). 1
Ike Posted October 7, 2019 Posted October 7, 2019 Hey! Pikmin Spoiler When I tried the demo, I wasn't that keen so I waited picked it up when it got a price drop. Got the sudden urge to play it and I ended actually quite enjoying it. Felt like a good Pikmin-lite without much of the RTS elements. Each stage gives you a maximum of 20 Pikmin (you get more if you lose all of them though), completing it without losing any gives you a gold statue, although there doesn't seem to be any reward for getting them (expect bragging rights). In a couple of stages you actually got some Pikmin a little later so you have to survive as Olimar alone, these were actually probably my favourites stages. The localisation is great and some of the descriptions are funny, which I'm sure many of which were posted online. The little interactions/scenes with the Pikmin where nice and at times funny as well. I'd say it's worth checking out. Now where's Pikmin 4? 1 2
Hero-of-Time Posted October 7, 2019 Posted October 7, 2019 I absolutely adored Hey! Pikmin. I think I raved about it in the thread both on here and back on Neogaf at the time. It's such a shame it got overlooked, with many dismissing it just because it was different and on the 3DS. Their loss.
Ike Posted October 7, 2019 Posted October 7, 2019 5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: I absolutely adored Hey! Pikmin. I think I raved about it in the thread both on here and back on Neogaf at the time. It's such a shame it got overlooked, with many dismissing it just because it was different and on the 3DS. Their loss. Yeah, that's a really terrible attitude, I was going to post about it in the thread, but I bet that really damaged Alphadream releasing SuperStar and Bowser's Inside Story and people ignoring it because it was on 3DS. I was surprised to see Hey! Pikmin was released in 2017 though, felt a lot more recent than that. 2 2
Recommended Posts