Your 2020 Gaming Diary

[Jimbob]

Started and finished Shantae 1/2 Genie Hero on the Switch this week.  It's easier than previous entries in the series, however it's not bad.  Decent bosses with some element of a challenge.  Finished with 86% of everything, all powers but not all collectables.

[drahkon]

Finished DOOM (2016) just now.

Very enjoyable old-school arcadey FPS-action. It did, however, overstay its welcome for maybe two missions. After two thirds of the game you get so ridiculously overpowered every fight becomes trivial. With a little exploration you get the following combo:

Over 75 armor = your standard weapons have infinite ammo
Upgrade your assault rifle to shoot rockets and boom. You are almost completely invincible unless you play like an idiot

Gameplay is awesome. There's a perfect mix between shooting enemies and getting close to them to bash their fucking heads in to regain health/armor/ammo. It's so satisfying to clear a room while running, gunning and smacking hellspawn.

The plot was pretty much just a means to an end...you get "spawned", kill everything because reasons and that's it. The cliffhanger at the end was pretty boring.

The game's beautiful and runs perfectly smooth. And that OST...oooohhhhh that OST

Instantly became one of my favourite tracks in video gaming history.

Spoiler

 

Easily one of my favourite shooters ever. Joining the ranks of Titanfall 2 (no FPS has ever come close to that, though), CoD: Modern Warfare (2019)

[Dcubed]

4 hours ago, satineeraj said:

Hey all my favorite games for 2020 are:

1: Grand Theft Auto 5.

2: Fortnite.

3: Marvel's Spider Man.

4. Red Dead Redemption 2.

5: Super Mario.

 

 

Which Super Mario? That's pretty vague  

[Aperson]

Coming into what feels like the final quarter of Dragon Quest IX. The plot has gotten way more involved since the Fygg hunt and now I'm currently in the prison in the Gittish Empire getting ready to face Lieutenant Goreham-Hogg. Faced him once before and got curbstomped... looks like I need to grind for experience and equipment before I try again.

 

Also, while I like the music in this game the sheer lack of music in the game is really starting to show. The game likes to reuse music tracks so often and it's so obvious. I think I've heard about 11-13 different songs in the game and that's about it.

Edited May 24, 2020 by GenericAperson

[Cube]

Just finished Arkham Knight

Despite hearing about loads of issues, it apparently being a huge disappointment, I felt like this was a massive improvement from City.  It does completely ditch the "Metroidvania" style (which barely existed in City) and it knows more what sort of game it wants to be. I ended up completing it 100%, and it was fun doing it.

First of all some negatives

• The Deathstroke "fight". It just seemed like a complete waste of his character. It would have just been better to use the Militia Commander who is controlling all the drones.
• The Riddler trophies where you had to use the Batmobile scanner and follow question marks, they just seemed a bit wonky.
• The Episodes DLC. The Batgirl one was good, seemed like a mini Arkham game, but the rest were atrocious. It was a rather sour note to end the game on.
• No interaction with two of Batman's closest friends at the end of the game. You can talk to everyone else, just not two certain people.
• The controls can feel a bit imprecise and wonky at times, particularly when trying to get to some Riddler trophies with lots of grapple points nearby. 

Things I did like

• The story of the game felt much better than previous games, I especially loved Batmans "disease". Dialogue all round was great.
• One small thing was that the game would keep making excuses to suggest Batman do some extra stuff. It just felt like the side quests were something that Batman should be doing (unlike Witcher 3, where most side-quests don't make sense with the main quest)
• The Batmobile. This was the biggest complaint, but I enjoyed it. Combat wasn't amazing, but any puzzles it was involved in were fun. Perhaps it was because I got the grappling upgrades early (so it was quicker to glide around), but I didn't think it was overused.
• Moving around the city. This was something I didn't like in Arkham City, but here it just felt like a lot of fun just getting around the city. 
• The DLC in the main game was also great fun, adding a few more villains into the mix.
• Quite a lot of the Riddler puzzles were satisfying.
• The "dual combat" mechanics when teaming up with someone else. All those fights were fun.
• Being able to visit GCPD and talk to people you have captured.

I definitively recommend it. It feels very different to Asylum, but I think it's considerably better than City.

[bob]

I have unfortunately fallen off the excessive game-buying wagon recently. One of my New Years resolutions a couple of years ago was to stop buying so many games that i was never likely to finish, and to only buy new ones once i'd completed the old.
For a year or two, i've managed to keep this up, but this year i've kind of lost track and it's all fallen apart. The problem started when i bought my Oculus Quest, and instantly bought several games for it. I've played and completed a few of them (Superhot, Vader Part 1, A Fisherman's Tale, I expect you to die),  but others i haven't the time, or the play-space to complete (Robo Recall, Virtual Virtual Reality, Real VR fishing). 
Then for Christmas, i got BOTW, God of War and Star Wars JFO. I started BOTW, and played quite a bit, but then got distracted when Animal Crossing came along. I started God of War a few weeks ago, but only got past the first chapter. I haven't even taken Star wars out of the box, and have kind of lost the desire to start it. I might just sell that one to be honest...
Then it only got worse when i managed to convince myself i needed a new laptop, and the devil on my shoulder told me to get a super (duper) fancy one with a good graphics card. Now with a PC powerful enough to play it, my mate bought me Borderlands 3 to play through together, and I also downloaded GTAV (for free at least) to see how it looked with the graphics all fancy. Now I have an urge to play the story on that. 
Additionally, the new laptop has allowed me the possibility to play loads of PCVR games that I didn't have the option of before - so i'm currently resisting the urge to buy several of those that'll i'll try once and never play again...

So rather than play any of these to any great degree, i instead picked up Civilization 6 for free and bought Batman VR to try out on my Oculus. I also remembered i got the Uncharted Collection for free on the PS4 that I've always wanted to play that will join the rest at the back of the queue [emoji24]

[Glen-i]

Been playing Paper Mario: Color Splash as well as being sucked back into playing Final Fantasy VI.

That game is still the pinnacle of Final Fantasies. That Opera sequence is just way too good!

[Aperson]

Getting near the end of Dragon Quest IX now. Just got the final dungeon to go but I'm hearing about a weapon you can get in the game if you get the Rusty Sword (which is apparently in the final dungeon in the game), some Orichalcum and 9 Glass Frits. The first two I think I can easily get, but the 9 Glass Frits are proving to be difficult to obtain. Can you only get them in post game or something?

[Ronnie]

Half way through Control, taking my time, still reading every collectable. The game is just glorious, so much fun, such a great mood to it. 

I don't normally play spooky games, ever basically, but this one has made me jump out of my skin a few times now. For those who've played it, I never want to set foot in the Archive in Containment again, nor any of the Mold areas. Terrifying. Maybe I shouldn't play at midnight with the lights off 

Spoiler

I made a rather embarrassing sound when I opened one of the chests in the basement area of the Archive and one of those screeching exploding things popped out, for the first time, followed by 20 more. Died shortly after screaming like a little girl.

 

Edited May 27, 2020 by Ronnie

[Glen-i]

11 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

Getting near the end of Dragon Quest IX now. Just got the final dungeon to go but I'm hearing about a weapon you can get in the game if you get the Rusty Sword (which is apparently in the final dungeon in the game), some Orichalcum and 9 Glass Frits. The first two I think I can easily get, but the 9 Glass Frits are proving to be difficult to obtain. Can you only get them in post game or something?

I doubt you could get nine before seeing the credits. I wouldn't worry too much about getting it before the credits. There's a more effective Sword anyway. (Uber Falcon Blade)

[Ike]

16 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

Getting near the end of Dragon Quest IX now. Just got the final dungeon to go but I'm hearing about a weapon you can get in the game if you get the Rusty Sword (which is apparently in the final dungeon in the game), some Orichalcum and 9 Glass Frits. The first two I think I can easily get, but the 9 Glass Frits are proving to be difficult to obtain. Can you only get them in post game or something?

Think they spawn around Gleeba, but can't remember for certain or if they are only accessible in the post game.

[Nicktendo]

I finally beat OlliOlli today after playing it on and off for the past month or so. Those final few challenges almost destroyed me, took absolutely ages. I did the vast majority of the game in about 8 hours but a single pro challenge on the third Neon City level took me almost 3 hours to do. Excruciating. Worse than Ori. At least the hard bits were at the end of this game though, and I'd managed to enjoy it first 

Superb game. Manages to capture the same magic THPS did but in a completely different way. The controls are simply sublime. When I first saw this game back in the day I was sceptical of a 2D skateboarding game, but the mechanics really are such a strong point here. The game is incredibly addictive but punishingly difficult to master. Really feels like a throwback to the 90s in its approach to gameplay and learning the mechanics. Love the art style and the simple variety on offer in each of the worlds. The OST is great as well, very laid back and fits the mood of the game perfectly. Excellent value for the price its at and I encourage everyone to give it a go, this is a real indie gem. 

 

[Aperson]

Well, I did wind up getting Erdrich's Sword and took on the final dungeon.. and now I've finished the game.

 

Oh boy, that final boss fight was so difficult. Took me so many attempts to beat, including going back for the ultimate knife skill because I didn't feel like my Thief was doing enough damage. Managed to get the Perescutter weapon as well as a better weapon, went back to the final boss and he OTK'd my main character in one go... I was relying on him to use Gigaslash.

 

The very next attempt was the successful one though. I had found a few Softworts so tried to use them to help heal paralysis and just dedicated my main to using Gigaslash every turn, with the Thief topping up my main's MP so that he could continue to use Gigaslash every single turn. Lost the mage during the battle but I waited for a better opportunity to use Zing on him to bring him back and then I proceeded to cast Frizzle with the Mage until I finally KO'd him with Gigaslash.

 

The credits have just finished rolling as I type this. There is apparently a rather meaty postgame but I think I will look at other games that I still need to finish like Hollow Knight.

[Glen-i]

10 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

Well, I did wind up getting Erdrich's Sword and took on the final dungeon.. and now I've finished the game.

 

Oh boy, that final boss fight was so difficult. Took me so many attempts to beat, including going back for the ultimate knife skill because I didn't feel like my Thief was doing enough damage. Managed to get the Perescutter weapon as well as a better weapon, went back to the final boss and he OTK'd my main character in one go... I was relying on him to use Gigaslash.

 

The very next attempt was the successful one though. I had found a few Softworts so tried to use them to help heal paralysis and just dedicated my main to using Gigaslash every turn, with the Thief topping up my main's MP so that he could continue to use Gigaslash every single turn. Lost the mage during the battle but I waited for a better opportunity to use Zing on him to bring him back and then I proceeded to cast Frizzle with the Mage until I finally KO'd him with Gigaslash.

Wait, did you never change any of your jobs for the better ones you can unlock later on?

Because if so... Ouch... You would have had a much easier time with the likes of Paladin, Gladiator and so on.

[drahkon]

Tried Sonic Mania and gave up after 3 levels.

I really don't understand what the Sonic games are going for...speed? Exploration? Platforming?

It doesn't mix well, at all. After you've gained enough speed you can't react to any dangers and you get stopped in your tracks by a wall in a matter of seconds anyways. Exploration/platforming is clunky and floaty and in turn not fun.

Maybe it's because I never played a Sonic game while growing up...maybe it's because the games are actually bad...maybe it's both.
None of the installments I've tried so far were enjoyable to me and I doubt I will ever give them another go.

[Ike]

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

Tried Sonic Mania and gave up after 3 levels.

I really don't understand what the Sonic games are going for...speed? Exploration? Platforming?

It doesn't mix well, at all. After you've gained enough speed you can't react to any dangers and you get stopped in your tracks by a wall in a matter of seconds anyways. Exploration/platforming is clunky and floaty and in turn not fun.

They're about all 3 (the 2D games in particular anyway, but not necessarily all at the same time.

The classic Sonic game stages are designed so you have 3 layers, the higher one which is more difficult to navigate but gives more rewards, the middle one gives a balance and a lower one that's a bit easier and less rewards.

The special stage entrances are hidden usually so there's some exploration to do there.

Once you learn the level layouts and enemy placements then you can go for speed (tip: press down once you gain speed). Just being about speed is a bit of a misconception, probably because of the way the games were marketed originally. Sonic 1 isn't really all that fast. Sonic CD isn't fast and focuses more about exploring.

it sounds like the game style just isn't for you more then anything else.

[drahkon]

5 minutes ago, Ike said:

They're about all 3 (the 2D games in particular anyway, but not necessarily all at the same time.

The classic Sonic game stages are designed so you have 3 layers, the higher one which is more difficult to navigate but gives more rewards, the middle one gives a balance and a lower one that's a bit easier and less rewards.

The special stage entrances are hidden usually so there's some exploration to do there.

Once you learn the level layouts and enemy placements then you can go for speed (tip: press down once you gain speed). Just being about speed is a bit of a misconception, probably because of the way the games were marketed originally. Sonic 1 isn't really all that fast. Sonic CD isn't fast and focuses more about exploring.

it sounds like the game style just isn't for you more then anything else.

All fair points.

Still think the games are bad

[Ike]

5 minutes ago, drahkon said:

All fair points.

Still think the games are bad

Hah. That's perfectly fine.

[Aperson]

5 hours ago, Glen-i said:

Wait, did you never change any of your jobs for the better ones you can unlock later on?

Because if so... Ouch... You would have had a much easier time with the likes of Paladin, Gladiator and so on.

Nope, pretty much stuck to the job classes that my characters were when I booted up my 10 year old save file. I generally found that I liked having access to certain moves on certain characters and wanted to max out my skill points for certain weapons and individual skills, so never really got round to changing jobs and I got very comfortable with what I already had. Might see about changing them into the upgraded versions of their classes though.

[Glen-i]

18 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

Nope, pretty much stuck to the job classes that my characters were when I booted up my 10 year old save file. I generally found that I liked having access to certain moves on certain characters and wanted to max out my skill points for certain weapons and individual skills, so never really got round to changing jobs and I got very comfortable with what I already had. Might see about changing them into the upgraded versions of their classes though.

Probably a bad time to tell you that no matter what class you change to, you keep most of the skills you've learned. (I think spells are dependant on class, mind)

You can even use other classes to get quick skill points through a little grinding and invest them in a catagory you want to focus on.

[Aperson]

Well, I suppose it was a bit better achievement to do it without the class upgrades...

 

Anyway, I'm back on Hollow Knight (Switch) now. I got the game last year and it seems to be a game that has somehow taken forever for me to get anywhere near to finishing after playing most of it and then stopping on the Dream bosses. However, I finally beat all the Dream Bosses using the Fragile Charms and then unlocked the White Palace. I managed to clear that, get the Kingsoul, subsequently get the Void Heart and have unlocked access to the true final boss. However...

 

Spoiler

 

 

I'm so close to finishing this game but man the boss in the picture is really hard. I subsequently found out about a charm that regenerates your health and though it would allow me to survive the attacks and allow me to focus on dodging them so I backtracked and finally did the Hive area after ignoring it for a long time. Good thing I went there, the boss in the area was what I needed to beat to get the Charm and I also got my 8th mask of health so my overall health for the final boss is significantly improved.

 

I've got a good idea about how to avoid the final boss' attacks but a few misjudgements have been the cause of some deaths and the addition of floor spears have made the attacks a lot harder to avoid.

Edited May 29, 2020 by GenericAperson
Potential spoilers

[Ronnie]

24 minutes ago, GenericAperson said:

I've got a good idea about how to avoid the final boss' attacks but a few misjudgements have been the cause of some deaths and the addition of floor spears have made the attacks a lot harder to avoid.

True final boss is tough, but I wouldn't say any harder than some of the earlier v tough ones. It's been a while since I beat it so can't recommend any specific strategies but the Abyss Shriek attack is very useful here, spam that as much as possible. Likewise the charm that allows you to attack twice as fast with your nail. The second phase is pretty tough from what I can remember, I think I waited for it to come to me rather than go chasing around the arena. Final phase is pretty simple tbh, that'll only take you 2 or 3 attempts I imagine.

(also spoilers lol)

Edited May 29, 2020 by Ronnie

[WackerJr]

So a couple of games I’ve completed recently, both on 3DS:

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate

While I enjoyed the voice acting & the comic book-style cutscenes, I felt the controls were just not responsive enough. This real spoiled the combat, which borrowed heavily from the console games where it was one of the more enjoyable parts.  Sadly not so here & ultimately this was just a forgettable Metroidvania game.

Metroid II

Better than I was lead to believe. Thank goodness for save states as the save points in the game are far apart.  Very much a mini-Metroid & all the games in the series after this just did everything so much better.  The lack of one reminded me just how much I value in-game maps!  Glad I finally played it & beat it, but won’t be going back.

[bob]

So rather than play any of these to any great degree, i instead picked up Civilization 6 for free and bought Batman VR to try out on my Oculus. I also remembered i got the Uncharted Collection for free on the PS4 that I've always wanted to play that will join the rest at the back of the queue [emoji24]

It appears Civilization 6 was a mistake.


I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, but dang is it addictive.

[Sméagol]

Civ games have a bit of a learning curve if you're just starting out. But it's fun once you get the hang of it.