Your 2020 Gaming Diary

[drahkon]

Rogue-likes have taken over my gaming life and I wouldn't want it any other way  

Dead Cells - managed to unlock the third difficulty (2BC, i.e. 2 Boss Cells). Yeah...shit's hard. Love it.

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ - finished some more challenges and unlocked pretty useful items. Still the pinacle of the genre. Already cannot wait for the final DLC  

Also downloaded and started Warframe on my Switch. I've played it a bit on my PS4 but it's a game much more suited to handheld play with TV or something running in the background  It's a whooping 18GB so not a lot of space for other games...I should buy a microSD card as soon as I'm getting paid next month.
It's a pretty game but only runs ok. Quite the choppy framerate at times. We'll see whether it'll affect gameplay in the long run. And we'll see whether the gameplay can stay interesting.

[drahkon]

Another update:

I finished King of Cards just now. I've been high while fighting the final boss of this campaign and it's even weirder than the one in Spectre of Torment.  
Anyway, great conclusion to a wonderful game series/collection. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove should be played by everyone who enjoys 2D-platformers from the past  

That makes 12 games finished in 2020 so far. A few of them are from my most beloved genre rogue-like and I'll keep playing them, though. Almost halfway to reaching the amount of games I've beaten in 2019  

What to play next...money's tight so no new games for me. I might actually give a game from the Switch SNES library a go. I sadly couldn't get on with Kirby's Dream Land 3 because as is the norm with Kirby games it's ridiculously easy  

[Glen-i]

8 hours ago, drahkon said:

What to play next...money's tight so no new games for me. I might actually give a game from the Switch SNES library a go. I sadly couldn't get on with Kirby's Dream Land 3 because as is the norm with Kirby games it's ridiculously easy  

Oh bugger! I just remembered our co-op playthrough of Kirby Super Star! We're at Milky Way Wishes and all. That'd be a quick title to add to your (and my) list.

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

Oh bugger! I just remembered our co-op playthrough of Kirby Super Star! We're at Milky Way Wishes and all. That'd be a quick title to add to your (and my) list.

Shit, totally forgot about that  We should definitely get back to it. What about on the weekend sometime?

[drahkon]

By the way, @Hero-of-Time I need some motivation to keep going with Blaster Master Zero. It's not that I dislike it but there's something about it that feels off. Can't put my finger on it  

For some reason I don't like exploring in this game...HALP  

[Hero-of-Time]

3 minutes ago, drahkon said:

By the way, @Hero-of-Time I need some motivation to keep going with Blaster Master Zero. It's not that I dislike it but there's something about it that feels off. Can't put my finger on it  

For some reason I don't like exploring in this game...HALP  

You wound me deeply, sir.  

If you aren't feeling it then that can't be helped. Shelve it and play something you do enjoy...like Slay the Spire.  

 

[drahkon]

6 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

You wound me deeply, sir.  

6 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

If you aren't feeling it then that can't be helped.

Hm, probably. I will give it another chance, though. It's what I've promised myself to do more.

7 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Shelve it and play something you do enjoy...like Slay the Spire.  

You won't believe it, but I haven't touched Slay the Spire in weeks  

[Hero-of-Time]

I love that bug. It's one of my favourite cut away gags from Family Guy.  

[Glen-i]

22 hours ago, drahkon said:

Shit, totally forgot about that  We should definitely get back to it. What about on the weekend sometime?

Friday and Saturday evening are good for me. Just give me a time.

[Hero-of-Time]

I finished a few games last night.

Spoiler

Having played through the NES original last month, I can safely say that the SNES sequel is a FAR superior game. It's far more colourful and vibrant, it has an fantastic soundtrack and the game offers a lengthy campaign and a bigger challenge. However, there were times when the colourful backgrounds and enemies did make it hard for me to see enemy shots, which resulted me in being hit. Still, as long as you manage your power ups correctly you can easily recover any damage that is done. In terms of collecting the power ups, my advice would be to aim for the green bells (gives you an extra minion), then the pink bells (gives you a shield), followed by the flashing bell (gives you a special move). 

The game is super fun and I definitely recommended you give it a play through.

Spoiler

As a kid, I never did own this game but one of my friends did. We used to play the hell out of it and I have fond memories of it. With me playing Ninja Gaiden last month, I can compare the two of them and I do think that this one is the better ninja game. For a start, this game is actually beatable without having to constantly rewind and spam save states. The difficulty level is set at a decent level, which is a rare thing for a NES game. I also like the weapon system in this game. There are 3 or 4 that you can pick up and try. Once you find the one that you like you can then collect the same weapon type a few times, with each one collected powering up your weapon. If you do pick up another then you will lose what you had and will have to start building it up again. I just went with the standard sword. Once it's powered up you can fire a beam slash out of it, much like the Zelda games.

I assume it was known as Blue Shadow over here due to the whole ninja thing being a no no back in the day. Much like Ninja Turtles was changed to Hero Turtles.

Spoiler

 

Growing up during the NES era I like to think I have a decent knowledge about the games that were released during that time but this is a game i've never even heard of. I figured I would give it a go and I was very surprised by what i found. 

The game is a boat racing game, with you facing off against a rival in each race. The majority of the races are standard track based races but there are a couple of occasions where all you do is a drag race. During the races the game shifts perspectives, going from an OutRun/Pole Position type view point to something seen in games like Micro Machines. I LOVED the Micro Machines games on the Mega Drive and so the latter viewpoint was my favourite and really took me back.

While racing you can pick up cash and you also gain money for winning races, obviously. You can then put this money into your boat, making it faster and more durable in the process. I went with top speed and acceleration first as both of these were the main things needed for winning races. Things like durability and handling weren't as important and could be bought later down the line.

This is one of those games that I think we need to see more of in the Nintendo online subscription service. Yeah, I still want the classics ( where the hell are the DKC games? ) but throwing in hidden games like this every now and then is very much appreciated.

[Ealdst]

I thought I'd contribute rather than just read for a change so here's what I've finished so far this year:

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch): I would rank the original Xenoblade Chronicles as one of my all time favourite games, but Xenoblade Chronicles X never really clicked with me so I didn't know where I would fall on this one. I was very pleased to find it felt much more like the original and once I got used to the battle system changes (stack as many elements as possible before using the chain attacks) I found it hard to put down. I didn't bother trying to unlock all the rare blades, but I do plan to go back and play again with the new game plus feature so maybe I will do that then.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (Xbox 360): This one has been on my list of things I'd like to play for a fair few years but I just never got around to it. Decided it was finally time so tracked down a cheap copy and gave it a go. Nothing special just a very enjoyable third person action adventure game. I would say the controls felt a bit stiff at times but nothing game breaking. Also the ending came a bit out of nowhere and I don't really know if I feel like it resolved very well.

 

Not sure what's next on my list to play, have such a backlog it usually takes a while to decide on something!

[Nicktendo]

3 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 

  Pics (Reveal hidden contents)

 

Growing up during the NES era I like to think I have a decent knowledge about the games that were released during that time but this is a game i've never even heard of. I figured I would give it a go and I was very surprised by what i found. 

The game is a boat racing game, with you facing off against a rival in each race. The majority of the races are standard track based races but there are a couple of occasions where all you do is a drag race. During the races the game shifts perspectives, going from an OutRun/Pole Position type view point to something seen in games like Micro Machines. I LOVED the Micro Machines games on the Mega Drive and so the latter viewpoint was my favourite and really took me back.

While racing you can pick up cash and you also gain money for winning races, obviously. You can then put this money into your boat, making it faster and more durable in the process. I went with top speed and acceleration first as both of these were the main things needed for winning races. Things like durability and handling weren't as important and could be bought later down the line.

This is one of those games that I think we need to see more of in the Nintendo online subscription service. Yeah, I still want the classics ( where the hell are the DKC games? ) but throwing in hidden games like this every now and then is very much appreciated.

After playfully bashing it on the podcast, I stuck this on yesterday and thought it was great! 
It gives me a Super Off Road vibe for the top-down sections (never played micro machines), but it's very playable. I burst out laughing at the first opponent - the "California Dude". More of this please, Nintendo. 

[Hero-of-Time]

1 hour ago, Nicktendo said:

After playfully bashing it on the podcast, I stuck this on yesterday and thought it was great! 
It gives me a Super Off Road vibe for the top-down sections (never played micro machines), but it's very playable. I burst out laughing at the first opponent - the "California Dude". More of this please, Nintendo. 

Yeah, the character designs are hilarious. Very late 80's early 90's.  

1 hour ago, Ealdst said:

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (Xbox 360): This one has been on my list of things I'd like to play for a fair few years but I just never got around to it. Decided it was finally time so tracked down a cheap copy and gave it a go. Nothing special just a very enjoyable third person action adventure game. I would say the controls felt a bit stiff at times but nothing game breaking. Also the ending came a bit out of nowhere and I don't really know if I feel like it resolved very well.

I really enjoyed this game when I played it back during the 360 days. I loved seeing the relationship develop between Monkey and Trip, with side characters like Pigsy often providing a laugh. Yeah, the ending is a little out of nowhere and I can see why people don't get on with it. This, Heavenly Sword and Hellblade are all great games and picking up Ninja Theory was a great buy by Microsoft.

[Ealdst]

1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I really enjoyed this game when I played it back during the 360 days. I loved seeing the relationship develop between Monkey and Trip, with side characters like Pigsy often providing a laugh. Yeah, the ending is a little out of nowhere and I can see why people don't get on with it. This, Heavenly Sword and Hellblade are all great games and picking up Ninja Theory was a great buy by Microsoft.

Yeah it is certainly enjoyable and I would recommend anyone with even a slight interest in it to definitely give it a go. Hellblade is another that I will definitely give a playthrough at some point and I'm looking forward to see what they put out under Microsoft. Not at all interested in their first reveal since the buyout, Bleeding Edge, though.

[Hero-of-Time]

16 minutes ago, Ealdst said:

Yeah it is certainly enjoyable and I would recommend anyone with even a slight interest in it to definitely give it a go. Hellblade is another that I will definitely give a playthrough at some point and I'm looking forward to see what they put out under Microsoft. Not at all interested in their first reveal since the buyout, Bleeding Edge, though.

Yeah, Bleeding Edge seems like a complete departure to what we are used to seeing from them. Very weird.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

The Division 2

I didn't see much point in putting this in the game specific thread as it's only me who has played it it seems so...

Carrying on from my enjoyment of the first game, I picked this up for £20 at Christmas for the Ultimate digital edition with all the year one guff that comes with it.

I just really enjoy the world of the division; I'm not usually one for these Gaas endeavours, however I haven't spent any extra money (yet) and as much as I loved the first game I balked at paying full whack for this one, as I do with most games nowadays.

The improvements are incremental yet still feel substantial, it's the same game as before with some exciting tweaks and a sort of continuing of the story; in the first game I went around and collected all of the, err, collectables like the phones, laptops and drones, so I became fully invested in the story that goes along with it.

The setting of Washington D.C is a good one and, as I was lucky enough to visit both New York and DC a few years ago, I have fun just wandering around thinking "I've literally been here" (I don't get out much any more, clearly). DC is no NYC though; the atmosphere if the first game was absolutely nailed as far as I'm concerned, and while it's still well populated and looks the business, DC just, well, isn't New York, which makes the recently announced DLC going back to New York a no brainer, really.

I hit level 30 and completed it, which then opened up a whole new end game faction and challenges. I'm now gear score 500, the maximum, about 70 hours in, and I'm on the hunt for exotic weapons (the sniper I want will take a three week mission cycle to get all the parts and blue prints for...) And soaking up achievements as I keep ranking up...I think I will shell out the £30 on the new DLC at the start of March because at the moment finding myself only wanting to play this game, and the chance to take down Keener back in New York...

It's also been very bittersweet for me; I haven't seen my children for over two months now, which I've really struggled to deal with as it hasn't been my choice (that should probably go in the bad stuff thread!) So I've found alot of solace and enjoyment in getting lost in this world that ubisoft have created and it's taken my mind off alot of the nonsense that's been going on in my life. 

If I can keep playing this on Xbox series X at Christmas like they seem to suggesting, then I'll be there on launch day ready to keep on ploughing away at liberating D.C!

[Hero-of-Time]

Thanks for the thoughts on the game @Kaepora_Gaebora. I loved the first one but never got around to picking up the sequel, mainly because nobody else seemed bothered by its release. Plus, it seemed to lean more heavily into the GaaS model than the original did. 

I'm so sorry to hear about your family troubles. I can't imagine it being easy. I don't go into the bad news thread so i'm glad you mentioned it here so I can wish you well. I don't have kids myself so I can't possibly imagine what you are going through. I'm sure I can speak for most of us on here when I say that if you ever need to chat or vent then feel free to send a PM to any of us. I'm sure we are all willing to lend a friendly ear. 

[Aperson]

Been a while since I've done an update.

 

I've mainly been playing Pokemon Trading Card Game (GBC), Pokemon Trading Card Game Online (PC), Magic The Gathering Arena (PC) and Pokemon Sword (Switch). I built the iconic Haymaker deck on the Game Boy game and it's careening house against the single player, beat the Grand Masters with relative ease and just the final boss remains.

 

As for Pokemon Trading Card Game Online I recreated my irl deck on there which was built off a theme deck (Battle Mind) which came with a code anyway so all I did was use the Trade system to get certain items. I made some major tweaks and purchases to boost consistency and although said deck has no EX, GX or Vs/VMAXs it's still a fairly competent deck. I had to dismantle my prerelease deck from Sword and Shield to get some Trainer Cards that the deck needed though.

That being said... it doesn't hold a candle to the online only decks I've been making. Here are some of the decks I've been playing on PTCGO:

 

Deck strategy: Search Staryu or Snom, evolve into Starmie or Frosmoth, use either to supercharge Keldeo V or Palkia GX with Water Energy and Smash

 

Deck strategy: Search Rowlet and Alolan Exeggutor GX, search a Grookey, put Roweggs into active spot, use Super Growth to Evolve Grookey directly into Rillaboom, next turn you can attach 2-3 Energy per turn to help ramp into highly powerful attacks. This deck has won over 50% of the games it's played.

 

This last one is a bit of a rough patch but this deck's strategy is mainly focused around switch Raichu and Alolan Raichu every turn to maximise the damage output from Tandem Shock and leaving the opponent in a constant state of paralysis. There is a big flaw with this deck though and I intend to try and convert this into a full Pikarom deck once I get the missing pieces... including Pikachu and Zekrom GX. Kind of important...

 

Also, after a bit of a break, my Let's Play of Prime 2 is finally back. Life after the Boost Guardian begins with leaving Torvus Bog to return to Temple Gronuds

 

 

On a related note I have already scheduled Part 17 for tomorrow but it's the subject of a bogus copyright claim which I have disputed but not holding out much hope for. If the claim is rejected hopefully my channel still stands, I am not pursuing such a claim any further.

[Nicktendo]

Oh boy, I'm having so much fun on Super Boat Game. 
I think this is the best NES game on the service. Nintendo hit a home run with this addition.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

11 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Thanks for the thoughts on the game @Kaepora_Gaebora. I loved the first one but never got around to picking up the sequel, mainly because nobody else seemed bothered by its release. Plus, it seemed to lean more heavily into the GaaS model than the original did. 

I'm so sorry to hear about your family troubles. I can't imagine it being easy. I don't go into the bad news thread so i'm glad you mentioned it here so I can wish you well. I don't have kids myself so I can't possibly imagine what you are going through. I'm sure I can speak for most of us on here when I say that if you ever need to chat or vent then feel free to send a PM to any of us. I'm sure we are all willing to lend a friendly ear. 

The game is clearly not as well populated as the first one; matchmaking takes alot longer and it usually only one person as opposed to a full team, certainly on the harder settings. However with the Christmas promotion and then having it for £8.99 at the start of this month I think it will have created some more interest, whether they go on to buy the Warlords DLC though I'm not sure! 

And that's very kind of you to say, it has been a tough time, every way I turn seems to point to "you have to get a court order", which is obviously expensive...but there we go! I got the Lion King game for Christmas on Switch to play with my eldest, I had a bash Xmas day myself but it wasn't the same, so I'm holding out on that until I see him again!

[Jimbob]

Finished Assassin's Creed Revelations on Wednesday (had a day off work).  Comparing it to II and Brotherhood, this is definitely the weaker of the 3 games.  Still a good game, but it's noticeably shorter and parts do feel a little tacked on to add depth to the game (Animus Island for one).  The last quarter felt rushed (in my opinion).

Was going to take a break from the Assassin Creed franchise, but went straight onto III (which people deem a weak entry due to Connor).  Luckily for me, i had an old save which meant i skipped the early parts and ended up in Boston in Sequence 6

[Aperson]

Spent most of today playing Pokemon Sword (Switch) while trying to breed fully competitive Pokemon. I now have a fully EV trained Eiscue, all it needs is a Nature change and IV fixing and it's all good. I have the Nature and the EVs for my Dragapult ready but it's still currently a Drakloak and proving to be quite the effort to train up.

 

I also managed to get my hands on a Fossilized Fish... so a Dracovish is going to be on this competitive team too.

 

Meanwhile, here's the latest episode of Let's Play Metroid Prime 2 Echoes

 

There are going to be ads on the video due to some bogus copyright claim on the end screen portion of the video from a company that did a remix of the Red Brinstar theme and claimed to own it, I don't expect my dispute on this to be successful so if they are still there, so be it.

[Glen-i]

3 hours ago, GenericAperson said:

I have the Nature and the EVs for my Dragapult ready but it's still currently a Drakloak and proving to be quite the effort to train up.

If you go to that restaurant in the town that has the water Gym, there's a side quest with the guy behind the counter that ends with him giving you the Lucky Egg. That should speed things up, unless you already did that.

Around Level 60 though, you might be better off using candy from Max Raids instead.

[Aperson]

1 minute ago, Glen-i said:

If you go to that restaurant in the town that has the water Gym, there's a side quest with the guy behind the counter that ends with him giving you the Lucky Egg. That should speed things up, unless you already did that.

Around Level 60 though, you might be better off using candy from Max Raids instead.

It has evolved into Dragapult now, so shoved it back into the PC and registered it for my competitive team.

 

I've got about 5 of the 6 team members planned out so far and two are currently on PokeJobs to speed up the process. 4 attackers so far including 3 sweepers as well as 1 wall, so the last Pokemon needs to offer some different kind of role. The team is mainly being made with singles in mind, but a support to switch to Doubles Play could be good too.

[drahkon]

On 20.2.2020 at 8:06 AM, Glen-i said:

Friday and Saturday evening are good for me. Just give me a time.

Sorry, won´t be able to make it . Some things have come up.