307. Sigi: a fart for Melisuna
The best way to describe this game is a kids version of ghosts n goblins. You play as a knight, trying to rescue a mermaid from monsters. The gameplay is very similar in that your main weapon is a throwing lance and along the way you can pick up other weapons like daggers, axes etc. Monsters you fight are also inspired from that series and include stuff like zombies, skeletons, bats and the like.
It feels like ghosts n goblins but is very easy. You can take 3 hits instead of 2, there are liberal checkpoints scattered across the games 20 levels, tons of 1-ups and health power ups as well. Even if you die on a boss, they do not regain their health so you just pick up right where you left off, not that you will die that often, if ever.
The game has a nice 16 bit look to it, tight controls and it is fun to play. You can breeze through the whole game in about 30-40 minutes, and tbh it is nice once in a while to take a break from challenging games, zone out, and just enjoy a fun, well made game.
I enjoyed it, if you like the ghouls n ghosts series style of gameplay it is worth checking out, and if you have kids and want them to play a game like ghosts n goblins without giving them high blood pressure it is well worth a look, I think it retails for $3 on steam and is well worth the asking price.
- pook99
- 32-bit
- Posts: 217
- Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2017 11:27 pm
-
nullPointer - 128-bit
- Posts: 799
- Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2013 1:51 pm
- Location: Montana, USA
Re: Games Beaten 2018
pook99 wrote:307. Sigi: a fart for Melisuna
That does look cool. Thanks for the rec pook99!
The List So Far:
40. Assassin's Creed: Revelations: The Lost Archives [PC/Steam]
The Lost Archive has us assuming the role of Clay Kaczmarek who was the ill-fated predecessor of Desmond Miles in the Animus project. There's not a whole lot of plot to be found in this expansion, but it's here that we learn a little bit about the history of the enigmatic Clay. Obviously the main draw for Assassin's Creed lies in its treatment of historical settings and characters. The 'modern' story segments have their charm as well, but they're generally not considered to be the highlight of the series. So having an entire DLC expansion focus on a niche character in the modern AC timeline is an interesting choice at best. As a fan of the series, it actually was sort of interesting to learn about Clay's history in the Order and with the Animus project, but I can't imagine a casual player would find these story elements very interesting at all. In this regard, the Lost Archive dances right on that line of being "for hardcore fans only"
The gameplay elements are also very unorthodox from what one might consider to be a traditional AC style of play. The Lost Archive is a first person puzzle platformer. It's not a style that's completely divorced from the main Assassin's Creed games. Assassin's Creed: Revelations, the base game for which The Lost Archives is a DLC expansion, features segments utilizing the same mechanics in the Desmond's Journey missions. These first person levels were unlockable in AC: Revelations by means of collecting Data Fragments scattered throughout the game. So if you've played AC: Revelations and are familiar with the Desmond's Journey missions, The Lost Archive will feel completely familiar.
"The first person segments are my absolute favorite part of Assassin's Creed: Revelations!"
- No one ever
The trouble with this approach is that these segments lack the pizzazz and immersion found in the base game. By contrast these levels feel bland, uninspired and empty. In this regard they remind me a lot of the VR Missions in Metal Gear Solid; an interesting curiosity but certainly nothing that could reasonably stand on its own (Does anyone remember what a smash hit Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions was? Yeah me neither). These levels work in the main game precisely because they serve as interesting diversions, a break from all the third person parkour action. Jamming several of these levels back-to-back is not quite as much fun. It's not that the mechanics are bad per se; there are certainly some nice set pieces and moments of fun to be had, but ultimately The Lost Archives lacks a certain level of polish and sheen.
The setup here as I mentioned is that you're moving through largely featureless platforming sections as generated within the Animus. Naturally you'll encounter obstacles along the way in the form of moving blocks and laser traps of various types. To assist you through each section you can create your own platforms. Through most of the game you have two types of platforms, one is shaped like a flat rectangular plank, and the other one is shaped like a ramp. Late in the game you also gain the ability to create a spring block of sorts that launches you high into the air. The ability to create platforms at various heights allows you to ascend and descend through vast vertical areas. In some areas there are various 'currents' that will cause your platforms to move according to the whims of the current, and even float away if you let them. It's telling in some ways that Portal 2, one of the runaway hits of 2011, released about 6 months prior to AC: Revelations. The Lost Archives (as well as the similar segments in the base game) almost feel like Ubisoft was trying to do something similar to Portal, a first person puzzle platformer relying on a specific quirky mechanic. Unfortunately The Lost Archive is neither as inventive nor as interesting as Portal 2 or even Portal (1) for that matter.
I know I sound like I'm being pretty harsh on The Lost Archives, but I don't entirely mean to. I think it's just so different from the base game(s) that it barely feels like it's part of the AC series at all, let alone an expansion. And the sparsely interspersed plot is not particularly helpful in this regard either. If you really enjoyed the first person segments in Assassin's Creed: Revelations, you should definitely check out The Lost Archives. Likewise if you're strongly invested in the lore of the series; it's interesting to hear some of the history of Clay Kaczmarek, scantly dispensed though it may be. All others can probably skip this footnote to the main game. There are better first person puzzle platformers to be had out there.
Last edited by nullPointer on Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PartridgeSenpai - Next-Gen
- Posts: 2141
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2018
Partridge Senpai's 2018 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017
* indicates a repeat
1-20
21-40
41. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Expansion Pass DLC (Switch)
42. Battle Block Theater (Xbox 360) *
43. Magicka (Steam) *
44. La-Mulana 2 (Steam)
45. Yooka-Laylee (Steam)
46. Snipper-Clips: Cut it Out Together! (Switch)
47. Magicka: Dungeons and Gargoyles (Steam)
48. Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project (PC)
49. Timespinner (PS4)
50. Hollow Knight (PC)
51. Wuppo (PC)
52. Super Mario Party (Switch)
53. Party Hard (Steam)
54. The Final Station (Steam)
55. GARAGE: Bad Trip (Steam)
56. Mr Shifty (Steam)
57. LISA (Steam)
58. LISA: The Joyful (Steam)
59. Divide by Sheep (Steam)
60. The Mummy: Demastered (Switch)
A non-mobile movie tie-in video game is a pretty uncommon sight these days, let alone one that's a critically well recieved Metroidvania from WayForward of Shantae fame. I love me some Metroidvanias, so I picked it up for $14 when it was on sale this Halloween. I finally sat down and finished it yesterday and it was a very alright game Xp . I finished it in just under 4 hours with no deaths.
One of the main draws of this game is the fairly unique death mechanic. Because you're not a named character and just some faceless agent, when you die you are DEAD, as far the story is concerned. A new agent has to come in and take your place, and the old dead agent is now a victim of the Mummy's curse and you'll need to take them down the next time you go through that area. Maybe I was just trying not to die a bit too much, but I didn't really think the game was particularly hard, as I managed to do a no-deaths run of the game my first time through despite never seeing any footage of it before playing it, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from the best at Metroidvanias despite how much I like them. The death mechanic is neat, but I can only really give a hearsay description of it having never experienced it myself Xp . However, on a related note, because you're a faceless procession of soldiers, the game doesn't have any named characters or actual characters of any description. The story is basically non-existant short of a very bare-bones "go kill evil Mummy" plot. It's serviceable, but it's another mark against this game in an era where there are so many good Metroidvanias out there with excellent narratives.
The game plays like a WayForward take on Metroid. You don't have a melee weapon like Shantae's hair (the only Shantae game I've played is the first one that was on DSiWare that I thought was pretty bad, for the record), but you have a rifle with unlimited ammo that you can fire in 8 directions. The only issue with this is that your rifle bullets are kinda weak but also very small projectiles, and given that the spaces you're in are quite cramped, the enemies are often fairly small and/or quick as well as decently tanky, and fighting enemies is a real pain quite often. The most difficult part of the game isn't the bosses, it's the really annoying (but fairly low number of) enemy types throughout the game. Like Metroid has missiles for more damage, you can find new guns to use that use ammo enemies drop, and those guns are generally way better than your infinite-ammo peashooter. The combat is alright, but I thought it was just okay considering all the other great 2D run-and-gun action games out there that have such less frustrating enemy design and placement.
The world design is a bit odd, but I think that has to do with how your character moves. The corridors you go down feel really claustrophobic, but not in an anxiety-inducing way, but more in a "these are annoying to navigate" kind of way. You're constantly hitting your head trying to jump around because of how tall your character is, and the placement of platforms in some of the larger rooms had me retreading them quite often to go back up and do it again because I bumped my head on the ceiling. You can find extra bandoleers (I guess your soldier just wears dozens of them eventually? XD) just like missile tanks and extra med kits just like energy tanks around the world to increase your max ammo (for all weapons) and health (by 99, exactly like Metroid), but this game has no hidden walls that I could find. If you can see a room to get into, you can get into it. You dont' need to spend time whacking at every wall you see hoping it'll be hiding a secret, which is kind of a nice change of pace in a Metroidvania for once. The level design becomes more managable once you get a few power ups, but even then its still quite frustrating because of the nature of those power ups (you never get a wall-jump or a double-jump, unfortunately :/ ).
The last thing I wanna mention is the Switch port of the game. This game runs pretty badly on Switch. It's a quite nice-looking pixel-art design, but all the moving backgrounds combined with the moving enemies on screen make the framerate stutter like CRAZY very often, which is a bit of a problem in an action game like this as you can imagine. It's never a problem with bosses, as screens don't usually scroll in most boss fights, but it makes the annoying enemy types that much more annoying when your button presses are lagging behind a stuttering framerate. Regardless, the fact that the enemy types are so annoying, the platforming can be so irritating, and there is actually NO WAY to heal your health other than picking up drops from enemies or picking up another med kit/E-Tank, means the difficult of the game feels more artificial than legitimate. The game WANTS you to die because it wants you to see the neat death mechanic, but it doesn't feel its doing it in regards to legitimate challenge so much as it is purposefully clumsy game design.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The Mummy: Demastered isn't a bad game, but it's a very underwhelming game for the gaming ecosystem it exists in. As a 4-hour Metroidvania on the same system that sports Hollow Knight, it is a really tough sell at its normal MSRP of $20 when you factor in its clunky design, bad port job, and non-existent story. You can do a lot better with your $20 on Switch if you're looking for a Metroidvania or really a good indie game in general. This game is an interesting novelty as a good movie tie-in from 2017, but not a game that is a must-play by any standard other than that.
Previously: 2016 2017
* indicates a repeat
1-20
21-40
41. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Expansion Pass DLC (Switch)
42. Battle Block Theater (Xbox 360) *
43. Magicka (Steam) *
44. La-Mulana 2 (Steam)
45. Yooka-Laylee (Steam)
46. Snipper-Clips: Cut it Out Together! (Switch)
47. Magicka: Dungeons and Gargoyles (Steam)
48. Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project (PC)
49. Timespinner (PS4)
50. Hollow Knight (PC)
51. Wuppo (PC)
52. Super Mario Party (Switch)
53. Party Hard (Steam)
54. The Final Station (Steam)
55. GARAGE: Bad Trip (Steam)
56. Mr Shifty (Steam)
57. LISA (Steam)
58. LISA: The Joyful (Steam)
59. Divide by Sheep (Steam)
60. The Mummy: Demastered (Switch)
A non-mobile movie tie-in video game is a pretty uncommon sight these days, let alone one that's a critically well recieved Metroidvania from WayForward of Shantae fame. I love me some Metroidvanias, so I picked it up for $14 when it was on sale this Halloween. I finally sat down and finished it yesterday and it was a very alright game Xp . I finished it in just under 4 hours with no deaths.
One of the main draws of this game is the fairly unique death mechanic. Because you're not a named character and just some faceless agent, when you die you are DEAD, as far the story is concerned. A new agent has to come in and take your place, and the old dead agent is now a victim of the Mummy's curse and you'll need to take them down the next time you go through that area. Maybe I was just trying not to die a bit too much, but I didn't really think the game was particularly hard, as I managed to do a no-deaths run of the game my first time through despite never seeing any footage of it before playing it, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from the best at Metroidvanias despite how much I like them. The death mechanic is neat, but I can only really give a hearsay description of it having never experienced it myself Xp . However, on a related note, because you're a faceless procession of soldiers, the game doesn't have any named characters or actual characters of any description. The story is basically non-existant short of a very bare-bones "go kill evil Mummy" plot. It's serviceable, but it's another mark against this game in an era where there are so many good Metroidvanias out there with excellent narratives.
The game plays like a WayForward take on Metroid. You don't have a melee weapon like Shantae's hair (the only Shantae game I've played is the first one that was on DSiWare that I thought was pretty bad, for the record), but you have a rifle with unlimited ammo that you can fire in 8 directions. The only issue with this is that your rifle bullets are kinda weak but also very small projectiles, and given that the spaces you're in are quite cramped, the enemies are often fairly small and/or quick as well as decently tanky, and fighting enemies is a real pain quite often. The most difficult part of the game isn't the bosses, it's the really annoying (but fairly low number of) enemy types throughout the game. Like Metroid has missiles for more damage, you can find new guns to use that use ammo enemies drop, and those guns are generally way better than your infinite-ammo peashooter. The combat is alright, but I thought it was just okay considering all the other great 2D run-and-gun action games out there that have such less frustrating enemy design and placement.
The world design is a bit odd, but I think that has to do with how your character moves. The corridors you go down feel really claustrophobic, but not in an anxiety-inducing way, but more in a "these are annoying to navigate" kind of way. You're constantly hitting your head trying to jump around because of how tall your character is, and the placement of platforms in some of the larger rooms had me retreading them quite often to go back up and do it again because I bumped my head on the ceiling. You can find extra bandoleers (I guess your soldier just wears dozens of them eventually? XD) just like missile tanks and extra med kits just like energy tanks around the world to increase your max ammo (for all weapons) and health (by 99, exactly like Metroid), but this game has no hidden walls that I could find. If you can see a room to get into, you can get into it. You dont' need to spend time whacking at every wall you see hoping it'll be hiding a secret, which is kind of a nice change of pace in a Metroidvania for once. The level design becomes more managable once you get a few power ups, but even then its still quite frustrating because of the nature of those power ups (you never get a wall-jump or a double-jump, unfortunately :/ ).
The last thing I wanna mention is the Switch port of the game. This game runs pretty badly on Switch. It's a quite nice-looking pixel-art design, but all the moving backgrounds combined with the moving enemies on screen make the framerate stutter like CRAZY very often, which is a bit of a problem in an action game like this as you can imagine. It's never a problem with bosses, as screens don't usually scroll in most boss fights, but it makes the annoying enemy types that much more annoying when your button presses are lagging behind a stuttering framerate. Regardless, the fact that the enemy types are so annoying, the platforming can be so irritating, and there is actually NO WAY to heal your health other than picking up drops from enemies or picking up another med kit/E-Tank, means the difficult of the game feels more artificial than legitimate. The game WANTS you to die because it wants you to see the neat death mechanic, but it doesn't feel its doing it in regards to legitimate challenge so much as it is purposefully clumsy game design.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. The Mummy: Demastered isn't a bad game, but it's a very underwhelming game for the gaming ecosystem it exists in. As a 4-hour Metroidvania on the same system that sports Hollow Knight, it is a really tough sell at its normal MSRP of $20 when you factor in its clunky design, bad port job, and non-existent story. You can do a lot better with your $20 on Switch if you're looking for a Metroidvania or really a good indie game in general. This game is an interesting novelty as a good movie tie-in from 2017, but not a game that is a must-play by any standard other than that.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
-
Ack - Moderator
- Posts: 20641
- Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:26 pm
- Location: Atlanta, GA
Re: Games Beaten 2018
1. Jungle Book (SNES)(Platformer)
2. Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (SNES)(Light Gun Shooter)
3. Might and Magic VI (PC)(RPG)
4. Revenant (PC)(RPG)
5. Neo Turf Masters (NGPC)(Sports)
6. Fatal Fury: First Contact (NGPC)(Fighter)
7. Pac-Man (NGPC)(Action)
8. Golden Axe (Genesis)(Hack and Slash)
9. Blood and Bacon (PC)(FPS)
10. Gain Ground (Genesis)(Strategy)
11. Flicky (Genesis)(Platformer)
12. Zombie Shooter 2 (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
13. Phantasmagoria (PC)(Point and Click)
14. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash - Capcom Version (NGPC)(Card Game)
15. Toonstruck (PC)(Point and Click)
16. Riven (PC)(Point and Click)
17. Dragon Wars (PC)(RPG)
18. Dungeon Hack (PC)(RPG)
19. SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)(Fighter)
20. Portal 2 (PC)(Puzzle FPS)
21. Goat Simulator: Waste of Space (PC)(Action)
22. Goat Simulator: Payday (PC)(Action)
23. Goat Simulator: MMO Simulator (PC)(Action)
24. Goat Simulator: GoatZ (PC)(Action)
25. Goat Simulator (PC)(Action)
26. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)(Beat 'Em Up)
27. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (PC)(Action Platformer)
28. Deadlight (PC)(Platformer)
28. Antichamber (PC)(Puzzle FPS)
29. S.C.A.R.S. (N64)(Racing)
30. Anvil of Dawn (PC)(RPG)
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1 (PC)(Action)
32. Inherit the Earth (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure)
33. Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny (PC)(FPS)
34. Wolfenstein 3D: Return to Danger (PC)(FPS)
35. Divinity: Original Sin (PC)(RPG)
36. Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
37. The Haunted Mansion (PS2)(Horror)
38. Prisoner of Ice (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure)
I haven't posted in a while in this thread, and a lot of that is because I've been focusing on multiplayer MMO gameplay or been busy with life outside of games. However, I realized I was behind, so I figured now was a good time to post and get caught up. I'm gonna speed through these.
Divinity: Original Sin
This is a tactical RPG that draws heavily from the likes of Baldur's Gate and Diablo in terms of story presentation, combat, and character abilities. You play as two self-created characters and can pick up two more if you like for a party of 4. Battles are turn-based, with you and the AI decided where to move, what to do, and how to go about doing it. Magic tends to have a lasting effect too; cast fire, and it scorches the area. Poison creates a poison fog, while ice will cause people to slip. You can also combine them, so case fire on a poison cloud, and things get explosive and then smoky, obscuring vision.
The plot is more your typical save-the-universe fair, so don't expect anything groundbreaking. It's also a little slow at giving you some of the most crucial stuff, and crafting is a complex system that requires playing and some level of dedication. On the upside, quests and characters are often entertaining, and there are a few additional options at character creation to influence difficulty. I prefer the newer Shadowrun titles, but D:OS is still worth checking out.
Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop
This is a stand-alone release, but it expands upon the top-down shooter Alien Swarm by taking the base campaign and then adding additional campaigns, gameplay modes, weapons, etc. Pretty much everything about the original game returns and is built upon and improved. It's also free to play on Steam. Every now and again, I really want to play a nice top-down shooter like this, and AS:RD scratches the itch when I've beaten the likes of the Alien Shooters and Shadowgrounds.
What's the game about? Aliens have overrun facilities on a distant planet, so it's up to your squad to go in and perform missions in various campaigns. Yes, squad; the game is multiplayer for up to 4 people, but the AI replacements aren't totally awful. They have some pathing issues that make me reticent to take them on higher difficulties, but on Normal they usually do just fine. There is also some variance in how each character plays, and with 2 characters each in 4 classes, you have some variety of styles and loadouts you can bring. I favor the female Heavy Weapons character myself.
The Haunted Mansion
This is a horror game aimed more at kids, but I picked it up some time ago because I haven't focused my attention much on kid horror and because I was curious. You know what? It works surprisingly well, mainly because it combines a variety of approaches to horror games. You play the new caretaker of the titular haunted mansion, and you must go through and find the lost souls hidden in all the rooms. To do this, you first have to solve the room's puzzle, beat bosses, do some platforming, etc. Don't take that to mean you'll be doing the same thing over and over again though. There is a lot of variance here.
What do I mean by that? Well, in one room you have to engage in a run through a dark maze from a scythe-wielding figure who wouldn't be out of place in a Clock Tower-style game. In others, you have to do platforming in the dark, but sometimes you must do this in a timed fashion, while in others the path only appears before you as it disappears behind you. Still another requires going into a Silent Hill-inspired alternate world for a brief puzzle to open a doorway or requiring a poltergeist to smash glass bottles in a room. The puzzles are at times surprisingly inspired.
The boss battles are a different matter, and combat isn't complex, but it is a game meant for kids, so I don't fault it too much on being light in these areas. It's more an interesting blend of ideas worth looking at just to see how it was inspired. It also wouldn't be a bad way to interest kids in horror games.
Prisoner of Ice
This is a point-and-click horror adventure game that serves as a sequel to Shadow of the Comet and pulls inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. The plot involves bizarre monsters known as Prisoners which are trapped in ice as well as Nazis, time travel, and the potential summoning of elder gods, which is something you definitely do not want to happen. The plot offers twists and plays with time a lot, so I'm not sure I could actually give you a full accounting of what happens; from what I've gathered, it treats time like a mobius strip. That said, it's an interesting game to play.
Unfortunately, it falters in game design. While it does have death sequences, and the game is kind enough to auto-save at the start of those sequences so you don't lose much in the way of progress, it doesn't provide much of any help on what to do. To make matters worse, it's a game where the items don't particularly stand out from the rest of the world, and sometimes key things seem to only be a couple of pixels wide. Of particular note is a needle I had to find on a desk for a puzzle. I had an idea that I needed something, but actually finding the needle only occurred when I went room to room, literally waving the mouse up and down to see if anything popped up that I had missed. It's a short game, and this feels like it was a means to artificially inflate the length.
As a result, I struggle to recommend it unless you know full well going in that you're probably going to be frustrated trying to track down the one item you need because you can't actually see it. If you're cool with that though, by all means check it out.
2. Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (SNES)(Light Gun Shooter)
3. Might and Magic VI (PC)(RPG)
4. Revenant (PC)(RPG)
5. Neo Turf Masters (NGPC)(Sports)
6. Fatal Fury: First Contact (NGPC)(Fighter)
7. Pac-Man (NGPC)(Action)
8. Golden Axe (Genesis)(Hack and Slash)
9. Blood and Bacon (PC)(FPS)
10. Gain Ground (Genesis)(Strategy)
11. Flicky (Genesis)(Platformer)
12. Zombie Shooter 2 (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
13. Phantasmagoria (PC)(Point and Click)
14. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash - Capcom Version (NGPC)(Card Game)
15. Toonstruck (PC)(Point and Click)
16. Riven (PC)(Point and Click)
17. Dragon Wars (PC)(RPG)
18. Dungeon Hack (PC)(RPG)
19. SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)(Fighter)
20. Portal 2 (PC)(Puzzle FPS)
21. Goat Simulator: Waste of Space (PC)(Action)
22. Goat Simulator: Payday (PC)(Action)
23. Goat Simulator: MMO Simulator (PC)(Action)
24. Goat Simulator: GoatZ (PC)(Action)
25. Goat Simulator (PC)(Action)
26. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)(Beat 'Em Up)
27. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (PC)(Action Platformer)
28. Deadlight (PC)(Platformer)
28. Antichamber (PC)(Puzzle FPS)
29. S.C.A.R.S. (N64)(Racing)
30. Anvil of Dawn (PC)(RPG)
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1 (PC)(Action)
32. Inherit the Earth (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure)
33. Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny (PC)(FPS)
34. Wolfenstein 3D: Return to Danger (PC)(FPS)
35. Divinity: Original Sin (PC)(RPG)
36. Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
37. The Haunted Mansion (PS2)(Horror)
38. Prisoner of Ice (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure)
I haven't posted in a while in this thread, and a lot of that is because I've been focusing on multiplayer MMO gameplay or been busy with life outside of games. However, I realized I was behind, so I figured now was a good time to post and get caught up. I'm gonna speed through these.
Divinity: Original Sin
This is a tactical RPG that draws heavily from the likes of Baldur's Gate and Diablo in terms of story presentation, combat, and character abilities. You play as two self-created characters and can pick up two more if you like for a party of 4. Battles are turn-based, with you and the AI decided where to move, what to do, and how to go about doing it. Magic tends to have a lasting effect too; cast fire, and it scorches the area. Poison creates a poison fog, while ice will cause people to slip. You can also combine them, so case fire on a poison cloud, and things get explosive and then smoky, obscuring vision.
The plot is more your typical save-the-universe fair, so don't expect anything groundbreaking. It's also a little slow at giving you some of the most crucial stuff, and crafting is a complex system that requires playing and some level of dedication. On the upside, quests and characters are often entertaining, and there are a few additional options at character creation to influence difficulty. I prefer the newer Shadowrun titles, but D:OS is still worth checking out.
Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop
This is a stand-alone release, but it expands upon the top-down shooter Alien Swarm by taking the base campaign and then adding additional campaigns, gameplay modes, weapons, etc. Pretty much everything about the original game returns and is built upon and improved. It's also free to play on Steam. Every now and again, I really want to play a nice top-down shooter like this, and AS:RD scratches the itch when I've beaten the likes of the Alien Shooters and Shadowgrounds.
What's the game about? Aliens have overrun facilities on a distant planet, so it's up to your squad to go in and perform missions in various campaigns. Yes, squad; the game is multiplayer for up to 4 people, but the AI replacements aren't totally awful. They have some pathing issues that make me reticent to take them on higher difficulties, but on Normal they usually do just fine. There is also some variance in how each character plays, and with 2 characters each in 4 classes, you have some variety of styles and loadouts you can bring. I favor the female Heavy Weapons character myself.
The Haunted Mansion
This is a horror game aimed more at kids, but I picked it up some time ago because I haven't focused my attention much on kid horror and because I was curious. You know what? It works surprisingly well, mainly because it combines a variety of approaches to horror games. You play the new caretaker of the titular haunted mansion, and you must go through and find the lost souls hidden in all the rooms. To do this, you first have to solve the room's puzzle, beat bosses, do some platforming, etc. Don't take that to mean you'll be doing the same thing over and over again though. There is a lot of variance here.
What do I mean by that? Well, in one room you have to engage in a run through a dark maze from a scythe-wielding figure who wouldn't be out of place in a Clock Tower-style game. In others, you have to do platforming in the dark, but sometimes you must do this in a timed fashion, while in others the path only appears before you as it disappears behind you. Still another requires going into a Silent Hill-inspired alternate world for a brief puzzle to open a doorway or requiring a poltergeist to smash glass bottles in a room. The puzzles are at times surprisingly inspired.
The boss battles are a different matter, and combat isn't complex, but it is a game meant for kids, so I don't fault it too much on being light in these areas. It's more an interesting blend of ideas worth looking at just to see how it was inspired. It also wouldn't be a bad way to interest kids in horror games.
Prisoner of Ice
This is a point-and-click horror adventure game that serves as a sequel to Shadow of the Comet and pulls inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness. The plot involves bizarre monsters known as Prisoners which are trapped in ice as well as Nazis, time travel, and the potential summoning of elder gods, which is something you definitely do not want to happen. The plot offers twists and plays with time a lot, so I'm not sure I could actually give you a full accounting of what happens; from what I've gathered, it treats time like a mobius strip. That said, it's an interesting game to play.
Unfortunately, it falters in game design. While it does have death sequences, and the game is kind enough to auto-save at the start of those sequences so you don't lose much in the way of progress, it doesn't provide much of any help on what to do. To make matters worse, it's a game where the items don't particularly stand out from the rest of the world, and sometimes key things seem to only be a couple of pixels wide. Of particular note is a needle I had to find on a desk for a puzzle. I had an idea that I needed something, but actually finding the needle only occurred when I went room to room, literally waving the mouse up and down to see if anything popped up that I had missed. It's a short game, and this feels like it was a means to artificially inflate the length.
As a result, I struggle to recommend it unless you know full well going in that you're probably going to be frustrated trying to track down the one item you need because you can't actually see it. If you're cool with that though, by all means check it out.
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MrPopo - Moderator
- Posts: 22373
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:01 pm
- Location: Orange County, CA
Re: Games Beaten 2018
PartridgeSenpai wrote:The last thing I wanna mention is the Switch port of the game. This game runs pretty badly on Switch.
There might be something wrong with your Switch; I didn't experience this in my playthrough back when it came out.
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PartridgeSenpai - Next-Gen
- Posts: 2141
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2018
MrPopo wrote:PartridgeSenpai wrote:The last thing I wanna mention is the Switch port of the game. This game runs pretty badly on Switch.
There might be something wrong with your Switch; I didn't experience this in my playthrough back when it came out.
I've found a lot of other people online mentioning it. It apparently used to be a LOT worse given that they released a bit patch back in February of this year for the Switch version to improve that along with a small amount of other things. I don't really know what to tell you other than that I wish I had your play experience, because it was really hard not to notice all the stuttering Xp
Apparently the Switch version used to be nearly unplayable. You could die in a certain area and just not be able to get back to your zombie to get your stuff back because that mechanic was bugged. Never having engaged with that mechanic myself, I can't say that it's fixed or not, but I'd like to hope it is.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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prfsnl_gmr - Next-Gen
- Posts: 9872
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2018
First 50
51. Knightmare Tower (iOS)
52. 80s Overdrive (3DS)
53. Hitman Go (iOS)
54. Deus Ex Go (iOS)
55. Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis)
56. Double Dragon IV (iOS)
57. Double Dragon Neon (PS3)
58. Double Dragon (GB)
59. Shadow Tower (PS1)
60. Double Dragon 3: The Sacred Stones (NES)
61. Double Dragon II (GB)
62. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap (SMS)
63. Legend of the Dark Witch Ep. 2 The Price of Desire (3DS)
64. Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis)
65. Costume Quest 2 (PS3)
66. Resident Evil (NDS)
67. Pang Adventures (iOS)
68. Resident Evil Deadly Silence (NDS)
Having played through the Jill scenario in the original version of Resident Evil, I played though the Chris scenario in the remixed, NDS-exclusive Deadly Silence version of the game. The Deadly Silence version adds some features and puzzles that utilize the system’s microphone and touchscreen (e.g., blowing out candles, re-wiring electrical systems, etc.). The most prominent of these is random, first-person, HOTD-inspired knife fights against zombies, dogs, hunters, etc. when you go through some doors. These fights add some challenge to the game, but they also present an opportunity to grab additional items if you perform well. My completion time was just over six hours, and I estimate the remixed Deadly Silence version added about 30-45 minutes of gameplay, the most significant of which is a second trip to the dormitory for a first-person boss battle against Yawn (or Yawn’s twin sister, since I had already killed Yawn in the mansion by that point). There were also “fast” zombies in my second trip through the game, along with way more enemies. I don’t know how much of that is due to differences between the Chris and Jill campaign and how much of that is due to differences between the original and Deadly Silence versions of the game, however.
Overall, I really enjoyed Resident Evil. It is a meticulously-designed, very fun game. I can’t say that the new content in the Deadly Silence version of the game justifies another trip to the Spencer Mansion if you’ve explored it before. It is an interesting spin on a classic game, however, and I generally enjoyed the new features.
51. Knightmare Tower (iOS)
52. 80s Overdrive (3DS)
53. Hitman Go (iOS)
54. Deus Ex Go (iOS)
55. Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis)
56. Double Dragon IV (iOS)
57. Double Dragon Neon (PS3)
58. Double Dragon (GB)
59. Shadow Tower (PS1)
60. Double Dragon 3: The Sacred Stones (NES)
61. Double Dragon II (GB)
62. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap (SMS)
63. Legend of the Dark Witch Ep. 2 The Price of Desire (3DS)
64. Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis)
65. Costume Quest 2 (PS3)
66. Resident Evil (NDS)
67. Pang Adventures (iOS)
68. Resident Evil Deadly Silence (NDS)
Having played through the Jill scenario in the original version of Resident Evil, I played though the Chris scenario in the remixed, NDS-exclusive Deadly Silence version of the game. The Deadly Silence version adds some features and puzzles that utilize the system’s microphone and touchscreen (e.g., blowing out candles, re-wiring electrical systems, etc.). The most prominent of these is random, first-person, HOTD-inspired knife fights against zombies, dogs, hunters, etc. when you go through some doors. These fights add some challenge to the game, but they also present an opportunity to grab additional items if you perform well. My completion time was just over six hours, and I estimate the remixed Deadly Silence version added about 30-45 minutes of gameplay, the most significant of which is a second trip to the dormitory for a first-person boss battle against Yawn (or Yawn’s twin sister, since I had already killed Yawn in the mansion by that point). There were also “fast” zombies in my second trip through the game, along with way more enemies. I don’t know how much of that is due to differences between the Chris and Jill campaign and how much of that is due to differences between the original and Deadly Silence versions of the game, however.
Overall, I really enjoyed Resident Evil. It is a meticulously-designed, very fun game. I can’t say that the new content in the Deadly Silence version of the game justifies another trip to the Spencer Mansion if you’ve explored it before. It is an interesting spin on a classic game, however, and I generally enjoyed the new features.
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PartridgeSenpai - Next-Gen
- Posts: 2141
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2018
Partridge Senpai's 2018 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017
* indicates a repeat
1-20
21-40
41-60
61. Iconoclasts (Steam)
After The Mummy: Demastered was a little bit of a disappointment, I was still in the mood for a Metroidvania, and Iconoclasts was another I'd picked up recently that I'd heard very good things about. It very much did not disappoint! I played on "Harder" difficulty (the hardest one isn't unlocked until you beat the game once), and it took me juuust over 10 hours playing on my 360 gamepad.
I got a very Timespinner meets Cave Story vibe from the narrative of the game. Like Timespinner, it has a very colorful art style to tell a quite serious story, but like Cave Story the audience is dropped into the world knowing nothing about it. Any lore of the world you want to know needs to be gained by talking to NPC's, reading messages, and going through the story, and it makes for a pretty engaging narrative in a rather unconventional take on the techno/fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the story, and I thought the main cast of characters were some of my favorites I've seen in a game with no VA due to how the game uses text (a bit like Ace Attorney, where font sizes, letter spacing, and automatically cycling dialogue boxes are used to get across different tones of voice/patterns of speech). Agent Black, for one, may be one of my new favorite villains in a game ever. Additionally, Robin is probably one of my favorite portrayals of a silent protagonist given that she is canonically quite non-verbal (she talks very seldomly, usually the player giving dialogue choices), and I thought the way she fits into the story as well as the way other characters treat her was done in a very charming fashion. This is definitely up there with Timespinner as one of my new favorite casts and favorite stories in a game that I was not expecting at all to blow me away so hard.
Mechanically, this game plays great. The isn't a ton of weapon variety, but there is a fair amount of enemy variety and the situations they're put in makes them always engaging to fight with (and infrequently annoying to fight). You have your standard gun but then also a wrench that can be used to grapple onto points for platforming as well as to both hit enemies in melee and parry their attacks. Each gun you come across has a normal fire as well as a charged fire, and although some will overheat if you fire them too much, it will need to cool down once you unleash a charged attack. There isn't that much crazy movement to traverse as far as a Castlevania-esque backdash or double jump is concerned, but your normal running, ducking, and jumping are more than enough to make boss fights tense and exciting. The optional boss fights get pretty crazy, but the game lets you instantly retry a fight if you fail (generally, as some for some reason make you walk a ways back and some others start from the previous cutscene that initiates the fight), so even the more challenging bosses aren't terribly unforgiving.
The level design is well done and the puzzles and combat fit into the environments well, but the game is a very linear Metroidvania. There is often very little exploring to do, and at several points in the story you have no choice but to go forward in the area you're in to complete the current story bit, and then you can come back a fair ways later when you've gotten some new gun/equipment to get a treasure chest you couldn't get to before. It's much more like Cave Story in that way in how it's more of a 2D Action Adventure Platformer and less of a Metroidvania. There are goodies hidden in past areas, sure, but they're fairly optional side-grades, and your maximum number of charms or max HP actually never increase by any means. This isn't a knock against the game, mind you. It's a freaking fantastic action adventure game, but if you go in expecting a more Super Metroid-like experience of recursive game design, you are likely going to be left wanting.
The exploring there is to do is often entirely in the pursuit of schematics to make Tweaks as well as the materials to put them together. You get the ability to make and wear Tweaks quite early in the game, and they act as slight add-on to give you passives to slight activatable abilities. They range from nullifying a single hit you take to giving you a double jump, but they're optional, so there isn't any content actually gated behind them. The double jump, for example, isn't required to get anywhere: It just makes getting around that much faster. When you get hit, one of them (starting from the right and going left) will break, and you'll need to kill enemies or break environmental objects to get enough ivory cubes to replenish it. It's a neat system that rewards you for playing well, but given that you craft them at stations and equip them at save points, I will add here that I really wish that crafting stations and save points were more often closer together XP
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This has more or less replaced Cave Story for me as my favorite game in this genre of more linear, action-focused Metroidvanias. It's a game with exemplary quality controls, combat, and writing, especially considering it came out of what seems to be a one-man indie studio, and I eagerly look forward to the next thing he makes (although if he's still a one-man team, I imagine it'll be a while X3).
Previously: 2016 2017
* indicates a repeat
1-20
21-40
41-60
61. Iconoclasts (Steam)
After The Mummy: Demastered was a little bit of a disappointment, I was still in the mood for a Metroidvania, and Iconoclasts was another I'd picked up recently that I'd heard very good things about. It very much did not disappoint! I played on "Harder" difficulty (the hardest one isn't unlocked until you beat the game once), and it took me juuust over 10 hours playing on my 360 gamepad.
I got a very Timespinner meets Cave Story vibe from the narrative of the game. Like Timespinner, it has a very colorful art style to tell a quite serious story, but like Cave Story the audience is dropped into the world knowing nothing about it. Any lore of the world you want to know needs to be gained by talking to NPC's, reading messages, and going through the story, and it makes for a pretty engaging narrative in a rather unconventional take on the techno/fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the story, and I thought the main cast of characters were some of my favorites I've seen in a game with no VA due to how the game uses text (a bit like Ace Attorney, where font sizes, letter spacing, and automatically cycling dialogue boxes are used to get across different tones of voice/patterns of speech). Agent Black, for one, may be one of my new favorite villains in a game ever. Additionally, Robin is probably one of my favorite portrayals of a silent protagonist given that she is canonically quite non-verbal (she talks very seldomly, usually the player giving dialogue choices), and I thought the way she fits into the story as well as the way other characters treat her was done in a very charming fashion. This is definitely up there with Timespinner as one of my new favorite casts and favorite stories in a game that I was not expecting at all to blow me away so hard.
Mechanically, this game plays great. The isn't a ton of weapon variety, but there is a fair amount of enemy variety and the situations they're put in makes them always engaging to fight with (and infrequently annoying to fight). You have your standard gun but then also a wrench that can be used to grapple onto points for platforming as well as to both hit enemies in melee and parry their attacks. Each gun you come across has a normal fire as well as a charged fire, and although some will overheat if you fire them too much, it will need to cool down once you unleash a charged attack. There isn't that much crazy movement to traverse as far as a Castlevania-esque backdash or double jump is concerned, but your normal running, ducking, and jumping are more than enough to make boss fights tense and exciting. The optional boss fights get pretty crazy, but the game lets you instantly retry a fight if you fail (generally, as some for some reason make you walk a ways back and some others start from the previous cutscene that initiates the fight), so even the more challenging bosses aren't terribly unforgiving.
The level design is well done and the puzzles and combat fit into the environments well, but the game is a very linear Metroidvania. There is often very little exploring to do, and at several points in the story you have no choice but to go forward in the area you're in to complete the current story bit, and then you can come back a fair ways later when you've gotten some new gun/equipment to get a treasure chest you couldn't get to before. It's much more like Cave Story in that way in how it's more of a 2D Action Adventure Platformer and less of a Metroidvania. There are goodies hidden in past areas, sure, but they're fairly optional side-grades, and your maximum number of charms or max HP actually never increase by any means. This isn't a knock against the game, mind you. It's a freaking fantastic action adventure game, but if you go in expecting a more Super Metroid-like experience of recursive game design, you are likely going to be left wanting.
The exploring there is to do is often entirely in the pursuit of schematics to make Tweaks as well as the materials to put them together. You get the ability to make and wear Tweaks quite early in the game, and they act as slight add-on to give you passives to slight activatable abilities. They range from nullifying a single hit you take to giving you a double jump, but they're optional, so there isn't any content actually gated behind them. The double jump, for example, isn't required to get anywhere: It just makes getting around that much faster. When you get hit, one of them (starting from the right and going left) will break, and you'll need to kill enemies or break environmental objects to get enough ivory cubes to replenish it. It's a neat system that rewards you for playing well, but given that you craft them at stations and equip them at save points, I will add here that I really wish that crafting stations and save points were more often closer together XP
Verdict: Highly Recommended. This has more or less replaced Cave Story for me as my favorite game in this genre of more linear, action-focused Metroidvanias. It's a game with exemplary quality controls, combat, and writing, especially considering it came out of what seems to be a one-man indie studio, and I eagerly look forward to the next thing he makes (although if he's still a one-man team, I imagine it'll be a while X3).
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
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Markies - 128-bit
- Posts: 777
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Re: Games Beaten 2018
Markies' Games Beat List Of 2018!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*
1. The Granstream Saga (PS1)
2. Perfect Dark (N64)
*3. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (PS1)*
4. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (XBOX)
5. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
*6. Pikmin (GCN)*
*7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)*
8. Shining Force II (GEN)
*9. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (PS1)*
*10. Mafia (XBOX)*
11. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (GCN)
12. ChuChu Rocket! (SDC)
*13. Super Metroid (SNES)*
14. Final Fantasy II (NES)
15. Devil May Cry (PS2)
16. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (GEN)
17. Secret of Evermore (SNES)
18. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction (PS2)
19. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
*20. Paper Mario (N64)*
21. Grandia II (SDC)
22. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PS2)
23. Bomberman Hero (N64)
24. OutRun (GEN)
25. Dragon Warrior IV (NES)
26. Super Monkey Ball (GCN)
27. Mischief Makers (N64)
28. Dragon Valor (PS1)
*29. Beyond Good & Evil (XBX)*
30. Tokyo Xtreme Racer (SDC)
31. Black (PS2)
*32. Street Fighter II (SNES)*
33. Koudelka (PS1)
34. Bad News Baseball (NES)
35. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
36. Shattered Union (XBOX)
I beat Shattered Union on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!
A friend of mine works in the gaming industry and I could not be more proud of him. He has a skill and an intelligence that is unmatched. It has been very rewarding watching him for several years as he started out, move away, worked on a big project like The Walking Dead Series and now works for Gearbox Software. He has also used his ability to get me tickets to PAX13 and show off some really great perks. I've always wanted to support his job, but I do not own any modern consoles or computers. Thankfully, his first game was made on the original XBOX. His game was one of the reasons I bought the console and I finally got around to playing it.
Shattered Union is a completely fictional game where politics turns Americans against each other and Russia decides to divide our country even more. Crazy, right? The game plays like a game of Risk with America being divided into different territories and factions all throughout the country. After building up your army, you go into War which plays like a Civilization style hexagonal grid with troops that play out like Advance Wars. Once you get into it and understand what is going on, the game gets really addicting really quickly. I began treating it like a Board Game and I was instantly hooked. I love the battles as they are simple, but have enough complexity to make them interesting. Also, each battlefield is different and I like how they incorporated the terrain of that part of the country into the battle. Outside of battle, there is a small amount of depth on which territory to attack, but it was enough that kept me strategizing on where to attack. The game scratched that itch of a strategy game, but not drowning in all of its intricacies.
With that in mind, I hate the story. Literally hate it. I play video games to escape reality, so to play a game that mirrors real life is not exactly fun. It's a neat concept, but a little too close to home for me. Also, it takes a while to understand everything. You have to do a ton of research before diving in and that takes time. Also, the interface is a bit too clunky, but that could be because it's an XBOX port of a PC game.
Overall, I was surprised at how much I liked Shattered Union. It is genuinely a good game and one of the better ones I played this year. If you love RTS games or War like Board Games, give this under-rated gem a shot.
*Denotes Replay For Completion*
1. The Granstream Saga (PS1)
2. Perfect Dark (N64)
*3. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (PS1)*
4. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (XBOX)
5. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
*6. Pikmin (GCN)*
*7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)*
8. Shining Force II (GEN)
*9. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (PS1)*
*10. Mafia (XBOX)*
11. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (GCN)
12. ChuChu Rocket! (SDC)
*13. Super Metroid (SNES)*
14. Final Fantasy II (NES)
15. Devil May Cry (PS2)
16. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (GEN)
17. Secret of Evermore (SNES)
18. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction (PS2)
19. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
*20. Paper Mario (N64)*
21. Grandia II (SDC)
22. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PS2)
23. Bomberman Hero (N64)
24. OutRun (GEN)
25. Dragon Warrior IV (NES)
26. Super Monkey Ball (GCN)
27. Mischief Makers (N64)
28. Dragon Valor (PS1)
*29. Beyond Good & Evil (XBX)*
30. Tokyo Xtreme Racer (SDC)
31. Black (PS2)
*32. Street Fighter II (SNES)*
33. Koudelka (PS1)
34. Bad News Baseball (NES)
35. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
36. Shattered Union (XBOX)
I beat Shattered Union on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!
A friend of mine works in the gaming industry and I could not be more proud of him. He has a skill and an intelligence that is unmatched. It has been very rewarding watching him for several years as he started out, move away, worked on a big project like The Walking Dead Series and now works for Gearbox Software. He has also used his ability to get me tickets to PAX13 and show off some really great perks. I've always wanted to support his job, but I do not own any modern consoles or computers. Thankfully, his first game was made on the original XBOX. His game was one of the reasons I bought the console and I finally got around to playing it.
Shattered Union is a completely fictional game where politics turns Americans against each other and Russia decides to divide our country even more. Crazy, right? The game plays like a game of Risk with America being divided into different territories and factions all throughout the country. After building up your army, you go into War which plays like a Civilization style hexagonal grid with troops that play out like Advance Wars. Once you get into it and understand what is going on, the game gets really addicting really quickly. I began treating it like a Board Game and I was instantly hooked. I love the battles as they are simple, but have enough complexity to make them interesting. Also, each battlefield is different and I like how they incorporated the terrain of that part of the country into the battle. Outside of battle, there is a small amount of depth on which territory to attack, but it was enough that kept me strategizing on where to attack. The game scratched that itch of a strategy game, but not drowning in all of its intricacies.
With that in mind, I hate the story. Literally hate it. I play video games to escape reality, so to play a game that mirrors real life is not exactly fun. It's a neat concept, but a little too close to home for me. Also, it takes a while to understand everything. You have to do a ton of research before diving in and that takes time. Also, the interface is a bit too clunky, but that could be because it's an XBOX port of a PC game.
Overall, I was surprised at how much I liked Shattered Union. It is genuinely a good game and one of the better ones I played this year. If you love RTS games or War like Board Games, give this under-rated gem a shot.
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MrPopo - Moderator
- Posts: 22373
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:01 pm
- Location: Orange County, CA
Re: Games Beaten 2018
1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC
37. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - PC
38. Hard Reset Redux - PC
39. Nier: Automata - PS4
40. Darksiders - PC
41. The Banner Saga 3 - PC
42. Guacamelee! 2 - PC
43. Spider-Man - PS4
44. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
45. Star Control Origins - PC
46. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - PS4
47. The Messenger - Switch
So a couple months ago I saw a review for this game; it sounded pretty sweet, and then I got to try it out at PAX and immediately bought it when I got home. Then I encountered a bug where I soft locked when I killed a boss at the same time as I died and it fucked my save. Now, about a month and a half later, the patch that fixed it finally made it to the Switch version (Steam got it a couple weeks ago) and I was able to finish. And now that the issue is finished I can say that this is a fantastic game. I highly recommend it for retro platform fans.
The Messenger takes a lot of cues from Ninja Gaiden. You're a ninja, you gain the ability to climb walls and jump up them quickly, and your primary weapon is a sword. Oh, and there's a bunch of nasty platforming designed to kill you. However, the game has a lot more mobility as a consequence of not actually being an 8-bit game with two buttons and a d-pad. This let them really amp up the platforming and they actually dialed back on the enemy placement compared to Ninja Gaiden. What's going to kill you in this game is you miffing a jump, not a bird that jumps out and knocks you into a pit.
Then, midway through the game you time travel into the future. And how do we signify that? We transition to 16-bit graphics and music. Then, at the end of that segment (much shorter than the first) the game opens up and has you go back through all the levels. But now you get to take advantage of the fact that the levels are strewn with time rifts that let you transition between the past and the future. The transition is seamless and affects the levels in various ways; one might have more hazards, or a wall will disappear, opening up new places. It ends up feeling like when you go back through Mega Man X levels with upgrades to get more upgrades (as there are also a couple of items that give you the ability to progress where you couldn't before). It's not full Metroidvania, as all the levels are still quite linear (though a couple of side paths exist leading to some teleporters and new stages).
Additionally, there's a completely optional set of challenges to gain a collectable; once you get all the collectables you unlock a special weapon that, frankly, isn't good but is a nice Ninja Gaiden callback. These challenges force you to show that you've figured out all the game's mechanics, and are short enough to not be frustrating and satisfying enough that they're worth doing even if you don't need the reward.
The game also has that indie game self aware humor that sometimes lands and sometimes is a miss. But a lot of it is avoidable if you don't bother talking with the NPCs. There's still some in the story, but the bulk is just you making your way through evil and them saying some evil things.
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC
37. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - PC
38. Hard Reset Redux - PC
39. Nier: Automata - PS4
40. Darksiders - PC
41. The Banner Saga 3 - PC
42. Guacamelee! 2 - PC
43. Spider-Man - PS4
44. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
45. Star Control Origins - PC
46. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - PS4
47. The Messenger - Switch
So a couple months ago I saw a review for this game; it sounded pretty sweet, and then I got to try it out at PAX and immediately bought it when I got home. Then I encountered a bug where I soft locked when I killed a boss at the same time as I died and it fucked my save. Now, about a month and a half later, the patch that fixed it finally made it to the Switch version (Steam got it a couple weeks ago) and I was able to finish. And now that the issue is finished I can say that this is a fantastic game. I highly recommend it for retro platform fans.
The Messenger takes a lot of cues from Ninja Gaiden. You're a ninja, you gain the ability to climb walls and jump up them quickly, and your primary weapon is a sword. Oh, and there's a bunch of nasty platforming designed to kill you. However, the game has a lot more mobility as a consequence of not actually being an 8-bit game with two buttons and a d-pad. This let them really amp up the platforming and they actually dialed back on the enemy placement compared to Ninja Gaiden. What's going to kill you in this game is you miffing a jump, not a bird that jumps out and knocks you into a pit.
Then, midway through the game you time travel into the future. And how do we signify that? We transition to 16-bit graphics and music. Then, at the end of that segment (much shorter than the first) the game opens up and has you go back through all the levels. But now you get to take advantage of the fact that the levels are strewn with time rifts that let you transition between the past and the future. The transition is seamless and affects the levels in various ways; one might have more hazards, or a wall will disappear, opening up new places. It ends up feeling like when you go back through Mega Man X levels with upgrades to get more upgrades (as there are also a couple of items that give you the ability to progress where you couldn't before). It's not full Metroidvania, as all the levels are still quite linear (though a couple of side paths exist leading to some teleporters and new stages).
Additionally, there's a completely optional set of challenges to gain a collectable; once you get all the collectables you unlock a special weapon that, frankly, isn't good but is a nice Ninja Gaiden callback. These challenges force you to show that you've figured out all the game's mechanics, and are short enough to not be frustrating and satisfying enough that they're worth doing even if you don't need the reward.
The game also has that indie game self aware humor that sometimes lands and sometimes is a miss. But a lot of it is avoidable if you don't bother talking with the NPCs. There's still some in the story, but the bulk is just you making your way through evil and them saying some evil things.
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