Games NOT Beaten 2017

[jinx]

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days
Stuck on the same spot I got stuck on the last 3 times I tried to beat this game... the ending. I may come back to it eventually, but with my Vita, Switch and all the games I've recently got on Steam, I have very little reason to take out my PSP. After wasting so many work breaks on the same level, it hurts too much to pick back up.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
This is one I keep meaning to come back to, but I have very little motivation to dedicate myself to it or the main story. I may hop in and play a bit to kill time, but I doubt I'll ever actually get around to beating it.

Splatoon 2 has soaked up the majority of my time when I finally sit down to play something.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Splatoon 2 has soaked up the majority of my time when I finally sit down to play something.

YEEEEEEEESSSSSS! I have been obsessed with splatoon 2.. obsessed!!!!!

[pierrot]

Splatoon 2 has soaked up the majority of my time when I finally sit down to play something.

YEEEEEEEESSSSSS! I have been obsessed with splatoon 2.. obsessed!!!!!

Does the sequel bring anything new to the table, or is it essentially more of the same?

[BogusMeatFactory]

Splatoon 2 has soaked up the majority of my time when I finally sit down to play something.

YEEEEEEEESSSSSS! I have been obsessed with splatoon 2.. obsessed!!!!!

Does the sequel bring anything new to the table, or is it essentially more of the same?

The new salmon run is a very fun horde mode style game with a team of 4. The big change is balancing and weapons. Tons of new weapon types, the supers are completely new and are very well balanced and there is just an overall polish. I know some would say nothing has changed, but with a new single player campaign and a new horde mode and a slew of new weapons and an overhauled series of super moves the game is fresh and it is spectacular

[pierrot]

The new salmon run is a very fun horde mode style game with a team of 4. The big change is balancing and weapons. Tons of new weapon types, the supers are completely new and are very well balanced and there is just an overall polish. I know some would say nothing has changed, but with a new single player campaign and a new horde mode and a slew of new weapons and an overhauled series of super moves the game is fresh and it is spectacular

I never actually played the first one, but I remember the knock on it being that it was a bit light on content. I was mainly wondering if they had done much to actually bolster it from that stand point, or really change up the gameplay in some way. Sounds like there are some nice additions, but that it's still less of a sequel, and maybe more of a definitive edition / director's cut. Not sure if that's accurate, though.

I don't really keep up with new releases, these days, but that one just seemed to come out of nowhere.

[alienjesus]

The new salmon run is a very fun horde mode style game with a team of 4. The big change is balancing and weapons. Tons of new weapon types, the supers are completely new and are very well balanced and there is just an overall polish. I know some would say nothing has changed, but with a new single player campaign and a new horde mode and a slew of new weapons and an overhauled series of super moves the game is fresh and it is spectacular

I never actually played the first one, but I remember the knock on it being that it was a bit light on content. I was mainly wondering if they had done much to actually bolster it from that stand point, or really change up the gameplay in some way. Sounds like there are some nice additions, but that it's still less of a sequel, and maybe more of a definitive edition / director's cut. Not sure if that's accurate, though.

I don't really keep up with new releases, these days, but that one just seemed to come out of nowhere.

It's kinda partly one and partly the other? There's a mix of new and old multiplayer maps, new and old weapons, and the return of all the old play modes too. However, there's still loads of new weapons and stages, an entirely new single player campaign, and the new horde mode. It's definitely a sequel rather than a directors cut of the first (way too much new content and missing old content to be otherwise), but it's not reinventing the wheel, that's for sure.

If you caught early reviews of Splatoon 1, it's worth noting that they pumped out new maps and weapons for free on a weekly basis for a year, so the content in the game at the end was more than at the start. Splatoon 2 is doing the same thing - they just announced the new horde mode level that's arriving soon for example.

[Xeogred]

Horizon Zero Dawn is a technical marvel...

... trapped in a shell of utterly tiresome and uninspired game design and mechanics.

I got about halfway into Horizon and none of it was fun. If you have played Grand Theft Auto III, any Assassin's Creed, or any other big blockbuster Western open world game of the last decade or so, you have played Horizon. You have a big map cluttered with icons. Lazy designed and poorly animated side NPC quest givers all around. You will spend half your game time micromanaging needless inventory, loot, ingredients, etc. One hour into the game and you will hear the main character already begin to repeat item pickup lines with all the trash littered around the world. A constant need to craft ammo. The game plays itself during platforming and running segments, just hold up to play the game. Big tall tower things to climb to open up a map with icon clutter, a checklist of where you need to go. The game is constantly telling you what to do and where to go, you are an aimless errand runner.

Except I'm done running errands. I banked on the fact that Horizon was a fresh new IP and had an interesting looking world, but those elements didn't save it for me at all. I am just about 100% done with this genre at this point. "Open world" has now become a literal turn off to my eyes and will get me to look elsewhere and invest my time and money into other games. This is a genre I loved say, back in the mid 2000's. But this is 2017 and a lot of Western developers have completely failed to develop anything interesting. This is one of the "safest" games I've ever seen in all the wrong ways. All that shine with no soul.

It was also a big turn off how this game has an emphasis on stealth. Stealth... in an open world? No thanks. And despite how much technical flair it has with its graphics and all that, I never once really stopped to just look at anything. The towns especially, were so busy with poorly scripted NPC's popping in and out of place, it took me out of the experience. There's lists upon lists of things to do constantly generating and bogging you down. The game is simply far too busy to even take a breath of air in. Compared to say, Dark Souls which probably had a tenth of this budget, but I will never ever forget those environments and its art direction.

I can make some excellent direct comparisons. Breath of the Wild was a real scare to me going into it, because of the open world fatigue. But it escaped all the pitfalls. You can climb everything. The pacing is better with dialogue not taking up too much time or the story being thrown in your face. The game never really tells you exactly where to go. YOU are the cartographer and design the map. I cannot put into words how thrilling and rewarding it was to complete this game and look at the map, all the icons I had manually marked and explored, was done by my hand.

I also went into Horizon directly after finishing off Rise of the Tomb Raider, which I loved. Both games share similar elements with the climbing/adventure and an emphasis on bow combat. But one of these I beat and loved, the other I didn't. Simply because Tomb Raider is more linear, it felt focused and never disjointed. It has ~2-3 open maps that would take you maybe a few minutes to run from one side to another, nothing too dramatic. You know what? I LOVE collecting and doing everything I can in these small little open areas sprinkled throughout the game. It has some branching paths and although there is some loot and crafting, it's more deliberate and less than Horizon. I even need to be in the mood for the heavily scripted types like these Tomb Raider reboots, but by the end of the day... I will easily take these kind of games over open world now. Rise of the Tomb Raider ruled. (somehow, I think it looks even better than Horizon too. Again, because of its focused direction they can intricately design things better).

Here's my favorite comparison though, Mega Man Legends. A 20 year gap between this game and Horizon, if we really break things down there's honestly quite a lot to compare here. But Mega Man Legends does everything better. There are no quest markers or Bible sized menus of text and lists of things to do. Equipping armor takes one second. Mega Man Legends lets you truly be free and explore its world, engage among the townsfolk and side quests on your own accord. There's nothing ever bogging you down or any disingenuous game design that's trying to nickel and dime you into menial tasks and rewards. When things aren't held over my head or demanded, I feel more compelled to put in the work and do quests. It lets me experience its world and gameplay my way. It's amazing how hard Mega Man Legends destroys Horizon Zero Dawn.

Horizon Zero Dawn, biggest disappointment of the year.

I was at least interested enough to finish off the story with a "movie cut" on youtube, but still don't really see the fuss. This is no Nier Automata. Anyways, there is no turning back. I have not traded in games in like a decade, but went ahead and threw out Horizon along with two other PS4 regrets, to put them towards Yakuza 0. I do not regret this at all.

[PartridgeSenpai]

It's kinda odd that you mention it that way, Xeo. I've tried getting into Mega Man 64 several times and just never can. I just always lose interest. The fact that it's so derivative of OoT very well might be the reason for that. OoT is a game that has really not aged well for me. If I didn't know more or less exactly how to get through that game, I'd never have the patience to bumble my way through it. I could barely get through it again back when it rereleased on 3DS just because it goes on and on and on.

I'm glad you can enjoy games like that, although if anything you've confirmed that HZD will almost certainly be a game I will enjoy

[Xeogred]

I mentioned that about Legends in the Games Beaten thread, there's definitely a lot of similarities. One thing to consider though is that Legends came out in 1997, a full year before Ocarina of Time. So it's interesting to see which gets a lot of credit and which doesn't... heh. I'm now hours into 2 and it's even more like 3D Zelda, with different islands and unique dungeons that are more complex. Have you ever tried this one out? It's a pretty different flavor and the story seems more serious. But if you don't like N64 Zelda, yeah I'm not sure if you'd enjoy these then.

I've been curious about the differences between Legends PSX and Mega Man 64, but they don't sound too dramatic I guess. N64 probably doesn't have voice acting or the cutscenes? Maybe the PSX version is somehow better... but I can say it does start a little slow and is one of those games that gets better and better. Only took about 9 hours too so it's even shorter than the Zelda's.

Well... I'll take Legends and you can have Horizon.

[pierrot]

I think I might throw in the towel on Gunner's Heaven. I made it as far as the boss of stage 3, and I probably should have stopped much sooner. That stage was kind of a really bad idea, but the game is a bit too derivative of stuff like Gunstar Heroes, without really establishing an identity of its own. It can be mildly entertaining, but it still feels a bit half baked. It could be my own fault, though, in trying to play it after playing through Metal Slug X.