Games Beaten 2015
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2015
Ack wrote:AcidTech, the only forum theme that matters.
This is giving me a flash back to the near revolt we had when we changed the site around a few years ago.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
Re: Games Beaten 2015
Flake wrote:Ack wrote:AcidTech, the only forum theme that matters.
This is giving me a flash back to the near revolt we had when we changed the site around a few years ago.
Hey man, it's the only way to fly.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
First 50:
51. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC)(FPS)
52. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PC)(FPS)
53. 9:05 (PC)(Text Adventure)
54. Mercenary Kings (PC)(Run and Gun)
55. Super Pinball: Behind the Mask (SNES)(Pinball)
56. Pinocchio (SNES)(Platformer)
57. Iron Brigade (PC)(Tower Defense/TPS)
58. Iron Brigade: Rise of the Martian Bear (PC)(Tower Defense/TPS)
59. Anachronox (PC)(RPG)
60. Banished (PC)(Strategy)
We don't talk about strategy games much here on Racketboy, which is a shame. I'm a fan of the genre, though I don't play them often enough, and I definitely have my preferences for different subgenres within the strategy umbrella. City-builders happens to be one I greatly enjoy, probably in part due to fond memories of playing through SimCity over and over again on the Super Nintendo. I loved it then, and I love it now. It's a generally relaxing and laid back theme, sprinkled with moments of panic caused by natural disasters and population spikes or plummets.
A few years ago I heard about Banished and eagerly began anticipating it. Gameplay videos promised a game that provided a leisurely atmosphere with a survivalist spirit, where I would begin with a group of settlers expelled from their European-esque homeland and completely cut off from the world, simple folks who would start with nothing and build their way up into a metropolis in defiance of the monarchies who spurned them. When the game finally appeared on GOG, I swooped in a grabbed it during the first sale I saw it. And then...it languished in my backlog. Hey, I'm being honest here, my backlog is huge. Anyway, I finally sat down a couple of months ago and began playing Banished...
...and I pretty much got what I wanted. Banished has a soothing atmosphere that at times runs completely in the opposite direction from the ongoing wild population swings that occasionally create crisis. My peasants require food, wood, stone, coal, steel, warm clothes, tools, herbs, education, medical attention, so on and so forth. Something is always going on, such as preparing for the upcoming winter by ensuring firewood and food stockpiles are high, trying to fend off a looming population crisis when citizens are aging rapidly and starting to die off without enough people to replace them, or new hordes of uneducated and often diseased refugees wander in hoping that they can take up residence. Yet eventually it becomes second nature in planning to deal with these problems, and after a while the town reaches a level of self-sufficiency which may fluctuate wildly but still manages to balance out. The hardest part is overcoming the first few crises as your colony slowly expands to break triple digits. Once that's done, it becomes more about managing your expansion as opposed to surviving.
Unfortunately that's also where the game's limitations become apparent, because once you've built one of everything, you realize there is no real final goal in the game and nothing new to see. Instead achievements serve as the new benchmarks of progress. Really, the achievement hunt ends up becoming your end goal, because once you've earned them all, you've done everything. That's it. That's all, folks. From there it all just becomes a sort of meditative trance, watching your city ebb and flow but always soldier on, expanding or retracting when it needs to, confronting disease or crisis but providing the means to deal with it. Eventually you'll see massive population swings in the range of 400-900 people, which is actually pretty awesome once you realize all of these people have names, families, jobs, and places they live.
That's one of the highlights for me, watching citizens be born, age, go to school, take up jobs, shack up, have kids, and then eventually die. Perhaps it's an accident, like being crushed by a rock, freezing to death, or starving. Once you've gotten the hang of things though, it's usually ripe old age. I find it a bit bittersweet, to see the name of an NPC born during the time of some particular milestone, live life, and then die 70 years later. I can see the generations play out while my people continue to march on to their inevitable conclusion.
I like Banished, but it does eventually grow dull, it's people endless and inevitable. Existence becomes boring. Still, for the time I spent with it, I appreciated it. I just doubt I'll want to go back any time soon.
51. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC)(FPS)
52. The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (PC)(FPS)
53. 9:05 (PC)(Text Adventure)
54. Mercenary Kings (PC)(Run and Gun)
55. Super Pinball: Behind the Mask (SNES)(Pinball)
56. Pinocchio (SNES)(Platformer)
57. Iron Brigade (PC)(Tower Defense/TPS)
58. Iron Brigade: Rise of the Martian Bear (PC)(Tower Defense/TPS)
59. Anachronox (PC)(RPG)
60. Banished (PC)(Strategy)
We don't talk about strategy games much here on Racketboy, which is a shame. I'm a fan of the genre, though I don't play them often enough, and I definitely have my preferences for different subgenres within the strategy umbrella. City-builders happens to be one I greatly enjoy, probably in part due to fond memories of playing through SimCity over and over again on the Super Nintendo. I loved it then, and I love it now. It's a generally relaxing and laid back theme, sprinkled with moments of panic caused by natural disasters and population spikes or plummets.
A few years ago I heard about Banished and eagerly began anticipating it. Gameplay videos promised a game that provided a leisurely atmosphere with a survivalist spirit, where I would begin with a group of settlers expelled from their European-esque homeland and completely cut off from the world, simple folks who would start with nothing and build their way up into a metropolis in defiance of the monarchies who spurned them. When the game finally appeared on GOG, I swooped in a grabbed it during the first sale I saw it. And then...it languished in my backlog. Hey, I'm being honest here, my backlog is huge. Anyway, I finally sat down a couple of months ago and began playing Banished...
...and I pretty much got what I wanted. Banished has a soothing atmosphere that at times runs completely in the opposite direction from the ongoing wild population swings that occasionally create crisis. My peasants require food, wood, stone, coal, steel, warm clothes, tools, herbs, education, medical attention, so on and so forth. Something is always going on, such as preparing for the upcoming winter by ensuring firewood and food stockpiles are high, trying to fend off a looming population crisis when citizens are aging rapidly and starting to die off without enough people to replace them, or new hordes of uneducated and often diseased refugees wander in hoping that they can take up residence. Yet eventually it becomes second nature in planning to deal with these problems, and after a while the town reaches a level of self-sufficiency which may fluctuate wildly but still manages to balance out. The hardest part is overcoming the first few crises as your colony slowly expands to break triple digits. Once that's done, it becomes more about managing your expansion as opposed to surviving.
Unfortunately that's also where the game's limitations become apparent, because once you've built one of everything, you realize there is no real final goal in the game and nothing new to see. Instead achievements serve as the new benchmarks of progress. Really, the achievement hunt ends up becoming your end goal, because once you've earned them all, you've done everything. That's it. That's all, folks. From there it all just becomes a sort of meditative trance, watching your city ebb and flow but always soldier on, expanding or retracting when it needs to, confronting disease or crisis but providing the means to deal with it. Eventually you'll see massive population swings in the range of 400-900 people, which is actually pretty awesome once you realize all of these people have names, families, jobs, and places they live.
That's one of the highlights for me, watching citizens be born, age, go to school, take up jobs, shack up, have kids, and then eventually die. Perhaps it's an accident, like being crushed by a rock, freezing to death, or starving. Once you've gotten the hang of things though, it's usually ripe old age. I find it a bit bittersweet, to see the name of an NPC born during the time of some particular milestone, live life, and then die 70 years later. I can see the generations play out while my people continue to march on to their inevitable conclusion.
I like Banished, but it does eventually grow dull, it's people endless and inevitable. Existence becomes boring. Still, for the time I spent with it, I appreciated it. I just doubt I'll want to go back any time soon.
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noiseredux
- Next-Gen
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Re: Games Beaten 2015
noiseredux wrote:Ack, you need to play Cities Skylines - one of my favorite games of the year.
I may get to it eventually...once it's on GOG.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
prfsnl_gmr wrote:I was able to perfect all but ten puzzles in the 3DS version of Quell Reflect. I was able to look up answers to four of them. The remaining six are exclusive to the 3DS version, however, and no one on the internet has perfected them apparently. (I could probably do it if I felt like spending even more time with the game, but after spending so much time with this great game, I am ready to move on to something else!) I am really looking forward to the sequel, Quell Memento, and if I ever get a tablet, Quell will be one of the first games I get for it.
It's a perfect tablet game. Amazon's also got their GameCircle compatible with these Quell games, basically just achievements and experience levels, so it's a nice boost. It plays well on the TV too!
Xeogred wrote:The obvious answer is that it's time for the Dreamcast 2.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
I know I don't really post in this thread, but I just wanted anyone wondering to know that, yes, I for one do read through all the thoughts written about the games played. I quite enjoy going through and reading about what others are playing. I just don't comment because, like others have said, I usually don't feel like I have anything to add.
I do enjoy reading them though. Keep up the good work!
I do enjoy reading them though. Keep up the good work!
Re: Games Beaten 2015
Just beat Hatsune Miku: Project Diva F 2nd, Uncharted 2, and Uncharted 3! 
Project Diva F 2nd was a great game. Very fun to play in bursts, and the songs are earworms. I'm currently working on beating the game on the hard difficulty. 9/10.
My all-time favorite Trilogy of games. Although I haven't beaten the first yet (I'm working on it.), I've beaten the first once before, and UC2 & 3 three times each.
Uncharted 2 is a 10/10 game for me. Played it three times, and I still can't find any flaws. Uncharted 3 is a bit lower, with an 8/10. The plot is weaker, and the villains are not nearly as fleshed out (or good, for that matter) but the gameplay is still the same ol' Uncharted I know and love.
Project Diva F 2nd was a great game. Very fun to play in bursts, and the songs are earworms. I'm currently working on beating the game on the hard difficulty. 9/10.
My all-time favorite Trilogy of games. Although I haven't beaten the first yet (I'm working on it.), I've beaten the first once before, and UC2 & 3 three times each.
Uncharted 2 is a 10/10 game for me. Played it three times, and I still can't find any flaws. Uncharted 3 is a bit lower, with an 8/10. The plot is weaker, and the villains are not nearly as fleshed out (or good, for that matter) but the gameplay is still the same ol' Uncharted I know and love.
Currently Playing: Hatsune Miku Project Diva F 2nd (PS3)
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fastbilly1
- Site Admin
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- Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:08 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2015
N64 - Tom and Jerry Fist of Fury
It is slowed down Powerstone, released the same year as Powerstone, in the Tom and Jerry "universe." It has a weird power creep at the end where melee is worthless and weapons plink damage to increase the difficulty. But after the third fight I discovered I could catch objects, and the bots could not until much later in the game, so I ended up running a short loop between object spawn points and catching what was thrown at me. Took about an hour to finish. It would be a fun diversion in multiplayer on a game night, but cant recommend hunting it down.
It is slowed down Powerstone, released the same year as Powerstone, in the Tom and Jerry "universe." It has a weird power creep at the end where melee is worthless and weapons plink damage to increase the difficulty. But after the third fight I discovered I could catch objects, and the bots could not until much later in the game, so I ended up running a short loop between object spawn points and catching what was thrown at me. Took about an hour to finish. It would be a fun diversion in multiplayer on a game night, but cant recommend hunting it down.