Games Beaten 2015

[Key-Glyph]

Key, I believe the technical term for the solution to your issue is called, "Sequels".

I actually typed the following line in my original post but decided to take it out:

"I know, I know... just by New Leaf."

[Flake]

1/3: Super Mario Bros 2: Lost Levels (Luigi Run) (3DS VC/NES)
1/4: Super Mario Bros. (Wii / All-Stars)
1/15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1/20: Super Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
1/28: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
2/15: Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (3DS)
2/15: Super Mario Land (3DS VC/GB)
2/16: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (3DS VC/GB)
3/3: Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (3DS VC/GB)
3/13: Dragon Ball Xenoverse (PS4)
3/23: Metroid Prime (Wii)
4/18: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii)
5/3: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
5/10: Donkey Kong Country (WiiU VC/SNES)
5/16: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyper Stone Heist (GEN)
5/23: Mario Party 10 (WiiU)
5/25: New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
6/18: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
8/9: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (WiiU VC/SNES)
9/5: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
9/11: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (3DS VC/GBC)
10/22: Splatoon (WiiU)
10/27: Street Figher Alpha (Arcade/PS2)

A recent necro-bump of an excellent thread by CD AGES made me bust out the old Street Fighter Alpha collection for PS2 and take a closer look at the games, starting with the original Street Fighter Alpha.

I don't have a lot of say about it other than I kinda get why this game is lost in the shuffle and omitted from almost every conversation about Street Fighter's influence on the fighting game genre. It's really basic, the art is underwhelming, the backgrounds are surprisingly static with less animation than even the original World Warriors, and I felt no urge to go back and beat it again after clearing Sagat with Ryu. I know that Sagat is not really the 'true' boss but the game isn't compelling enough to make me reach Bison or Akuma.

I wish I could remember this game's critical response when the title hit arcades but Alpha 2 is the first of the series that I remember having any impression of. Maybe there is a reason for that?

[noiseredux]

Flake, you realize that Street Fighter isn't a Nintendo IP, right? Did you mean to play this game?

[Flake]

Flake, you realize that Street Fighter isn't a Nintendo IP, right? Did you mean to play this game?

Ryu was added to Smash Bros recently so in my defense, this was an honest mistake.

[noiseredux]

Ryu was added to Smash Bros recently

I think that Retrofits the entire Street Fighter series into being a Nintendo IP.

[Cronozilla]

Going forward I don't think it'll be as much of an issue since we have standardized online networks and games being cut off are now due to individual publishers, rather than backbone services. Pretty much everyone is running their own stuff now.

Well, unless your online network is called Games for Windows Live.

I wouldn't consider GFWL a network that's being used going forward considering it's been all but abandoned for a few years.

Key, I believe the technical term for the solution to your issue is called, "Sequels".

I actually typed the following line in my original post but decided to take it out:

"I know, I know... just by New Leaf."

It has improvements too. So, there's that.

It's not that you can't complete the stuff you're missing, you just have to find people to help you out. If you're ever going to a convention, put out some feelers.

[Blu]

1. Super Smash Brothers - N64 (January 3)
2. Shovel Knight - Wii U (January 6)
3. NES Remix - Wii U (January 14)
4. NES Remix 2 - Wii U (January 14)
5. Streets of Rage - Genesis (January 16)
6. F-Zero - SNES (January 21)
7. Super Mario 3D World - Wii U (January 28)
8. Hyrule Warriors - Wii U (February 5)
9. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D - 3DS (February 23)
10. Double Dragon Neon - PC (March 1)
11. Mario Kart 8 - Wii U (March 3)
12. Hotline Miami - PS3 (March 14)
13. Pokemon White - Nintendo DS (March 17)
14. Pokemon Soul Silver - Nintendo DS (April 2)
15. Pokemon White 2 - Nintendo DS (April 14)
16. Pokemon X - Nintendo 3DS (April 30)
17. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Xbox One (May 3)
18. Pokemon Shuffle - Nintendo 3DS (May 12)
19. Hearthstone: Blackrock Mountain - PC / iPhone (May 17)
20. Splatoon - Wii U (June 7)
21. Fallout Shelter - iOS (June 21)
22. Phantasy Star Online Episode II - GameCube (August 24)
22. Resident Evil 4 - Wii (August 31)
23. Earthbound - Wii U Virtual Console (September 7)
24. Legend of Zelda - Wii U Virtual Console (September 21)
25. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. - Nintendo 3DS (September 30)
26. Animal Crossing: New Leaf - Nintendo 3DS (October 15)
27. Valiant Hearts: The Great War - Xbox One (October 19)
28. The Walking Dead: Season 1 - Xbox One (October 21)
29. The Walking Dead: Season 2 - Xbox One (October 21)
30. Halo 5 - Xbox One (October 28)

I am delighted to share my thoughts on Halo 5, complete with spoilers covered in tags. I played through on Legendary in solo, to get the Lone Wolf achievement. I thought the single player campaign was decent. I think there are some nagging things in the game that I have gripes about, but overall I am pretty satisfied with the gameplay.

Positives:
+ Promethean Knights don't do that teleport one shot anymore, but they still are pretty annoying. I don't like the puzzle of shooting their left and then right shoulder, then having them expose their backside. Seems monotonous especially when fire is raining down from everywhere else on the map. I usually resort to explosive weapons that splash and kill them of easier.
+ Gorgeous Visuals
+ All the alien species speak in English once more, which is a nice effect. Grunt comic relief is back, and lovely.
+ The story. It's convoluted, but it's still decent. Not original trilogy good, but still decent. I'll also talk about this in the negatives.
+ Controls. You can now hop and climb a lot of obstacles and climb ledges with a holding of the A button. Allows you to get some pretty unique views.
+ Non-linear routes. Often there's more than one way to approach enemy positions and accomplish objectives. You can often reveal hidden routes by charging through grates, cave-ins, etc. It's a cool feature that opens up many possibilities.

Negatives:
- Revival. It's nice to have this in co-op, but playing the single player experience is often a detriment. Because..
- Teammate AI is abysmal. Say you're on a nice high vantage point and an enemy takes you down. You're not going to be revived, because they can't climb simple jumps. Better start from your last checkpoint...
- Checkpoints. There's too few of them. Each little area of the level requires you to clear all of enemies out before you get a checkpoint. This is incredibly frustrating, because what I mean when I say this is Halo has often been a game of enemy waves. And if you clear a wave, usually you'd get a checkpoint, in the chance of your death. I feel like Halo 5 changes the formula. You die at the end of wave 3 of Prometheans? You're starting over from wave 1. This added to my frustration when I'd get nearly to the next area, only to get wiped out or see my teammates unable to revive me. I felt this was the most unforgiving Halo game yet in that regard.
- Story

This is the first game of the mainline Halo series that Brian Reed has been the lead writer. I don't think he's as good as Chris from Halo 4, despite Brian Reed having experience as a writer at Marvel. And I understand in the past trilogy of games, there was less of a world that was constructed through expanded universe contributions through novels, comics, you name it. You had Halo: Fall of Reach, Halo: The Flood, and Halo First Strike, all excellent Novels by Eric Nylund, with The Flood being written by William Dietz. Things were a little more simple when you had the Covenant trying to off humanity with the Flood also consuming everything.

As the series got more traction, there were so many novels out there meant to expand the universe, provide backstory and help foreshadow the coming games. Like, did you know that the Rookie from Halo 3 ODST was killed in a novel later on and that motivated the rest of the ODST squad including Buck to become Spartans? Me neither. So we have this Reclaimer trilogy that focuses heavily on the Forerunners, and the remnants of their civilzation existed in the past games without any real knowledge of who they are without reading novels about them. That and what happened to the enhancements the Librarian gave to the Master Chief in Halo 4? They're not even present. The Janus key? Wrapped up when Locke kills Jul'Mdama. Halsey wanting revenge on UNSC? That's not in there either. It just makes me feel like there's a bunch of holes in the story of Halo 5 that ignores so much of Halo 4, probably due to changing writing teams.

Another point is a lot of the production value that went into hyping Halo 5 doesn't match the quality of writing that I think we saw in Halo 5. Hunt the Truth podcast was amazing, but yet there's not much of a chase once the game begins. ONI isn't mentioned much at all about being a shadow organization aiming to keep this all hush hush and to label Master Chief as a traitor. Which I think sets a really weird tone when you're experiencing Halo 5. Seems a little disjointed to say the least. I expect some retcons to the story soon enough.

I was excited about the revealing of the antagonist and who should take up The Mantle. I don't think it's trite at all, and think that there's some logical explanations why things are happening the way they are. It's pretty exciting, especially with the Legendary Ending. But I'm still cautious about these Guardians, that could just lay waste to anything and everything without facing too much resistance. It will be interesting to see what is done in Halo 5.

That said, the multiplayer is really enjoyable and I think that eclipses the shortcomings of the single player. But I love a Halo story, and the series is taking a strange turn with the past narratives of Halo 4 and Halo 5. You can't overlook that if you've enjoyed the previous Halo Campaigns. If I ranked them independently, I'd give the solo experience a 7.0 and the multiplayer experience a 9.0.

[Fragems]

1. Injustice Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition(PS4)(Good)
2. Infamous First Light(PS4)(Good)
3. Drakengard 3(PS3) *Endings 1-4. Ending 5 I watched online due to BS boss.(Good except for the boss of the final alternate branch ending who can go burn in a firey hell )
4. Infamous Second Son(PS4)(Good)
5. Thomas Was Alone(PS4)(Great)
6. Uncharted Drake's Fortune(PS3) *(Good)
7. Uncharted 2 Among Thieves(PS3) *(Great)
8. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception(PS3) **(Good)
9. Deadpool(PS3)(Great)
10. Red Dead Redemption(360)(Good)
11. Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare(360)(Okay)
12. The Walking Dead Survival Instinct(360)(Shit)
13. Fuse(360)(Okay)
14. The Bureau Xcom Declassified(360)(Okay)
15. Asura's Wrath(360)(Great)
16. Beneath a Steel Sky(PC)(Good)
17. Soul Gambler(PC)(Okay)
19. Harvester(PC)(Good, but disturbing)
20. Coma: Mortuary(PC)(Shit)
21. Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure(PC)(Good)
22. Freedom Planet(PC)(Great)
23. Tropico 3 Steam Special Edition(PC)(Great)
24. Far Cry 4(PS3)(Okay kinda meh)
25. Shellshock 2 Blood Trails(360)(Shit)
26. Grand Theft Auto V(PC)(Great)
27. Shadow of Mordor(PS4)(Great)
28. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare(PS4)(Okay)
29. Fallout 3(PC)- Great
30. Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage(DLC)(PC)- Crap
31. Fallout 3: Broken Steel(DLC)(PC)- Okay
32. Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta(DLC)(PC)- Buggy Crap
33. Fallout 3: Point Lookout(DLC)(PC)- Great
34. Dying Light(Xbox One)- Great
35. Sunset Overdrive(Xbox One)- Great
36. Murdered Soul Suspect(Xbox One)- Okay
37. Ryse Son of Rome(Xbox One)- Great
38. Halo Anniversary Edition(Xbox One Master Chief Collection)- Good
39. Halo 2 Anniversary(Xbox One Master Chief Collection)- Okay
40. Halo 3(Xbox One Master Chief Collection)- Great
41. Halo 4(Xbox One Master Chief Collection)- Great
42. A Story About My Uncle(PC)- Okay
43. Valiant Hearts(XB1 GWG)- Great
44. Halo 5 (XB1)- (SP) Okay (MP) Seems good need more time to be sure though.
45. The Wolf Among Us(XB1) Great

The Wolf Among Us

This is by far the best Telltale game I've played so far. There is just so much more depth here then the the previous TT games characters are interesting and have quite a bit of backstory the choices/interactions feel meaningful and this has some of the best combat QTE pretty much ever. They did a great job of setting the atmosphere up the animation is beautiful, the voice cast is great, and the music is perfect. In fact the opening they use for each episode is probably one of my favorite openings for a game or even tv series in years.

Probably the best thing about the game is the main character you are the Sheriff of Fable town but you also happen to be the Big Bad wolf so your reputation isn't exactly glowing and it shows especially early on since most characters despise and fear you. The whole game is basically a balancing act of trying to prove you are a good guy while at the same time trying to solve a case which often puts you in situations where playing by the rules isn't an option if you want to find the truth.

Another great feature of this game is the combat unlike previous games the QTEs aren't all about survival in fact there are many times where you have to restrain yourself from going to far. I didn't realize this till the second fight when after at first getting my ass kicked my character got pissed and ended up beating a guy half to death I only realized that I was going to far and that stopping was an option once I got a prompt to literally rip his arm off . If you want to go through the game in a positive way the key is to realize how to ride the line of keeping yourself safe in combat while not brutalizing your enemy above and beyond whats necessary.

Altogether this is a great game that I highly recommend. However I did bump into some issues with the game on the XB1 that seemed hardware related. Beginning around the middle of Episode 4 the game started hanging on me mostly around saves, loads, and achievements. This wouldn't have been so bad if not for that fact that I had 10-20 second hangs often right in the middle of a QTE fighting sequence . The game was still playable but it was a noticeable issue that really broke the tension in a lot of situations. The disc was new and was damage free so I'm guessing either the choices/achievements were having sync issues with Xbox Live or the game just had a hard time accessing the XB1 internal harddrive.

[Stark]

@Fragems, play Tales From the Borderlands, it's even better!

[Fragems]

Just not a big borderlands fan .