Games Beaten 2016

[BoneSnapDeez]

Nice work Ack. Glad I could help!

[isiolia]

1. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)
2. DOAX3 Fortune Edition (PS4)
3. Uncharted 4 (PS4)
4. DOOM (2016) (PC)
5. Halo 5 (Xbox One)
6. Dark Souls (PC)
7. Call of Duty (PC)
8. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC)
9. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
10. King's Field: The Ancient City (PS2)
11. Bloodborne (PS4)
12. SOMA (PC)
13. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS4)
14. Dark Souls III (PS4)
15. Lords of the Fallen (PC)

Played: About 11.5 hours, didn’t bother with proceeding into NG+/etc. Bought the PC version rather than play the PS4 version that I guess I could have gotten free via PS+ this month. Mostly because I hadn’t checked, but when I read Digital Foundry’s head to head, the console versions appeared to struggle anyway. Even on PC it’s a strangely demanding game, likely due to all the graphics bells and whistles.

Thoughts:

My original thought was to take a break from Soulsborne games before diving into Demon’s Souls. Yet, I also figured it’d be a good time to try playing this, given that it copies a lot of mechanics from those games. The controller layout and flow of combat are very similar, albeit with a handful of changes that take getting used to (ideally...you can also spend most of the game pressing the magic button when you mean to run, like I did ). Similarly, the equipment and upgrade systems copy/paste a lot, but do simplify things or add a new twist here and there.


Note how the HP/Stamina meters are at the bottom of the screen.

Some of the game flow is also copied - there are checkpoint crystals akin to bonfires, and there are lot of shortcuts to open up.
Other than creating the inevitable comparisons, it’s not a bad strategy, just like plenty of fighting games back in the day keyed off of what Street Fighter II did.

That said, folks looking for more Dark Souls here...will be largely disappointed. Most of the other aspects of that series, like the atmosphere and lore-heavy storytelling, are not present. The main plot is fairly generic, starting with the main character, Harkyn, who pretty much looks like Kratos doing a cameo in Warcraft. You can pick between three classes, but that’s it. To its credit, there are multiple ways to handle some of the quests that pop up, some of which are highlighted in the ending narration.
Overall though, it’s pretty generic stuff, set in what amounts to a couple of fortresses, with a handful of characters. Not a lot of variety. To be fair though, it’s also probably more of a “mid tier” game, not one made with a AAA budget.


The only woman - or female anything, offhand - in the game.

It does seem to have a reputation as a buggy game, and I did run into a few annoyances. The primary one is that the game would lose application focus (or something) leading it to immediately pause (no online aspect, so unlike Dark Souls, you can actually pause). I could use Task Manager to regain it, but it was mildly annoying. I did get stuck in the floor once, and jump to places I couldn’t get back out of some other times - though that’s more a design oversight.
One of the later bosses, which was actually two bosses, glitched out for me too, leading to one of them freezing and doing nothing. I’ve seen a speedrun of this where several bosses could be glitched like that reliably, but I think that was fixed.
In any case, I didn’t get any hard crashes, and little impeded progress.



Overall, not bad, but also not something that I’d say is a must-play.

[Xeogred]

Yeah, I looked into that one again recently and... I'll pass. Not sure why I'd bother with a Souls knockoff when I can just replay some Souls.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2016

First 50:

Spirits of Xanadu - PC
Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 1 - PC
Operation C - Game Boy
That Dragon, Cancer - PC
Contra - NES
Super C - NES
Contra III - The Alien Wars - SNES
Tekken - PS1
The King of Fighters '99 - PS1
Street Fighter Alpha - PS1
Call of Duty: Black Ops III - PS4
Three Fourths Home - PC
Firewatch - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
Far Cry: Primal - PS4
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax - PS3
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma EXTEND - Xbox One
Android Assault Cactus - PS4
Table Top Racing - Vita
The Room - iOS
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle - PS3
The Room 2 - iOS
Broforce - PS4
Toybox Turbos - PC
Peggle 2 - PS4
R-Type (R-Type Dimensions) - 360
The Room 3 - iOS
Rampage - SMS
Doom (2016) - PS4
Dungeon Siege III - - 360
Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End - PS4
NES Remix - Wii U
Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 - 3DS
Outrun 3D - 3DS
Box Boy - 3DS
Splatoon - - Wii U
Nano Assault Neo X - PS4
Mamorukun Curse! - PS3
Hyperburner - iOS
The Beginner's Guide - PC
Halo 5: Guardians - Xbox One
POP: Methodology Experiment 1 - PC
Amplitude - - PS4
Slave of God - PC
Power Drift 3D - 3DS
Bio-Hazard Battle - Genesis
Thunder Force II - Genesis
Thunder Force III - Genesis
Lightening Force - Genesis
DiRT: Showdown - PC

Battleborn - PC
140 - PC
Last Duel - Arcade (PSP)
Alien on the Run - 3DS
Undead Bowling - 3DS
Chain Blaster - 3DS
Runny Egg - 3DS
Bound - PS4
Parasite Eve - PS1
Destiny - PS4
Destiny: The Dark Below - PS4
Destiny: The House of Wolves - PS4
Destiny: The Taken King - PS4
Otomedius Excellent - 360
Crimsonland - PC
Planet of the Eyes - PC
Destiny: Rise of Iron - PS4
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut - PC *new*

Total: 68

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

This game combines the three Incredible Advenntures of Van Helsing games released over the past few years into one full experience, and I am glad I waited to play it in this form as, from what I've read, it is by far the best version.

The game is essentially a Diablo clone (Diablo III, specifically), but with a lot more humor and a setting that provides a cross between a traditional gothic horror aesthetic and more of a steampunk aesthetic. I ran into no bugs, glitches, slowdown, etc. and the whole thing looks quite nice with great lighting effects (it moves smoothly even with massive amounts of enemies on screen). There's a lot of customization options, plenty of classes, the default difficulty is pretty fair (in that some sections seemed tough, some seemed easy). The whole thing clocked in at about 28 hours for me (making it one of the longest games I have played this year). I'd certainly recommend it if you like the genre.

[laurenhiya21]

1/16: Diablo III (PC)
1/19: Picross E (3DS DL)
1/23: Baroque (Wii)
2/5: LocoRoco (PSP)
3/31: Picross e2 (3DS DL)
4/7: Stardew Valley (Steam)
4/8: Voices From the Sea (Steam)
4/10: X-Note (Steam)
4/11: To the Moon (Steam)
4/19: Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3)
4/19: Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match (PS3)
6/19: Steins;Gate (PS3)
7/11: Yoshi’s Woolly World (Wii U)
7/13: Muramasa Rebirth (Vita)
7/13: Strider 2 (PS1 Classics)
7/16: Planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ (Steam)
7/16: Narcissu (Steam)
7/26: Crimzon Clover: World Ignition (GOG)
7/28: LocoRoco 2 (PSP)
7/30: Criminal Girls: Invite Only (Vita)
8/1: Pokemon Art Academy (3DS)
8/5: Gal*Gun: Double Peace (PS4)
8/8: Before the Echo (Steam)
8/9: Ironclad (PC DL)
8/9: Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)
8/14: Super Paper Mario (Wii)
8/15: Metal Slug (Steam)
8/17: Metal Slug 2 (Steam)
8/17: Metal Slug X (Steam)
8/18: Metal Slug 3 (Steam)
8/24: Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon (PS3)
8/25: The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (Steam)
8/28: Hatsune Miku Project Diva f (Vita)
8/31: Fable: The Lost Chapters (PC)
9/8: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni - Ch.2 Watanagashi (Steam)
9/28: Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (PSP)

Total: 36 games

Higurashi Ch.2
I beat this a few days before my Japan trip, so some things might be a little off from what I remember. Hopefully not though ha.

Anyway, this is very similar to the first chapter (small town seems normal at first, then murders!!), but different stuff happens. I'm trying not to get into too spoilerly territory, but in this chapter it's like the events from the first chapter didn't happen. It starts over from the beginning, minus the long section of introducing everybody that the first chapter had. I'm still not really sure if it's even related to the first chapter at all, but I think that this is part of the Question arc (which is the first four chapters) and not the Answers arc (the last four), it's supposed to leave some questions unanswered.

I felt the story itself was pretty well told though. I think pretty much all of the events had some sort of importance to the story, which may of been an improvement from the first chapter. Only thing that I didn't particularly like, was that in one of the later chapters, the mood gets really tense and I start worrying about what's going to happen to the characters... and then huge exposition dump. Kind of killed the mood a bit.

Overall though, I still enjoyed reading it. I have a lot of questions though, so I'm curious on how the third chapter will play out.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva
I wasn't really sure how the PSP Hatsune Miku games were compared to the ones I've played (Project Diva f and f 2nd), but since I found this one for around $2 (and 2nd for $5), there was really no reason not to get them and try them out.

Surprisingly, even though it's the first entry in the series, I thought it was still pretty good! It's missing a few things that f and f 2nd have, but for the most part it doesn't affect the game too much.

For one, it's a lot simpler, with no button holding or star flicks/screen-taps. This I don't mind since I didn't like the star thing much anyway. Secondly it only features Miku songs (minus a few sorta kinda hidden songs), which makes sense I guess since it's the first game. Most of the songs there feel a little "samey", but most of them weren't completely annoying so I didn't mind that too much. Thirdly is that you have to beat a song on Normal before you can play it on Hard. I didn't mind this at all since Normal was often pretty difficult for me, but I would imagine that to annoying if you already were good enough to play at the Hard difficulty. The last kind of minor difference, is that it doesn't feel quite as smooth as f and f 2nd. This only bothered me a little bit, and I got used to it after a while, but this might annoy some people. It's not like it's laggey or anything, but it did feel a little off when I first started to play it.

So with all those minor differences, for me they didn't affect my enjoyment of the game too much. However, there is one thing that did lower my enjoyment a bit. In this Miku game, there is no progress bar! In f and f 2nd, there would be a bar at the bottom which would show you how close you are to the various ranks. At the end, you could also see how close you were to getting the other ranks. Here, since there is none of that, it made it really difficult to know how well I was doing. I would know my rank at the very end, but I couldn't tell if I just barely made Standard (the lowest passing rank), or if I was very close to getting a Great.

But despite that, I still had a good time with the first Hatsune Miku game. Hopefully the 2nd will be good as well!

[Kuruwin]

Second is better and it does introduce holds. I don't think third game did go beyond but it's my personal favorite out of the series. Like i said the series really didn't need any new note types after that.

[Xeogred]

I went back and got the good ending for RE Revelations 2 and it was so worth it for the RE1 joke references. I like Claire a lot, but this was Barry's game to me.

[Sarge]

January:

1) Bonk's Adventure (NES)
2) Little Samson (NES)
3) Holy Diver (NES)
4) Holy Diver (NES) (legit!)
5) Mitsume Ga Tooru (NES)
6) TMNT II: The Arcade Game (NES)
7) Mighty Final Fight (NES)
8] Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)
9) Monster In My Pocket (NES)
10) Battle of Olympus (NES)
11) Gunstar Heroes (GEN) (repeat)
12) Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4)
13) Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser (PS4)
14) Captain America and the Avengers (NES)
15) StarTropics (NES)
16) Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) (save states)
17) Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) (legit)
18) Crisis Force (NES)
19) Esper Dream 2 (NES)
20) Felix the Cat (NES)
21) Moon Crystal (NES)
22) Panic Restaurant (NES)
23) Frankenstein (NES)
24) Crystalis (NES)
25) Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu (NES)

February:

26) Killer Instinct (GB)
27) Mashin Hero Wataru Gaiden (NES)
28) Sly Spy (ARC)
29) The Red Star (unreleased XBOX, also on PS2)
30) Adventure Island 4 (NES)
31) Cocoron (NES)
32) Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4)
33) Xeodrifter (VITA)
34) Doom 2 (PC)
35) Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
36) Magical Pop'n (SNES)
37) The Ninja Warriors (SNES)
38) Phantasy Star (SMS)
39) Phantasy Star III (GEN)
40) Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (3DS)
41) Brandish: The Dark Revenant (Dela Mode)

March:

42) Freedom Planet (Milla, 82 lives lost) (PC)
43) Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)
44) Lara Croft Go (AND)
45) Oniken (PC)
46) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS)
47) Batman: The Video Game (GB)
48) Batman: The Video Game (NES)
49) Super Spy Hunter

April:

50) Mega Man 2 (NES)
51) Mega Man 4 (NES)
52) Mission: Impossible (NES)
53) Mega Man 6 (NES)
54) Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
55) Sword Master (NES)
56) DuckTales 2 (NES)
57) Rush'n Attack (NES)
58) Mega Man 3 (NES)
59) Mega Man 5 (NES)
60) Mega Man (NES)
61) S.C.A.T. - Special Cybernetic Attack Team (NES)
62) TaleSpin (NES)
63) Double Dragon III (NES)
64) Donkey Kong (NES)
65) Astyanax (NES)

May:

66) Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu (NES)
67) The New Ghostbusters II (NES, proto)
68) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSP, via Dracula X Chronicles)
69) Revenge of Shinobi (GEN)
70) Shinobi III (GEN)
71) Shadow Dancer (GEN)
72) El Viento (GEN)
73) Earnest Evans (GEN)
74) One Must Fall 2097 (PC)
75) A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
76) Hebereke (NES)
77) Contra (NES)
78) Wario Land: Shake It! (WII)
79) Gimmick! (NES)
80) Ninja Gaiden (GG)
81) Wai Wai World 2 (NES)
82) Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II (NES)
83) Uncharted: Golden Abyss (VITA)
84) Double Dragon (SMS)

June:

85) Astra Superstars (SAT)
86) Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (360)
87) Star Wars: Dark Forces 2 - Jedi Knight (PC)
88) Star Wars: Dark Forces (PC)
89) VVVVVV (PC)
90) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (GEN)
91) Broforce (PS4)
92) Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (PC)
93) The Terminator (SCD)
94) Aban Hawkins and the 1001 Spikes (PC)
95) Electronic Super Joy (PC)
96) Golden Axe (GEN)
97) Double Dragon (GB)
98) Double Dragon II (GB)
99) Double Dragon III (GB)
100) Super Mario Land (GB)
101) Kirby's Dream Land (GB)

July:

102) Vapor Trail (GEN)
103) King Colossus (GEN)
104) Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
105) Curse of Issyos (PC)
106) Alisia Dragoon (GEN)
107) Curse of the Crescent Isle DX (PC)
108) Tales of Hearts R (VITA)
109) Flashback (SCD)
110) Rayman Legends (VITA)
111) Wonder Boy in Monster World (GEN) (via 360)
112) Altered Beast (ARC)
113) Altered Beast (GEN)
114) Song of the Deep (PS4)

August:

115) Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (WII)
116) Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R) (PC)
117) Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (GEN)
118) Streets of Rage (GEN)
119) Technobabylon (PC)
120) Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (GB)
121) Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe (GG)

September:

122) Xenoblade Chronicles X
123) Final Fight (ARC) (via Final Fight: Double Impact)
124) Magic Sword (ARC) (via Final Fight: Double Impact)
125) Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
126) Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty
127) X-Men (ARC)
128) Vanguard (ARC)
129) Trio the Punch (ARC)
130) Street Fighter 2': Special Champion Edition (GEN)

Finished SF2 on Genny. It's not a bad port, actually. Not the SNES version, but still plays like SF2. Six-button pad took a little to adjust to, though! I've been playing for so long with four-button pads that I'm used to the way I map it there (light-heavy punch on top and medium-heavy kick on bottom) that it was pretty sweet having access to all the buttons close to each other. I mostly used it to mix up my fireball spam when that was necessary.

Also, M. Bison is still a dang punk. Somehow, though, I managed to get one perfect round on him. That's what's called a lucky fluke. I'm not even entirely sure he follows the same rules that human players do with his specials. Either that, or I didn't play enough SF2 against high-level human players.

[MrPopo]

I went back and got the good ending for RE Revelations 2 and it was so worth it for the RE1 joke references. I like Claire a lot, but this was Barry's game to me.

Best part of Rev 2 is the Jill sandwich reference.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I went back and got the good ending for RE Revelations 2 and it was so worth it for the RE1 joke references. I like Claire a lot, but this was Barry's game to me.

Best part of Rev 2 is the Jill sandwich reference.

"I was almost a Claire Sandwich..."

"Does Barry tell everyone that story!?"

That line had me absolutely dying!