Games Beaten 2016

[MrPopo]

1. Oni - PC
2. Donkey Kong 64 - N64
3. Yoshi's Story - N64
4. Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide - PC
5. Forsaken 64 - N64
6. Bloodrayne: Betrayal - PSN
7. Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu - SNES
8. Fire Emblem Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū - Nintendo DS
9. Valkyria Chronicles 3 - PSP
10. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing - DC
11. Rise of the Tomb Raider - PC
12. XCOM 2 - PC
13. Shadowrun Hong Kong Bonus Campaign - PC
14. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS
15. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS
16. Lagrange Point - NES
17. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations - 3DS
18. Cybernator - SNES
19. Outwars - PC
20. Resident Evil - GC
21. Resident Evil 2 - GC
22. Resident Evil 3 - GC
23. Resident Evil Code Veronica X - GC
24. Dino Crisis - PSX

The Resident Evil game with dinosaurs.

Dino Crisis is very similar to Resident Evil in many respects (not surprising given the dev team). The biggest difference is in the enemies. Rather than fairly large numbers of zombies that are easy to dodge and easy to kill with better weaponry, instead you have small numbers of dinosaurs that are sometimes dodgable and sometimes you need to fight them, and they are never easy to kill (outside the darts). The dinosaurs can follow you through certain doors; it depends on what kind of room is on the other side of that door. This means that the RE tactic of running into a room and then taking your time inside no longer applies. Dinosaurs also do a lot more damage than most RE enemies. And finally, they respawn pretty frequently. I'm not sure if it's tied to in-game events or if it's just on a timer, but unlike RE you never can have an area completely wiped out in perpetuity without constantly expending ammo.

Speaking of ammo, it's incredibly scarce. The game really wants you to pick and choose your fights, to figure out which rooms are safe to retreat to, how to use the alternate paths and proper usage of the laser barriers. If you do all that right then you will have enough ammo to survive, but you definitely can't just go Rambo on the enemies.

The other place the game really differentiates itself from RE is the puzzles. Now, RE puzzles were a series of "find the key" puzzles with the occasional "put the pieces of the key together". Dino Crisis does have find the key stuff, but it goes a lot more in depth and the whole thing feels rather natural, vs. the contrived "who the fuck designed this place" nature of RE games. You do have to find keycards but several times you need to program those keycards by combining an employee ID and their fingerprint. Many devices that need to be operated include some sort of puzzle to correctly activate it; think the oil puzzle from CVX or the power station puzzle in RE3. And many locked doors require a DDK to unlock, which requires finding a code and a key and using the key to figure out the password from the code. The whole game requires a lot more thinking than RE does.

Oh, and speaking of CVX, this game has full 3D environments but does the camera beautifully. It's mostly fixed angles and it only uses panning at appropriate places to be an optimal experience all around.

It's too bad the game went action in the sequel and then who the fuck knows in the second sequel.

[ElkinFencer10]

1. Shadow Warrior - Playstation 4 - January 1
2. The Order: 1886 - Playstation 4 - January 2
3. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - Wii - January 3
4. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits - WiiWare - January 4
5. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - Vita - January 5
6. Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube - January 9
7. Fairy Bloom Freeia - Steam - January 10
8. Petit Novel Series: Harvest December - 3DS - January 13
9. Gas Guzzlers Extreme - Steam - January 14
10. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Wii - January 16
11. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition - Wii - January 19
12. Killzone: Liberation - PSP - January 20
13. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii - January 20
14. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii - January 24
15. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii - January 25
16. Corpse Party - PSP - January 25
17. Freedom Planet - Wii U - January 25
18. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space - Vita - January 25
19. Silent Hill: Homecoming - Xbox 360 - January 26
20. Life is Strange - Playstation 4 - January 28
21. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - PSP - February 2
22. Megadimension Neptunia VII - Playstation 4 - February 12
23. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - February 13
24. Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Vita - February 17
25. If My Heart Had Wings - Steam - February 18
26. Missing: An Interactive Thriller - Steam - February 18
27. Her Story - Steam - February 18
28. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS - February 26
29. Saints Row 2 - Steam - March 1
30. Saturday Morning RPG - Playstation 4 - March 3
31. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS - March 6
32. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Wii U - March 8
33. Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 20
34. Moe Chronicle - Vita - March 22
35. Tom Clancey's The Division - Playstation 4 - March 23
36. Yoshi's New Island - 3DS - March 28
37. Alien Rage - Steam - April 1
38. Alien Breed: Impact - Steam - April 2
39. Alien Breed 2: Assault - Steam - April 3

Day 3 of Alien April, and I'm now 2/3 of the way through the Alien Breed trilogy. This is going to be short and without images since the gameplay and visuals are identical to the first game. Like the first game in the series, it took me about 5 hours of gameplay to finish this game, but also like the first game, it was 5 fantastic hours of unending alien slaughter.

The story picks up where the first game left off. This time the main objective of the game is to set the alien ship (you find out it's a human space station) to self-destruct. Yay explosions. As with the first game, the story is pretty straight forward, but - also like the first game (seeing a trend here?) - there is one aspect of the plot that kept me asking "Why?" and "How?" and wanting to know more. It's every bit the first game's equal, and if you've played the first one, you'll probably want more, so here it is.

The weapons are mostly the same. You still have your pistol with infinite ammo, your assault rifle that can carry up to 3200 rounds, your shotgun that can carry up to 128 shells, and your flamethrower that can carry up to 1800 units of fuel; but the first game's laser rifle and ion blaster have been replaced with the Hyper Blaster (minigun) and rocket launcher, respectively. Pro-tip - make sure you have the Hyper Blaster's damage upgraded and at least 1500 rounds (maximum of 2500) for the Hyper Blaster by the time you get to the end of level 3; it's hella useful for the boss.

All in all, it's the same deal as the first game - aliens, co-op, arcade shooters, and flamethrowers. If you like at least two of those four, play this game (but play the previous game first ).

[Xeogred]

Dino Crisis 2 has a weird arcade style points system, but it otherwise still plays a lot like classic RE stuff.

[ElkinFencer10]

1. Shadow Warrior - Playstation 4 - January 1
2. The Order: 1886 - Playstation 4 - January 2
3. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - Wii - January 3
4. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits - WiiWare - January 4
5. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - Vita - January 5
6. Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube - January 9
7. Fairy Bloom Freeia - Steam - January 10
8. Petit Novel Series: Harvest December - 3DS - January 13
9. Gas Guzzlers Extreme - Steam - January 14
10. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Wii - January 16
11. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition - Wii - January 19
12. Killzone: Liberation - PSP - January 20
13. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii - January 20
14. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii - January 24
15. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii - January 25
16. Corpse Party - PSP - January 25
17. Freedom Planet - Wii U - January 25
18. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space - Vita - January 25
19. Silent Hill: Homecoming - Xbox 360 - January 26
20. Life is Strange - Playstation 4 - January 28
21. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - PSP - February 2
22. Megadimension Neptunia VII - Playstation 4 - February 12
23. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - February 13
24. Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Vita - February 17
25. If My Heart Had Wings - Steam - February 18
26. Missing: An Interactive Thriller - Steam - February 18
27. Her Story - Steam - February 18
28. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS - February 26
29. Saints Row 2 - Steam - March 1
30. Saturday Morning RPG - Playstation 4 - March 3
31. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS - March 6
32. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Wii U - March 8
33. Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 20
34. Moe Chronicle - Vita - March 22
35. Tom Clancey's The Division - Playstation 4 - March 23
36. Yoshi's New Island - 3DS - March 28
37. Alien Rage - Steam - April 1
38. Alien Breed: Impact - Steam - April 2
39. Alien Breed 2: Assault - Steam - April 3
40. Alien Breed 3: Descent - Steam - April 3

Alien April - Second Game Sunday Edition! Well, mainly they're all short games - like the first two, Alien Breed 3 only took five hours to beat. I'm foregoing pictures again since, like Alien Breed 2, the gameplay and graphics of Alien Breed 3 are completely identical to the first game.

Like the second game, the pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, and flamethrower return, but the last two weapons change again. This time you get a gun that shoots an electric bolt and a gun called "Project X" that shoots what I can only describe as a sphere of energy that explodes on contact with a powerful AoE shockwave.

There's a lot to be said for the philosophy of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but there's also the fact that you can have too much of a good thing. Really, this should have been a single 15 hour game instead of three 5 hour games. Each one plays EXACTLY the same, and they all look EXACTLY the same. Now, don't get me wrong, the trilogy is totally worth playing, but by the time you get to the third one, you can't help but start seeing it as a money grab rather than a "series" (which makes sense; 2 was released nine months after 1, and 3 was released two months after 2). At least they're relatively cheap, and I'm sure they'll be on sale this summer (isn't everything on Steam?).

My one big gripe with this game is the ending. The final boss, while difficulty enough to be worth of a final boss battle IMO, was anticlimactic. You only very indirectly fight the main antagonist, and there's not much real "resolution." They leave the door open for an Alien Breed 4, though we're more than five years past the release of the trilogy with no mention of a planned fourth game.

I'm going to cut it off here since the third game is just more of the first two, but if you're a fan of arcade shooters and aliens, do put this on your wishlist and check it out. There are definitely worse ways to spend 15 hours killing aliens for $23.

[PartridgeSenpai]

There's a lot to be said for the philosophy of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," but there's also the fact that you can have too much of a good thing. Really, this should have been a single 15 hour game instead of three 5 hour games. Each one plays EXACTLY the same, and they all look EXACTLY the same. Now, don't get me wrong, the trilogy is totally worth playing, but by the time you get to the third one, you can't help but start seeing it as a money grab rather than a "series" (which makes sense; 2 was released nine months after 1, and 3 was released two months after 2). At least they're relatively cheap, and I'm sure they'll be on sale this summer (isn't everything on Steam?).

I felt the same way with the Death Spank series, but I lacked your dedication to finish the trilogy. I really thought the writing was funny in the first game, but the gameplay just never really changed or varied at all over the course of the first game, and by the end of it I was totally sick of it. The first game was exactly as long as it needed to be, and it just barely didn't outstay its welcome.

I've tried to go through the second game on two or three separate occasions, and I get bored every time. It's just the EXACT same game to such an extent that I've never even bothered picking up the third game. Even my best friend as a co-op partner couldn't get me through it, despite the biggest improvement of the second game over the first being more and varied co-op partners.

Alien Storm sounds like a bang-up time though. Definitely gonna have to check that one out at the next Steam Sale.

[ElkinFencer10]

Alien Storm sounds like a bang-up time though. Definitely gonna have to check that one out at the next Steam Sale.

Well, make sure you search for "Alien Breed." Alien Storm, while probably a decent enough game simply by virtue of being on the Genesis, is a veeeery different game from what I played.

I didn't have to push myself to finish the trilogy at all; it was a LOT of fun. I just felt like they missed an opportunity by having it the exact same gameplay in all three games. The games are only five hours each, so they're not long enough to really drag on and feel stale, and if you don't play the whole trilogy in a day and a half like I did, you might not even notice it as much.

Even if it is all just more of the same in the sequels, it gets a big recommendation for everyone from me.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Alien Storm is on Steam though!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/34315/

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2016

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 *new*
Peggle 2 - PS4 *new*

Total: 25

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010


Toybox Turbos is the second "tiny cars race around household objects" game I have played this year and it does a lot of things better than Table Top Racing. It is certainly more vibrant and colorful and it feels like a spiritual successor to the old Micro Machines games. There are less customization options than in Table Top Racing and the game is easier overall, but the tracks are more inventive and the graphics are much sharper. In any case, I enjoyed it.

Peggle 2 is much shorter than the original Peggle, and it didn't enjoy it near as much as I enjoyed the first one when I played it way back when (2010, in fact).

[Ack]

1. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
2. Puzzle Link (NGPC)(Puzzle)
3. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)(RPG)
4. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (PC)(Strategy)
5. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC)(RPG)
6. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC)(RPG)
7. Drakkhen (SNES)(RPG)
8. Flight of the Amazon Queen (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
9. Shadowgrounds: Survivor (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)

Shadowgrounds: Survivor is the sequel to Frozenbyte's Shadowgrounds, and while it's more of the same kind of top-down shoot-any-aliens-that-move gameplay, Survivor adds a few more touches into the mix that make it a much better game. The first, there are now three playable characters with different weapons and abilities unlocked through an RPG-esque leveling system. The second, the plot moves between these characters are regular intervals, so whenever one starts to feel a little old, you're on to someone new. The third is an increased number of unlockables accessible by finding secret tokens strewn throughout the levels during gameplay.

Unfortunately, there's still a lot of sameness to the characters, and if you've played the original Shadowgrounds, the weapons don't really offer anything new. You've played with all of these toys before. There aren't any new enemies either, and most of the "boss fights" consist of the player fighting continual onslaughts of enemies. Certain levels only consist of these fights, and one in particular midway through the game proved to be the most frustrating because it featured the one character of the three that I didn't like to play as...mainly because he was the only character who didn't get an infinite ammo pistol. Running out of bullets while trying to fight wave after wave of a horde just plain sucks.

On top of that, he had a glitch with one of his weapons where if he reloaded, he couldn't fire for up to 20 seconds afterward. Glitches were actually pretty common. I had the game crash on me multiple times, but even getting it to run required I install a special video driver. Shadowgrounds didn't require I jump through these hoops to get it going, so what caused the change? Between this, objects sometimes getting stuck in areas where I couldn't reach them, and levels having hard limits on how much experience I could gain...it seems there was a price to pay for the upgrades.

Still, Survivor is superior to the original game in just about every way. It just felt more fun to play despite its adherence to the same basic formula, and it hits the same high notes that the first game hit. It's also just long enough not to wear out its welcome. A dedicated player could easily knock this out in a few hours. If you're looking for top-down shooters on GOG, this one is a pretty good bet. It likely won't blow your mind...but then again it also won't blow your budget at $5.99.

[bmoc]

1. Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition (Xbox One)
2. Halo Reach
3. Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
4. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

Halo Reach

Last year I played through all the main Halo games plus ODST via the Master Chief Collection. Reach felt a lot like ODST which I think may be my favorite in the series. I guess I am a little burnt out on the adventures of Master Chief and Cortana so the side stories are a welcome departure. Now on to Halo 5!


Tomb Raider

I've been sitting on this one for a while. Recently, I've been aiming to get through some of my Games with Gold backlog and this is the first so far. I thought it was a great 3rd person shooter, right up there with the Uncharted series. This is also the second Tomb Raider game that I have ever played. I purchased the first one on PS1 when it was new back in the day. It makes me want to play Rise of the Tomb Raider.


Final Fantasy VII

I still have my PS1 copy that I preordered! I thought that it would be a good game to break in my new mancave with. However, I can't find the energy to grind out the materia like I used to. I pretty much just go get Knights of the Round and finish the game with my "I WIN" button.