Games Beaten 2017

[marurun]

Oh, and it also helps to have some reasonably good graphics and one of the best soundtracks on SNES, composed by FM synthesis maestro Yuzo Koshiro. I also recommend giving a listen to the Symphonic Suite, it's something else.

My understanding is that he personally hand adjusted the samples to make sure they sounded just perfect. I also read he hates the SNES sound chip. It's too bad, because his work on Actraiser was exquisite. But the rest of his SNES output wasn't nearly as good, and that includes Actraiser 2.

[Sarge]

Here's a very good interview with him. I don't know if he "hated" it, but it was clearly trickier to work with... or he was just much more comfortable with FM synthesis, which wouldn't be surprising at all, given that he still likes to use it.

I agree that the rest of his SNES output wasn't as good, but it's not necessarily terrible. ActRaiser 2 is solid enough. I had no idea he did Robotrek and Super Adventure Island, though, or I had forgotten. Either way, listening to SAI, it's pretty good! I'm definitely catching some Streets of Rage-inspired funk from it.

(I've also got a soft spot for Robotrek, but it's not a game I'd have in a listening rotation. It's more a thematically-appropriate soundtrack.)

[Xeogred]

I'm always shocked when I'm reminded that the Streets of Rage composer is the same guy who did ActRaiser. Crazy!

[Markies]

I'm always shocked when I'm reminded that the Streets of Rage composer is the same guy who did ActRaiser. Crazy!

Him and Nobuo Uematsu could be my favorite video game composures of all time.

Both of those games sound so different. Streets of Rage uses more techno, dance and bass while ActRaiser is much more orchestral and grand sounding.

I think the best part of ActRaiser is the music...and ActRaiser is a great game!

[Juan Aguacate]

Valiant Hearts the Great War - PS4





This is quite literally one of the best games ever made. Seriously, holy shit! I couldn't put this game down until I finished it. It's brilliant! I'll even go so far as to call it a masterpiece. The story, the graphics, the sound, the gameplay, everything about this game is pretty much perfect.



To call it just a puzzle game seems like a disservice, because while that makes up the core of the gameplay, Valiant Hearts mixes things up so frequently throughout the game in fantastic ways. There's boss fights, action, stealth, rythm based mini-games, and it all comes together so seamlessly. Puzzles are the bulk of the gameplay though, and they are all well thought out. The game even has a hint system if you get stuck, but you shouldn't need it





Even the collectibles are well done. A list is provided in each stage showing the exact order in which you should be finding the collectibles, which makes hunting down the ones you're missing much easier. And each of them reveals some interesting trivia regarding World War I, which is what the game's fictional story revolves around. This is the kind of game you could have people play in a classroom, as it's actually educational.





Valiant Hearts is a very clever game, with some of the most creative uses of audio and visuals I've seen in a game (wait until you see the taxi sequences) and it's very accessible to just about any gamer, male, female, young or old. In fact, while they are vastly different games, I'd compare this to Valkyria Chronicles as that is another game that does a great job taking a real life war and creating a fictional story from it, though VC uses World War II more as an inspiration for its fictional setting while Valiant Hearts directly references real life events from World War I as part of its story. Both games do a really good job of examining the topic of war from every angle, though much as I enjoy VC's story, Valiant Hearts tells a more powerful tale.

EDIT: On an unrelated note, I saw Donkey Kong Country Returns being discussed in this thread. Count me among its haters, and as stated already, it's mostly due to its high difficulty which is not in keeping with the spirit of the originals.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm always shocked when I'm reminded that the Streets of Rage composer is the same guy who did ActRaiser. Crazy!

I HEARD HE DID SOME OTHER GAME TOO

[PartridgeSenpai]

I really don't get why people don't like DKCR for the difficulty when compared to the originals. Not being able to gel with the physics is one thing, that can be an issue with any platformer, but the original DKC's are hard! Especially the first one, with the super limited save points and even more limited lives, that game just wanted you to suffer! 2 and 3 progressively get less merciless, but can be at times, especially if you're trying to fight the real final boss and trying to find all of those bonus coins (or those awful pirate ship levels as the snake in 2 ;A;).

I guess I'm part of the dissenting opinion that thinks DKCR 1 and 2 are both fantastic games. I should really pick up the 3DS port of 1, come to think of it. I have to imagine that that game plays so much better when something as awkward as Wiimote waggling isn't controlling the rolling AND the blowing air. 2 gets rid of the air blowing, which makes that game soooo much better.

[Exhuminator]

This is quite literally one of the best games ever made. Seriously, holy shit! I couldn't put this game down until I finished it. It's brilliant! I'll even go so far as to call it a masterpiece. The story, the graphics, the sound, the gameplay, everything about this game is pretty much perfect.

Your review got me intrigued, and I found out the game's available on Android, so I just bought it for my phone. At $14.99, that's the most expensive smartphone game I've ever purchased. And I bought it on your word alone! This will make or break my opinion of your taste.

[fastbilly1]

1. Day of the Tentacle Remastered - PC
2. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide - PC

DOTT - Another great remastering of a SCUMM title for the modern era. Probably the best title to do it to due to its art style. My wife wanted to play something together on New Years Eve Day so we started at around 1000 and went until the final part. So we finished it New Years Day. I have no reason to load up the original ever again.

Vermintide - Take one part old Warhammer, one part Left 4 Dead 2, mix in blender. No joke, it is a slowed down L4D with an emphasis in melee. The differences from the core L4D module are small but seem huge since it is a melee based game in a fantasy world. Things such as loadouts, unlockable weapons through a stupid dice system, weapon enhancements, charms, and weapon combos, are all new, but the enemies are carbon copies with new paint. Well all except the Stormvermin. In the Warhammer world, the rat people (Skaven) are fiercely tribal. Their clans approach issues in different ways that please their god, the Horned Rat. For example Clan Skyre uses technology to build crazy weapons of war, like the Doom wheel, Poisionwind Globes, and Ratling cannons. All clans have slaves and clanrats (which are the zombies of this game), but few field Stormvermin. They are black furred, large, and heavily armored. They move in groups and fight with advance tactics this is true in Vermintide aswell. Stormvermin are powerful enemies that rarely travel alone. They are heavily armored and will destroy the heroes in short order if you aggro to many of them.

Every character, out of five, has both melee and ranged, as well as the found bomb/molotov. Ack played the Empire Knight, a standard sword and board hero with a blunderbuss, our buddy xen played the Witch Hunter, with raiper and pistols, I played the Woodelf Waywatcher, with a sword and a dagger and a bow. She is soso in melee, but is a beast with the bow. Currently the bow is one that shoots as fast as I pull the trigger and gains an arrow in the quiver on average every 5th shot (quiver holds 90). Once I found that bow, the game changed from trailing to dominating the leader board in everything but Stormvermin kills.

We beat the base game coop before New Years, but I spent some time after rebeating it solo. Would I play it again, absolutely, would I play it solo again, nope. It is alot of what I love about Warhammer and L4D, but it also has stupid Partner AI who let me get caught by a Packmaster and just stood there and were ripped to shreds.

[marurun]

I'm always shocked when I'm reminded that the Streets of Rage composer is the same guy who did ActRaiser. Crazy!

I HEARD HE DID SOME OTHER GAME TOO

Ah, but the version you highlight was arranged by Yonemitsu. Koshiro's original compositions, unaltered, are only in the PC-88 version (I know you know that, but it's important to note).