Games Beaten 2017
Re: Games Beaten 2017
The hype seems very real with that one. I should check it out. I think I did play it back in the day but can't remember...
Cool it holds up though, especially for that kind of genre.
Cool it holds up though, especially for that kind of genre.
- ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8621
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Xeogred wrote:The hype seems very real with that one. I should check it out. I think I did play it back in the day but can't remember...
Cool it holds up though, especially for that kind of genre.
I played through some Vietnam flight combat sim on PS4, and while it was...okay...Crimson Skies is MUCH better. I haven't played any of the Ace Combat games (I'm a disgrace, I know), so I can't compare it to them, but there are definitely modern games that play much worse.
- PartridgeSenpai
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 2991
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Partridge Senpai's 2017 Beaten Games:
1. Tales of Hearts R (Vita)
2. UPPERS (Vita)
3. Volume (Vita)
4. Overlord: Minions (DS)
5. Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
6. Overlord II (PS3)
7. Overlord: Dark Legend (Wii)
8. La-Mulana (Remake) (PC)
9. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
10. htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Vita)
11. Blood Bowl (360)
12. Dead to Rights: Retribution (360)
13. Bioshock Infinite (360)
14. Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Part 1 (360)
15. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2 (360)
16. Singularity (360)
17. Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X (Saturn)
18. Ultraman: Hikari No Kyojin Densetsu (Saturn)
19. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) (repeat)
20. Song of the Deep (PS4)
21. Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3 (GCN)
22. Banjo-Tooie (N64) (repeat)
23. Wario Land (VB)
24. Yakuza HD Edition (PS3)
25. Yakuza 2 HD Edition (PS3)
26. Vanquish (PS3)
27. Watchdogs 2 (PS4)
28. Pikmin (Wii)
29. Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
30. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)
31. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
32. Tales of Innocence R (Vita)
33. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
34. Boing! Docomodake DS (DS)
35. Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS)
36. Magicka 2: Learn to Spell... AGAIN! (PS4) (repeat)
37. Pokemon Moon (3DS)
38. Pokemon Black 2 (DS)
39. Pokken Tournament (Wii U)
40. The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + (Switch)
41. Doom 2016 (PC)
Damn, what a game. Actually managed to get through it in two days. More glorious, big-gun-fun from the boys over at id. I'd still say I prefer Wolfenstein: New Order, but this is still a damn good game.
The main thing this game has mechanically to differentiate itself from it's Nazi-laden cousin is one word: Verticality. By jumping (and eventually double jumping) up to a ledge and holding the jump button, you can climb up that surface. This allows for scaling and platforming that New Order doesn't do nearly the same way. Firefights end up being quick-fire, manic run arounds as you scramble around the map trying to outrun the demons while also trying to keep your sights aimed on them. The demons are also pretty smart, as they keep pace with you really well and are just as good at scaling the stages as you are. It's great fun, and a great advancement on the run-and-gun, faster paced FPS they were going for with the Wolfenstein reboot.
The maps are all very big, and usually at least somewhat non-linear. While you do always have an objective, you also have other areas of the map you can derp off to to fight more demons and find goodies. Goodies ranging from pointless collectables, to literally sections of retro Doom levels, to new guns and gun upgrades. Add in the runes you can hunt down to do challenges to unlock new passives, and you've got some good intensives to explore.
There are some miiiinor design hiccups I didn't care for. Grabbing the tops of surfaces doesn't always work. Almost every time I died, it was because Doom Guy wouldn't grab a ledge I thought was grabable. And the checkpoints can put ya back a bit sometimes, but you don't need to recollect any upgrades or collectibles between deaths, thank goodness. Aside from that, the rune that lets you have infinite ammo as long as you keep your armor above a certain threshold felt REALLY overpowered, so I just stopped using it out of choice of keeping the variety of guns I had to use up
Verdict: Highly recommended. So far as I can see it, some FPS people are Wolfenstein people, and some are Doom people. Some will like one more than the other for some reason or another. Doom is more or less all the gun-fun of Wolfenstein but with a much lighter, tongue-in-cheek story. If silly demon smiting is your game, then Doom is well worth pickin' up.
1. Tales of Hearts R (Vita)
2. UPPERS (Vita)
3. Volume (Vita)
4. Overlord: Minions (DS)
5. Kirby: Planet Robobot (3DS)
6. Overlord II (PS3)
7. Overlord: Dark Legend (Wii)
8. La-Mulana (Remake) (PC)
9. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)
10. htol#NiQ: The Firefly Diary (Vita)
11. Blood Bowl (360)
12. Dead to Rights: Retribution (360)
13. Bioshock Infinite (360)
14. Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea Part 1 (360)
15. Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Part 2 (360)
16. Singularity (360)
17. Seifuku Densetsu Pretty Fighter X (Saturn)
18. Ultraman: Hikari No Kyojin Densetsu (Saturn)
19. Donkey Kong 64 (N64) (repeat)
20. Song of the Deep (PS4)
21. Naruto Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3 (GCN)
22. Banjo-Tooie (N64) (repeat)
23. Wario Land (VB)
24. Yakuza HD Edition (PS3)
25. Yakuza 2 HD Edition (PS3)
26. Vanquish (PS3)
27. Watchdogs 2 (PS4)
28. Pikmin (Wii)
29. Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
30. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U)
31. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
32. Tales of Innocence R (Vita)
33. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
34. Boing! Docomodake DS (DS)
35. Kirby Triple Deluxe (3DS)
36. Magicka 2: Learn to Spell... AGAIN! (PS4) (repeat)
37. Pokemon Moon (3DS)
38. Pokemon Black 2 (DS)
39. Pokken Tournament (Wii U)
40. The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + (Switch)
41. Doom 2016 (PC)
Damn, what a game. Actually managed to get through it in two days. More glorious, big-gun-fun from the boys over at id. I'd still say I prefer Wolfenstein: New Order, but this is still a damn good game.
The main thing this game has mechanically to differentiate itself from it's Nazi-laden cousin is one word: Verticality. By jumping (and eventually double jumping) up to a ledge and holding the jump button, you can climb up that surface. This allows for scaling and platforming that New Order doesn't do nearly the same way. Firefights end up being quick-fire, manic run arounds as you scramble around the map trying to outrun the demons while also trying to keep your sights aimed on them. The demons are also pretty smart, as they keep pace with you really well and are just as good at scaling the stages as you are. It's great fun, and a great advancement on the run-and-gun, faster paced FPS they were going for with the Wolfenstein reboot.
The maps are all very big, and usually at least somewhat non-linear. While you do always have an objective, you also have other areas of the map you can derp off to to fight more demons and find goodies. Goodies ranging from pointless collectables, to literally sections of retro Doom levels, to new guns and gun upgrades. Add in the runes you can hunt down to do challenges to unlock new passives, and you've got some good intensives to explore.
There are some miiiinor design hiccups I didn't care for. Grabbing the tops of surfaces doesn't always work. Almost every time I died, it was because Doom Guy wouldn't grab a ledge I thought was grabable. And the checkpoints can put ya back a bit sometimes, but you don't need to recollect any upgrades or collectibles between deaths, thank goodness. Aside from that, the rune that lets you have infinite ammo as long as you keep your armor above a certain threshold felt REALLY overpowered, so I just stopped using it out of choice of keeping the variety of guns I had to use up
Verdict: Highly recommended. So far as I can see it, some FPS people are Wolfenstein people, and some are Doom people. Some will like one more than the other for some reason or another. Doom is more or less all the gun-fun of Wolfenstein but with a much lighter, tongue-in-cheek story. If silly demon smiting is your game, then Doom is well worth pickin' up.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Hell yeah Patridge.
I love how this game built up crazy lore around the Doomguy. It's incredible.
Did you play Titanfall 2? It's campaign is fantastic and just like Doom 4 here, also has a lot of verticality and incredible first person control. Don't be fooled thinking it's another CoD styled campaign or anything. I like Doom 4 more but Titanfall 2 is top tier as well and was a nice surprise.
I got a lot of Metroid Prime vibes with Doom's art direction here and there, along with the exploring in between the action. I absolutely loved how they nailed that balance so well just like the original Doom games. Chaos and exploring. Sublime.
I loved The New Order, but count me in as more of a Doom guy.
Also I can't believe I'm just now realizing this, but considering Dishonored and The New Order got direct sequels... I really hope we get a direct sequel to Doom 4 as well and I think the chances of that happening have to be pretty high. All I want is MORE.
I love how this game built up crazy lore around the Doomguy. It's incredible.
Did you play Titanfall 2? It's campaign is fantastic and just like Doom 4 here, also has a lot of verticality and incredible first person control. Don't be fooled thinking it's another CoD styled campaign or anything. I like Doom 4 more but Titanfall 2 is top tier as well and was a nice surprise.
I got a lot of Metroid Prime vibes with Doom's art direction here and there, along with the exploring in between the action. I absolutely loved how they nailed that balance so well just like the original Doom games. Chaos and exploring. Sublime.
I loved The New Order, but count me in as more of a Doom guy.
Also I can't believe I'm just now realizing this, but considering Dishonored and The New Order got direct sequels... I really hope we get a direct sequel to Doom 4 as well and I think the chances of that happening have to be pretty high. All I want is MORE.
-
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8776
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:10 pm
- Location: London, UK.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Elkin, why do you have a French eShop account? Was there some notable PAL exclusive available?
- ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8621
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
alienjesus wrote:Elkin, why do you have a French eShop account? Was there some notable PAL exclusive available?
I have one for France and Japan as well as North America just in case there are exclusives I'm interested in, and I have a French one rather than British because things tend to be just a little cheaper with the exchange rate to Euros vs pounds.
I had a few Euros left because there were a couple of interesting looking games that (at least at the time) weren't on the North American eShop.
- ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8621
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 69
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (8 Game Beaten)
69. Panzer Dragoon - Saturn - July 27*
Panzer Dragoon was one of the few truly stunning system exclusives that Sega Saturn owners could boast back in 1995, and as an exceptional Saturn exclusive, it gained a bit of a cult following. I picked this up in a bundle with the other two Panzer Dragoon games on Saturn five years ago, so I figured it was time to fire up again for a replay.
For those unfamiliar with Panzer Dragoon - and shame on you for that - it's a rail shooter not entirely unlike Space Harrier that takes place thousands of years in the future in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a great war between humanity and their biologically engineered weapons. One of the nations, known only as The Empire, discovers a large tower near their capital; in this towers, they harness the power to control the monsters that roam the world, and they soon use this power to conquer nearby nations and expand their power ever farther. You play as a hunter who, after seeing an Imperial airship fly past him in a canyon, is attacked by monsters and chases them into a large cavern where he finds ancient technology and, soon after, a black dragon against which his weapons are useless. He loses consciousness and later awakens to see a blue dragon piloted by a mysterious rider. This rider makes a psychic connection with the hunter, tells him not to let the black dragon reach the tower, and then promptly dies, leaving this clueless - and probably completely uneducated - hunter as the only person standing between the world and conquest by the Empire. I assume. Honestly, the story isn't entirely clear to me as it's told entirely in series of cutscenes.
As one might expect from a rail shooter, Panzer Dragoon is not an especially long game; there are six stages (four if you're playing on Easy) and a final boss. If you don't die, each stage takes roughly seven minutes or so, I'd guess, and the final boss will probably take about that long as well, maybe a little less. Including time for deaths, you're probably looking about an hour or two to playthrough once, so it's easily doable in an afternoon or if you just want a quick revisit. It's well worth revisiting, as well; while the frame rate isn't great and the controls may feel a bit imperfect (I've heard it's better with the 3D pad, but I don't have one yet), it's still a fantastic game nonetheless.
Those of you familiar with fifth generation consoles know that the Saturn wasn't the best designed for 3D visuals, so while Panzer Dragoon certainly doesn't look bad for the era, the 3D textures don't look quite as nice as they might had game been on PlayStation or Nintendo 64. The best aspect of Panzer Dragoon isn't the gameplay, the visuals, or the story, however, but the music. The music is absolutely PHENOMENAL. The soundtrack is almost entirely orchestral, and it truly is one of the best video game OSTs of that entire generation. From the first French horn notes of the opening theme, anyone at all familiar with music will realize just how special a soundtrack the game has, and even those not versed in music will be able to appreciate just how grandiose the entire musical production is.
Panzer Dragoon truly is a marvelous and very special game. Like most games of that era, it hasn't aged particularly well from a gameplay or visual perspective, but even so, it's still a great experience and an absolute must-have for Saturn collectors. It's a shame that, other than a Windows port in 1997, the game's never gotten a rerelease in North America. This is the kind of game that would have been PERFECT for a port to Wii that used motion controls. Even a straight emulated port to a modern system with HD upscaling would have been great. Perhaps one day Sega will start to like money again. Until that day, keep your Saturn plugged in because this game is dope.
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (8 Game Beaten)
69. Panzer Dragoon - Saturn - July 27*
Panzer Dragoon was one of the few truly stunning system exclusives that Sega Saturn owners could boast back in 1995, and as an exceptional Saturn exclusive, it gained a bit of a cult following. I picked this up in a bundle with the other two Panzer Dragoon games on Saturn five years ago, so I figured it was time to fire up again for a replay.
For those unfamiliar with Panzer Dragoon - and shame on you for that - it's a rail shooter not entirely unlike Space Harrier that takes place thousands of years in the future in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a great war between humanity and their biologically engineered weapons. One of the nations, known only as The Empire, discovers a large tower near their capital; in this towers, they harness the power to control the monsters that roam the world, and they soon use this power to conquer nearby nations and expand their power ever farther. You play as a hunter who, after seeing an Imperial airship fly past him in a canyon, is attacked by monsters and chases them into a large cavern where he finds ancient technology and, soon after, a black dragon against which his weapons are useless. He loses consciousness and later awakens to see a blue dragon piloted by a mysterious rider. This rider makes a psychic connection with the hunter, tells him not to let the black dragon reach the tower, and then promptly dies, leaving this clueless - and probably completely uneducated - hunter as the only person standing between the world and conquest by the Empire. I assume. Honestly, the story isn't entirely clear to me as it's told entirely in series of cutscenes.
As one might expect from a rail shooter, Panzer Dragoon is not an especially long game; there are six stages (four if you're playing on Easy) and a final boss. If you don't die, each stage takes roughly seven minutes or so, I'd guess, and the final boss will probably take about that long as well, maybe a little less. Including time for deaths, you're probably looking about an hour or two to playthrough once, so it's easily doable in an afternoon or if you just want a quick revisit. It's well worth revisiting, as well; while the frame rate isn't great and the controls may feel a bit imperfect (I've heard it's better with the 3D pad, but I don't have one yet), it's still a fantastic game nonetheless.
Those of you familiar with fifth generation consoles know that the Saturn wasn't the best designed for 3D visuals, so while Panzer Dragoon certainly doesn't look bad for the era, the 3D textures don't look quite as nice as they might had game been on PlayStation or Nintendo 64. The best aspect of Panzer Dragoon isn't the gameplay, the visuals, or the story, however, but the music. The music is absolutely PHENOMENAL. The soundtrack is almost entirely orchestral, and it truly is one of the best video game OSTs of that entire generation. From the first French horn notes of the opening theme, anyone at all familiar with music will realize just how special a soundtrack the game has, and even those not versed in music will be able to appreciate just how grandiose the entire musical production is.
Panzer Dragoon truly is a marvelous and very special game. Like most games of that era, it hasn't aged particularly well from a gameplay or visual perspective, but even so, it's still a great experience and an absolute must-have for Saturn collectors. It's a shame that, other than a Windows port in 1997, the game's never gotten a rerelease in North America. This is the kind of game that would have been PERFECT for a port to Wii that used motion controls. Even a straight emulated port to a modern system with HD upscaling would have been great. Perhaps one day Sega will start to like money again. Until that day, keep your Saturn plugged in because this game is dope.
- PartridgeSenpai
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 2991
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Xeogred wrote:Hell yeah Patridge.
I love how this game built up crazy lore around the Doomguy. It's incredible.
Did you play Titanfall 2? It's campaign is fantastic and just like Doom 4 here, also has a lot of verticality and incredible first person control. Don't be fooled thinking it's another CoD styled campaign or anything. I like Doom 4 more but Titanfall 2 is top tier as well and was a nice surprise.
I got a lot of Metroid Prime vibes with Doom's art direction here and there, along with the exploring in between the action. I absolutely loved how they nailed that balance so well just like the original Doom games. Chaos and exploring. Sublime.
I loved The New Order, but count me in as more of a Doom guy.
Also I can't believe I'm just now realizing this, but considering Dishonored and The New Order got direct sequels... I really hope we get a direct sequel to Doom 4 as well and I think the chances of that happening have to be pretty high. All I want is MORE.
I appreciated the Doom Guy lore. It all added to that self-aware tongue-in-cheek atmosphere the game had going on with its story. Olivia isn't exactly Frau Engel when it comes to engaging characters though . That said, Doom did its story moments really well, and you can tell that studio really understands the "show not tell" method of storytelling.
I haven't played Titanfall 2 yet, but it's on my hit list. I've been meaning to pick it up on eBay sometime, because that's by far the best place to get it. Really kind of a shame all of these fantastic single-player FPS's are tanking in value so quickly. I seriously doubt we'll be seeing a Titanfall 3
I've never really been a fan of Metroid Prime, but if it's Doom 4-y, I might have to check it out. I just don't really enjoy playing FPS not on PC, generally, so I've never really given it too much of a chance despite having owned the trilogy on Wii for YEARS
I'm not sure we'll see a sequel to Doom 4, at least not as fast as the other ones. At least because the others' narratives lend themselves to a sequel supported mostly on narrative more than Doom 4, given that Doom is carried primarily by mechanics. I'm frankly very hesitant to get excited for New Colossus, tbh. Dishonored 2 was just such a mechanically and narratively stagnant sequel, it totally turned me off. It's Dishonored 1 again, but not as innovative or clever (there's no Lady Doyle's Final Ball here) and it runs a lot worse. Granted Wolfenstein and Dishonored are totally different studios, if they're gonna do a Dishonored 2 with it, I'm very ready to give New Colossus a skip
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
Re: Games Beaten 2017
PartridgeSenpai wrote:Dishonored 2 was just such a mechanically and narratively stagnant sequel, it totally turned me off. It's Dishonored 1 again, but not as innovative or clever (there's no Lady Doyle's Final Ball here) and it runs a lot worse. Granted Wolfenstein and Dishonored are totally different studios, if they're gonna do a Dishonored 2 with it, I'm very ready to give New Colossus a skip
I'd say that Dishonored 2 was repetitive in some respects, just ultimately not as much across the entire game. Having two characters and thus two power/upgrade trees was different (though reminiscent of the main game and DLC for the first game), but otherwise the new/fun mechanics were more limited to specific missions. To be fair, that did keep them fresh, but basing the entire game around things like flipping between past/present would have made it more distinctive.
Still, it wasn't bad, and to me came across better than say, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
A better comparison would be Mankind Divided. Dishonored 2 destroys it. And I love Human Revolution, but mechanically the Dishonored games are about 10x more better control wise and all. They also don't turn into hacking minigames or spread the loot out too much, that gets real tiresome in these new Deus Ex's. The OG Deus Ex and Thief DNA is obviously in Arkane and shows in Dishonored.
I loved Dishonored 2 and it's gimmicks per level. More Dishonored is a good thing to me. I do think the premise and plot of the first game was much better, but otherwise... it's the atmosphere that I soak in with that world. Definitely some of my top favorites of all time. I played Dishonored 2 finally this year (it's been patched up a lot now thankfully) and I ran through it twice back to back with both characters and low/high chaos. It's not everyday I play something over twice in a row...
Prey blew me away too, but even with my sci-fi bias and love I think I still like Dishonored even more. Looking forward to the expansion this year and it would be cool if we got one more game. Give it another time skip, Emily is the only character now and maybe Corvo's passed but you'll get another heart that has a connection to his soul or whatever so he can guide her. I'd love to see what the rest of that world is outside of Dunwall and Karnacka.
There's been a change of management at Arkane though and in a recent interview with Harvey Smith over the expansion, he seems ready to move onto something new. Guess they really have been doing Dishonored for about 10 years now and that's a lot haha. I just hope they keep doing more immersive FPS types like they have been.
I loved Dishonored 2 and it's gimmicks per level. More Dishonored is a good thing to me. I do think the premise and plot of the first game was much better, but otherwise... it's the atmosphere that I soak in with that world. Definitely some of my top favorites of all time. I played Dishonored 2 finally this year (it's been patched up a lot now thankfully) and I ran through it twice back to back with both characters and low/high chaos. It's not everyday I play something over twice in a row...
Prey blew me away too, but even with my sci-fi bias and love I think I still like Dishonored even more. Looking forward to the expansion this year and it would be cool if we got one more game. Give it another time skip, Emily is the only character now and maybe Corvo's passed but you'll get another heart that has a connection to his soul or whatever so he can guide her. I'd love to see what the rest of that world is outside of Dunwall and Karnacka.
There's been a change of management at Arkane though and in a recent interview with Harvey Smith over the expansion, he seems ready to move onto something new. Guess they really have been doing Dishonored for about 10 years now and that's a lot haha. I just hope they keep doing more immersive FPS types like they have been.