Games Beaten 2017

[noiseredux]

Good feeling though right? White whale and all?

[laurenhiya21]

1/15: Aviary Attorney (Steam)
1/16: Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star (Steam)
1/27: Sweet Fuse: At Your Side (PSP)
1/31: Harmonia (Steam)

Total: 4 games

Whoops... I've been kind of lazy with posting Anyway, all of these are visual novels since I'm trying to give my wrists a break. Oh and sorry if any of these are a little all over the place... I'm pretty tired right now

Aviary Attorney
Take Phoenix Wright, set it in a Victorian-ish, make everybody animals, and then you pretty much get Aviary Attorney. It's a bit of an odd concept, but I think it works out pretty well. It has some interesting cases and funny dialogue like Phoenix Wright has, but I didn't feel like that I needed to read a guide to get though a case without trial and error. The thing I didn't like about Aviary Attorney, however, was when you go searching for clues for a case, you have a limited amount of time to search around. Since it's possible to miss important clues, that meant for one or two of the cases, I wasn't able to get the good ending for it just because I missed one small thing. It is pretty interesting that you don't get a game over for missing clues, but it was kind of annoying since there was no way for me to know that I was missing something until I got to the trial. I still mostly enjoyed it, especially since the writing and music are so good, but it's definitely something to keep in mind if you decide to play it.

Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star
Still just as silly and out there as the original Hatoful Boyfriend. This isn't one complete story like the original, but instead it's a few smaller stories. It's still just as good, though. Only thing that bothered me was that there are two or three choices in it, where one option continued the story and the other gives you a bad ending. It's a bit annoying since I didn't save before making a choice and I had to speed past a lot of text to get back to where I was before. I still enjoyed reading it all the same, and if you liked the original then you'll probably like this one too.

Sweet Fuse: At Your Side
I haven't played an otome before (basically a game made for a female audience, usually with female main character going after a guy to date), but I think Exhum recommended this one so I decided to give it a go. It's about Saki Inafune who goes to the opening of her uncle's new amusement park, only for it to be taken over by a guy in a pig costume who calls himself Count Hogstein. Hogstein forces six guys (plus Saki, who volunteers) to participate in his games or else he'll blow up the park. So it's the crew's job to solve Hogstein's puzzles, save Hogstein's hostages, and fall in love with Saki because why not.

The plot ended up being a little ho hum for my tastes. For the most part, the crew gets to a puzzle, has trouble with it but eventually solves it, and then yay friend time! There are a few times where it's slightly different and there is a twist I guess, but it all just ended up feeling only alright to me.

Since this is an otome, the different choices you make will determine which guy Saki ends up with. I'm not sure how most people would feel about Saki's potential partners, but unfortunately it was a bit hard for me to choose who to go with since I didn't like a lot of them. I ended up getting three different endings Urabe's (a calm fortune teller with a floating crystal ball), the secret character's (who you unlock after beating the game once), and Mitarashi's (a tsundere escort and my favourite of the guys). Unfortunately I found Urabe and the secret endings to be a little... strange? Like it doesn't make sense at all for me that Saki would react in the way that she does in them, especially since she only gets to know the guys for seven days before the game ends. Mitarashi's is at least a little more normal-ish sounding, but the other two just ending up being a bit creepy to me.

Overall, I thought that Sweet Fuse was only ok. Maybe part of the problem for me is that it feels like it's trying to be Danganronpa (which it does feel similar to at times) and an otome at the same time, but then kind of just goes meh with both. I'm not really sure, but I could just be being picky and someone else here might like it a lot more than I did haha...

Harmonia
Another good VN by Key with a heavy emphasis on androids and feelings. Kind of reminded me of Planetarian in that way, but a little longer and a bit better in my opinion. It's about an android who wakes up after being asleep for who knows how long, but finds that he doesn't know how to display emotion. Then he finds a nearby village and decides to make the people there happy and learn how to be happy himself. And then well... honestly explaining much more might get a little spoilerly if I'm not careful. If you liked Planetarian though, I think you would also like this, especially since there's a really good twist in it that I wasn't expecting. Good twists are always good.

[alienjesus]

1.) Final Fantasy I - Yes I finally beat it. Pain in my butt all the way to the end. Got DoS version beginning of the month and on and off for the past week and a half I've been slogging away at it. Even without excalibur, haste and a slew of other things that I probably should've bought in game. Now that one can finally rest and I'm not reattempting that or the game+ anytime soon...

Holy shit!

This is proof that anything can happen

[Juan Aguacate]

*Old*

Valiant Hearts the Great War - PS4
Scott Pilgrim - PS3
Comix Zone - PS3
Hell Yeah Wrath of the Dead Rabbit - PS3
Infamous Second Son _ PS4
Might Morphin Power Rangers Mega Battle - PS4

*New*

Dragon's Lair
Space Ace
Lollipop Chainsaw

Dragon's Lair - PS3



I must have triggered some loop, because it took a long time to finish this and I'm told it's a short game. I found rooms repeating themselves on my play through to my annoyance. I felt like I had played this for an hour including all the reloads from when I died using the game's save state feature.

So basically, DL is just a bunch of randomly generated rooms full of quick time events. It's not that much fun to play honestly, especially since a few QTEs require perfect timing or you die. Still, this game is a part of gaming history so I'm glad I played it, and the animation quality alone makes the game worth checking out. It's clearly what got the game so much attention when it first released.

The save feature on this title was much appreciated, as if I had to keep starting the game over again from the beginning I would have been too frustrated to finish it. These things are a god send for certain retro re-releases. Daphne acting like a porn star when you finally meet her I thought was funny. I also have to say, for people complaining about QTEs in modern games, it's nothing compared to getting through some of the tough rooms in this game. Most modern games flash the button you're supposed to hit on screen in such an obvious way you can't miss it, and they give you a few seconds to hit the button versus the perfect timing required for some of DL's quick time events. Heck, you can miss one or two QTEs in a lot of games and still not fail. Dragon's Lair it's one mistake and you die and re-do the room or re-do the game if you are out of lives. I guess this is old man me telling the young kids today to quit bitching about your quick time events.

Space Ace - PS3



I found Space Ace to be more interesting than Dragon's Lair. Following a linear story is more engaging than seeing a bunch of randomly generated trap rooms. Also, the game has some really fun and cool action sequences. And the alternating between young Dexter and Old Dexter is funny. Maybe it's just me, but I kind of found the QTE's a bit more forgiving too. There seem to be parts of the game too where you actually have multiple choices of what to do for the QTEs, which can slightly alter events (like not energizing in some scenes). Overall, I like this more than Dragon's Lair. Both of these games give you the option to sit back and watch the game's without QTE's. With Space Ace in particular it's fun to sit back and just enjoy it as a cartoon.

Lollipop Chainsaw - PS3



So I finally got around to finishing this game. I also got the Valentine's Day Edition. The main draw for this edition for me is that you get the outfits that were pre-order only in North American. Even if you don't care about outfits in games or pre-order bonuses, it's hard not to want that awesome Ash Williams outfit





LC is a rather unpolished and sloppy game in a lot of ways. Some parts of the game are really frustrating, particularly some the infamous mini-games. And it's kind of a dumb game with a ridiculous story and a few cringe worth lines of dialogue and jokes that are really low brow and crass. I know the game got some hate for not playing like a Bayonetta game and for its sexual objectification too.

In spite of all this, I really, really like it. I don't care if it's not Bayonetta, LC has its roots firmly in old school, arcade brawlers, not "character action" games. The combat kind of sucks initially, but Juliette's move set and abilities expand as you upgrade her and the combat becomes pretty fun. Her move set is funny because she fights like a cheerleader. She has combos where she is hitting enemies with her ass, her poms poms, or doing hand stands and flipping upside down while slicing up zombies with her chainsaw. There's some interesting quirks to the combat too, like a low attack button where you'd expect the jump button to be.

And she has some interesting abilities at her disposal like a chainsaw blaster for third person shooting, a weird dash that makes use of her chainsaw, Nick tickets that allow her to use her decapitated boyfriend's head (yes, you read that right) against her enemies, and a super mode that makes her invincible and very powerful. The real hook for combat is getting "Sparkle Hunt" kills for simultaniously decapitating 3 or more zombies. This gives you lots of cash for buying upgrades and other stuff, and lots of points for trying to get those A+ ranks for each stage. The best thing about sparkle hunts though is the audio visual feedback the game gives you for successfully doing them



Speaking of which, the graphics are great. It's not a technically great looking game, but it does have a great art style. Everything about the game's world is bright and colorful, odd for a game about a zombie apocalypse. This game stands in stark contrast to all of the dark, post apocalyptic, zombie games out there. It's like you're seeing the world through the eyes of the bubbly, cheerful, optimistic character that Juliette is. As you slice apart zombies, you'll see stars and rainbows emerge from their bodies. It's all very silly and a big part of the game's charm

The music is absolutely outstanding. It's a mix of licensed tracks and original compositions for the game. The way the game seamlessly goes from video game music to licensed tracks is impressive and the licensed stuff is an eclectic mix ranging from noise pop to metal

The game is a fun mix of pop cultural elements with voice acting from Tara Strong (Batgirl and other iconic voice acting roles), a script worked on by James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, licensed tracks featuring classic songs, Buffy and Evil Dead influences (the zombies in this game are basically Deadites and the Ash pre order outfit says it all), and a bunch of retro gaming references. The game is almost Deadpool-like too in its fourth wall breaking. I mean Juliette actually tells the player not to look up her skirt.

Some of the game's humor is awful, but a lot of it does hit the mark, particularly when Juliette and Nick are making light of the grim situations they find themselves in.

Nick - " Oh man, that was so much fun! It almost makes me forget about the fact that all my friends are dead!"

Aside from combat, the game mixes things up quite frequently with mini-games and gameplay often shifting from combat to other things like blasting things with your chainsaw blaster or doing little musical mini-games or bizarre things like riding a tractor and running over zombies with it. Lollipop Chainsaw never allows itself to get repetitive or boring.

As for complaints about the game sexually exploiting Juliette and being offensive to women or whatever, I think the counter argument to that is that the game revolves around Juliette and her two sisters saving the world from a zombie apocalypse while all of the male characters are relegated to supporting roles or characters that need saving. This game is actually about female empowerment quite honestly. And the objectification of Juliette is done in a playful, none offensive way and is subverted when her boyfriend actually becomes objectified himself as a talking, decapitated head that Juliette starts decorating with make up and showing off to her sisters later in the game like he's a cool, fashion accessory. Destructoid had a whole article covering some of this stuff

It's a fun game. I'm not really a big Suda 51 guy, but I really like this game. It's basically one big, fun, zombie killing arcade game with all the weirdness and wackiness that comes from Japan and the minds of people like Suda.

[ElkinFencer10]

LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW IS AMAZING. I pre-ordered it for $60 and never regretted it, even when it was $20 new two months later. I bought it entirely because Tara Strong does Juliet's voice, so I just heard Twilight Sparkle which this chick in a miniskirt ran around slaughtering zombies with a chainsaw.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1.) Final Fantasy I - Yes I finally beat it. Pain in my butt all the way to the end. Got DoS version beginning of the month and on and off for the past week and a half I've been slogging away at it. Even without excalibur, haste and a slew of other things that I probably should've bought in game. Now that one can finally rest and I'm not reattempting that or the game+ anytime soon...

Amazing! Fantastic work, darksparx! I am so happy you beat that game. Now, go play whatever you want!

[noiseredux]

Lollipop Chainsaw is excellent. Such a weird awesome game.

[TSTR]

Lollipop Chainsaw is the only game I ever bothered to actually sit down and get the Platinum for, because it was fairly easy and I enjoyed it that much.

[alienjesus]

I've been curious about Lollipop Chainsaw for a while, but still not sure how much I'd enjoy it. The only comparable game I have played is Bayonetta.

[TSTR]

As mentioned, LC is way less complex than some other 3rd-person action games like Bayonetta or DMC. The combat is fairly simple (and somewhat clunky at times), but the game just oozes charm and wacky humor. If you like B-movies at all, you'd probably enjoy it.