Games Beaten 2017

[BoneSnapDeez]

I'm in bed at or very near 10 pm every night, even on weekends.

You posted this at 10:06!!!

[ElkinFencer10]

I said at or very near. I'm also on my phone.

[MrPopo]

1. Pokémon Moon - 3DS
2. Tony Hawk's Underground - GCN
3. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising - PC
4. Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II: Retribution - PC
5. Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness - PSP
6. X-Wing: Imperial Pursuit - PC
7. Star Wars Republic Commando - PC
8. X-Wing: B-Wing - PC
9. Blazing Lazers - TG-16
10. Tales of Xillia 2 - PS3
11. Shining Force CD: Shining Force Gaiden - Sega CD
12. MUSHA - Genesis
13. Sonic CD - Sega CD
14. Final Fantasy Legend III - GB
15. Tales of Zestiria - PS3
16. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
17. Horizon Zero Dawn - PS4
18. Tales of Berseria - PS4
19. Battlefield 1 - PC
20. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - PC
21. Mass Effect Andromeda - PC
22. Starflight 2 - PC
23. Armored Hunter Gunhound EX - PC

So back in 2013 a small dev in Japan said "you know what, I loved Assault Suit Leynos. We should make one of those." And Armored Hunter Gunhound EX was born on the PSP, then ported to PC, then (somehow) translated to English. And it's a nice little title. Heck, it was good enough that when NCS wanted to remake Assault Suit Leynos for the PS4 they called these guys.

This game is 100% derived from Leynos's DNA, in a good way. You've got your dash, your jump, your primary gun that can be aimed and held in a spot, your secondary weapons, your linear battlefield with a radar to see enemy threats, and your giant bosses. Some of this does get implemented slightly differently; you now switch between two attack configurations, primary and anti air. I'm guessing anti air is a best approximation of what the original Japanese was, as half the weaponry in it is heavy weaponry suited for ground targets. In each configuration you have a primary and secondary fire. Primary config uses a gun and then either melee, shield, or a grenade. Anti air has a direct fire primary and some sort of ammo lobbing secondary. Unlike Leynos, all of your gear has infinite ammo with reloads. One unique thing the game does is in the couple of zero g segments you actually gain full rotational control of your mech. Pushing forward and back will rotate you in that direction around your axis unless you hold the "hold aim" button. In that case you go to the standard series four way movement. It unfortunately doesn't work out as well as it could have but it's a neat idea.

My main complaint is the game is short. Like, five missions about the same length as a standard Leynos mission short, which puts it 2/3 the length of Leynos, which is just on the wrong side of unsatisfying. The main way you'll gain length out of it is to go for the 1cc. Just like Leynos it tends to have some brutal difficulty and one death and you hit the retry screen. I felt like there was a bit more emphasis on memorization and patterns; several sections have instant death pits if you don't know they're coming, and the bosses will either utterly destroy you or be utterly helpless depending on if you know the pattern or not.

Definitely worth getting when it's on sale (which it is right now for another 11 hours), and definitely one to play with a controller.

[alienjesus]

1. 3D Power Drift 3DS
2. Maze Hunter 3-D 3DS
3. Hyrule Warriors Legends 3DS
4. Icarus Proudbottom's World of Typing Weekly PC
5. Paper Mario N64
6. Catherine PS3
7. Glover N64
8. Blast Corps N64
9. Snipperclips: Cut It Out, Together! Switch eShop
10. Pullblox 3DS eShop
11. Pokémon Picross 3DS eShop *NEW*

Pokémon Picross



This one has been a long time coming, as it's one of my morning commute games. I've been playing this one for at least 6 months now.

Pokémon Picross is a free-to-play puzzle game for Nintendo 3DS eShop. It takes the familiar Picross formula, of which there are dozens available on 3DS, and applies some Pokémon mechanics to it in order to create a game which is a lot of fun to play.



For those of you unfamiliar with Picross, you fill in squares on a grid using logic to figure which squares have to be filled in and which have to be left blank. At the end of each row or column is a set of numbers which indicate how many squares need to be filled in. For example, the number 4 would indicate that 4 consecutive squares need to be filled in. 4 3 would indicate that 4 consecutive squares must be filled in, then at least 1 space left before another 3 consectuive squares must be filled. Using these numbers in conjunction with numbers from other rows help you to fill in the grid, creating a picture at the end. In Pokémon Picross, these pictures are unsurprisingly Pokémon.



The Pokémon you reveal can be added to your team, and used to provide help on puzzles, based on their type. For example, water and Ice types have 'Blue Force' a skill which will highlight any columns or rows where you can conclusively know a square that can be filled in - useful for giving hints or speeding up problem solving. Fire types have 'Cross reveal' which highlights a square on the board and fills in the surrounding row and column. You can have up to 5 skills per puzzle, and the power and frequency of those skills is dependent on the Pokémon. Puzzles also fall into 10 x10, 15x15 and 20x 15 varieties, and skills can only be activated on puzzles of a certain size or lower - so a 20 power pokemon can be used on any map, but a 10 power can only be used on a 10 X10. The use of these abilities is limited by a cooldown timer - on weaker abilities it can be as short as 30 minutes or less, but the best abilities can take up to 30 hours to recharge.



In addition to these mechanics, you also have missions to complete per level. These will normally include 1 mission to beat the stage under a certain time. Other missions may include using a certain skill, not using more than x number of skills, bringing at least x pokemon or less than x pokemon, bringing a certain type, or only using a certain type. The last mission is always 'beat all the other missions in one go' which can be challenging when you have a tight time limit combined with being forced to use only a weaker skill. The rewards for the missions incluide picrites, will I'll cover shortly, and panels, which go towards a 10x10 board made up of picross puzzles. Beating them all will give you access to Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. The game also includes Mega Picross puzzles, where clues are sometimes given for 2 rows at once, instead of just one. These are fun, but I never actually got as chance to do many as of now, due to the free-to-play limitations of the game.



Now the elephant in the room - Pokémon Picross is a horrendously stingy free-to-play game. Levels can take up to 250 picrites to unlock, and each level gives up to about 50 picrites at most through missions, some of which you might not have the right pokemon to beat yet. A few picrites can be found from achievements such as 'use blue force 100 times' but only 300 are available this way - only enough to unlock 2 stages past the tutorial areas. Insdtead, Picrites must either be bought, or unlocked through daily training - a once a day course of 5 mini picross which will reward you with between 5 and 12 picrites depending on progress through the game. This meansd it takes about 20 days on average to open up each new area in the game, of which there are 30. It's a brutal way to progress, and it doesn't feel much fun to work towards a goal for that long, unless like me you just incorporate it into a daily commute to work or suchlike.



As if that isn't bad enough, the Mega Picross stages are hidden behind a 300 picrite paywall, the Mega Evolution stages require a 500 picrite payout to unlock them, unlocking mroe pokémon slots to go from the default 1 to 5 requires about 600 picrites, and extending your 'energy' meter from 100 to 300 or infinite requires another 300 or so picrites. This energy meter is used to limit how many stages you can complete in one sitting, as 1 energy is drain per square filled in. That means that evern when you do finally unlock a new set of levels, you can't play them all at once due to the energy meter without full extending your energy meter to make it infinite.

All this picrite stuff is massively to the games detriment, and makes it feel like an absolute slog to get through. The pricing of buying picrites doesn't feel fair either - it'd cost me about £40 to buy enough picrites to unlock everything, or £10 more than a brand new physical release for the system. For about £5 I could download another Picross game from the eShop with an entirely similar amount of content.



Pokémon Picross is a great, fun adaptation of Picross with some enjoyable game mechanics added. However, it is utterly ruined by it's overly tedious and greedy approach to the F2P model. Compared to the likes of Pokémon Shuffle and Pokémon Rumble, 2 other F2P Pokémon games on 3DS eShop, this one just feels moneygrabbing, and thats sad when Nintendo have otherwise had a pretty respectable usage of the model on other games. If you're patient enough to not bother paying, give Pokémon Picross a go, but know what you're getting into - it's either going to be a long grind or a pricy experience.

[fastbilly1]

1. Day of the Tentacle Remastered - PC
2. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide - PC
3. Final Fantasy VII - PSX
4. Zelda Breath of the Wild - Switch
5. Warframe - PC

6. Kingdom Rush - Android
7. Kingdom Rush Frontiers - Android

I beat the first two Kingdom Rush games again over the weekend. They are my favorite two traditional Tower Defense games and still hold a decent challenge. It had been atleast two years since I last beat them, but about April every year I get the itch to play a tower defense. So I fired up Kingdom Rush on Thursday night, finished it Saturday morning. Started Frontiers Saturday afternoon, finished it Sunday night.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2017
Inside - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
TIMEframe - PC
Rituals - PC
Mother Russia Bleeds - PC
Horizon: Zero Dawn - PS4
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
Here They Lie - PSVR
Dexed - PSVR *new*
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - PSVR *new*

Total: 10

Previously: 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Dexed is a cross between Rez (reticule based homing shots on rails) and Ikaruga (dark/light bullets for different enemies), and for the most part it works pretty well and is an enjoyable game...even if it lacks the challenge (or at least the punishment) of the games it draws inspiration from. It looks pretty sharp, and is a decent VR experience in addition to being a fun (if brief) game.

When people ask me what my favorite Resident Evil game is, I will now be hard pressed to decide whether I like IV or VII better. I played Resident Evil VII entirely in VR, and it was an astonishing and often genuinely horrifying experience. I can't think of any game where I have been more on edge. The first half of the game, especially, is arguably the strongest horror experience this series has ever seen (or any game, perhaps), and facing what I was asked to face in the game...all while feeling very much like I was actually there...caused several jumps, several recoils, and several "phantom pains" where my body would tighten or tingle in response to expected stimuli, etc. It was intense and surreal, and the VR design choices here (as well as how much you can modify them) are really second to none. If you love horror games, this really should be the game that you shell out for a PSVR for. Even if you don't get to experience it that way, you are still in for a fantastic ride.

There are way too many good games already this year.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Games Beaten 2017
Inside - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
TIMEframe - PC
Rituals - PC
Mother Russia Bleeds - PC
Horizon: Zero Dawn - PS4
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Switch
Here They Lie - PSVR
Dexed - PSVR *new*
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - PSVR *new*

Total: 10

Previously: 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Dexed is a cross between Rez (reticule based homing shots on rails) and Ikaruga (dark/light bullets for different enemies), and for the most part it works pretty well and is an enjoyable game...even if it lacks the challenge (or at least the punishment) of the games it draws inspiration from. It looks pretty sharp, and is a decent VR experience in addition to being a fun (if brief) game.

When people ask me what my favorite Resident Evil game is, I will now be hard pressed to decide whether I like IV or VII better. I played Resident Evil VII entirely in VR, and it was an astonishing and often genuinely horrifying experience. I can't think of any game where I have been more on edge. The first half of the game, especially, is arguably the strongest horror experience this series has ever seen (or any game, perhaps), and facing what I was asked to face in the game...all while feeling very much like I was actually there...caused several jumps, several recoils, and several "phantom pains" where my body would tighten or tingle in response to expected stimuli, etc. It was intense and surreal, and the VR design choices here (as well as how much you can modify them) are really second to none. If you love horror games, this really should be the game that you shell out for a PSVR for. Even if you don't get to experience it that way, you are still in for a fantastic ride.

There are way too many good games already this year.

Every year seems to top itself with games. We easily have 4 or 5 game of the year candidates ALREADY! And persona 5 comes out tomorrow so add that to the list. Not to mention all the stuff still to come! What a year! Glad you dig RE 7. It really is a breath of fresh air to the franchise...and we still have the Free DLC campaign coming that may answer some questions about the ending.

[pierrot]

1. Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (PCE-CD)
2. Mega Bomberman (GEN)
3. Lost in Shadow (Wii)
4. Kirby's Dream Land (via Wii Dream Collection) (GB)
5. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (via Wii Dream Collection) (GB)
6. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (via Wii Dream Collection) (SNES)
7. Saturn Bomberman (SAT)
8. Rent a Hero (GEN)
9. Tricolore Crise (DC)
10. Super Mario: Yoshi Island (SFC)
11. Clockwork Knight: Pepperouchou no Daibouken (Joukan) (SAT)
12. Mickey to Donald: Magical Adventure 3 (SFC)
13. Kishin Douji Zenki: Battle Raiden (SFC)
14. Super Donkey Kong (SFC)
15. Super Donkey Kong 2: Dixie & Diddy (SFC)
16. Anearth Fantasy Stories: First Volume (SAT)
17. Panzer Dragoon (SAT)
18. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei (SAT)
19. Panzer Dragoon Orta (XBOX)
20. Cross Tantei Monogatari (SAT)


I finished Cross Tantei Monogatari last night, and it was pretty good. The gameplay is very similar to the investigation portions of the Phoenix Wright games, but with a significantly more serious tone. The Phoenix Wright games tend to keep things a little light by putting in a lot of gags, and really bizarre characters, but Cross Tantei relies more on breaking the fourth wall through some of Ken's 'internal' monologuing; There are still some gags, though, and honestly I think the tone can be a little inconsistent between lighthearted comedy, and hard boiled detective stories. Typically it sticks to the latter, but the former feels peppered in pseudo-randomly.

The title of the game is derived from the main character's name: Kurosu Ken (黒須　剣). This isn't really acknowledged anywhere in the game, however. In keeping with Ken's name: In the last chapter, Ken gets mighty upset when he perceives that another character is deriding him by calling him, "Kurosuke" (Ku-Ro-Su-Ke--n), when she is, in fact, talking to a crow. It's entirely irrelevant to the chapter, and is made more curious by Ken basically saying he's going to rape/beat her if she doesn't stop laughing at him (more on this later).

The game begins with Ken in a cemetery, some time after graduating high school, talking to his deceased father's (a former police detective) gravestone: announcing his decision to forego police training in favor of becoming a private investigator. He's approached by a woman who tells him to reconsider the circumstances of his father's death seven years ago--believed by Ken, to this point, to be an accident. At any rate, that plot point is shelved, in favor of a pretty simple investigation of a really snooty Aoyama Daigaku--where I've actually studied; A school known for its disproportionately female student body, and fewer incidents of date rape than somewhere like Waseda--student's intruder problems. From there the game progresses in chapters, with each one being its own, relatively, self contained case. Chapter 2 involves suspicions of murder in a suicide case, 3 takes place in an all girl high school, and 5 and 7 both involve serial murders of a group of people trapped in 'lodging,' we'll say, of which Ken is party to. Those four chapters involve some pretty gory murder scenarios, and are not for the faint of heart. Chapter 7, especially is to be avoided by anyone with a weak stomach.

Chapters 4 and 6 are sort of oddities, in that chapter 4 is a sound novel (ie. narrated text over a slideshow of generally heavily compressed still images), and actually the highlight of the game for me. Chapter 6 also does something a little different by putting in a 15 floor 3D maze with a number of jokes thrown in: I apparently made Ken drink something with bee larvae in it, which made him walk faster; I walked into a room on the 14th floor where Ken stepped on a cockroach hotel, and ran all the way back to the start of the 13th floor; There was a room on the 13th floor with a romantic compatibility guide written by none other than Segata Sanshiro. It wasn't the best choice for mixing up the gameplay, but it was semi-playable anyway. The scenario itself was sort of quaint.

Ken, as a character, confuses me a little bit. He's apparently a genius by default, and by the end of the game, outshines an 18-year-old with multiple doctorates from MIT, a medical license, and a, self-professed, IQ of 200. Ken generally appears to be just an average dude, though. He's also given a really lecherous streak (I guess for the benefit of the player), and gropes his coworker, Tomoko, more than once. I guess it's all right, though, since she's a second degree black belt in Aikido, and beats him within an inch of his life each time he does it. This is the same person who Ken made threats of sexual assault against; So, yeah, I guess this is what the game thinks of as a healthy relationship, since it's the pairing that's foreshadowed throughout the game. I like Tomoko as a character, it's just--jesus--.

So, the writing isn't perfect, but it's generally a bit more interesting, and a little less corny than something like the Phoenix Wright series. Cross Tantei is pretty popular with Japanese Saturn and Playstation AVG buffs, and I can understand why. It was supposed to have a sequel, but that apparently never materialized. I've been really interested in playing the Jinguuji Saburo games, and own Innocent Black for the PS2, but that just so happens to be the only one with the same writer as Cross Tantei (there's a reference to Jinguuji Saburo in the first chapter, as well). I ordered Tantei Jinguuji Saburo Early Collection for PS1 recently, which has all the FC, and FDS entries together, and look forward to finding out how much inspiration games like Cross Tantei and Phoenix Wright take from that series. I'm also hopeful that the Saburo series has a more steady tone.

One thing that I thought was kind of nice about the game, was the estimates for the length of each chapter on the back of the box. I ended up beating the total of those estimates by a fairly substantial amount of time, but it's information that I kind of wish more adventure games had readily available.

There's no way around it, Cross Tantei Monogatari requires fairly substantial Japanese language ability to get much out of, but it's a pretty good time for fans of mystery/investigative adventure games.

[BoneSnapDeez]

1. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2. Gyromite (NES)
3. Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- (Steam)
4. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
5. Radical Dreamers (SNES)
6. Video Games 1 (TI-99/4A)
7. Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
8. Exile (TurboGrafx CD)
9. Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (TurboGrafx CD)
10. Xak (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
11. Xak II (PC Engine CD, Xak I・II)
12. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
13. Captain Silver (Sega Master System)
14. Märchen Veil (Famicom Disk System)
15. Vanguard (Atari 2600)
16. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
17. Front Line (Atari 2600)
18. Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
19. Harmonia (Steam)
20. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
21. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
22. Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (TurboGrafx CD)
23. Gorf (Atari 2600)
24. Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
25. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2, Taito Legends 2)
26. The Lost Vikings (SNES)
27. Blue's Journey (Wii Virtual Console)
28. Wizard Fire (Wii, Data East Arcade Classics)
29. Super Mario Run (Android)
30. Dragon Warrior II (NES)

Oh dear. This one's a bit of a doozy. Dragon Warrior II (Dragon Quest II if you wanna be a weeb about it) has its moments of fun and thrill, but they're far too often submerged beneath the patina of tedium and frustration.

The game launched in Japan in January of 1987. For reference, that means that Enix shat out two of these fuckers before the venerable Fantasy/Phantasy duo dropped. Taking inspiration from the likes of Ultima III, Dragon Warrior II was the first "big-name" party-based JRPG, and set the stage for dozens of imitators to follow.

Aesthetically, it's a brilliant game. Technically speaking, the graphics are perhaps a small improvement compared to the first Dragon Warrior, and they're just as noteworthy and charming. Every sprite is a "square" and the game world is once again constructed out of the most pleasantly clashing color palettes. Toriyama returns as character designer, naturally, and the enemy designs are oozing with personality. There's a larger array of foes on display here, and the game's far less reliant on the dreaded palette swap. Playable characters and NPCs are small, but feature some impressive detail and animation. Ye Olde English makes a triumphant return, with a story told succinctly with zero needless exposition. Surprisingly, Dragon Warrior II is a sequel both in name and plot. It directly references the first game numerous times, and even provides some clever foreshadowing into the events of the third.

The overworld is huge, overwhelmingly so. The entire continent that comprised Dragon Warrior's world is but a segment of this one. As expected, there are many more dungeons and towns. The annoying torchlight element from the first game has been ditched, and save points are more frequent. They're not frequently consistent, unfortunately, as only every other town or so grants the player an opportunity to record progress. A bigger game world means more opportunities for Koichi Sugiyama to flex his creative muscles. The soundtrack is excellent, with plenty of throwback tracks from the first game as well as new standouts. There's a fine attention to detail here. For instance, various segments of the overworld are accompanied by a unique and appropriate theme. Of course the "main theme" returns in all its glory; it's featured on the title screen alongside and impressive animation of the heroic trio marching forward.

Ah yes, the party of Dragon Warrior II. The lead character (and only nameable one) is the Prince of Midenhall. He's the tank, basically. High HP, impressive attack and defense stats, zero magic. He's joined by his cousin, another prince: the Prince of Cannock. Here's your "average" dude. Lower attack and defensive stats, but with an array of both offensive and healing spells. Finally we have the Princess of Moonbrooke! She's a dog. I don't mean to imply that she's an unattractive woman (quite the opposite hubba hubba), rather she's a victim of a curse that placed her in canine form. Once cured she joins the party as the healer.

Combat is frequent and is instantly recognizable as the "standard" that would become featured in so many turn-based JRPGs. Black background, static enemy portraits. The game pulls the same nonsense as Final Fantasy, where you can strike dead air should you target an enemy who expires before your hit connects. It's annoying, though not exactly game-breaking as it becomes quickly apparent how many strikes are required to vanquish most foes. Not to mention the fact that the party becomes heavily reliant on spells that target all enemies for the back half of the game. Oh, and there's mandatory level-grinding. A lot.

The pacing here is rather unfortunate. The game's really thrilling and upbeat at first. The main hero visits a series of distinct towns and dungeons and recruits his allies. Challenge increases gradually and fairly. Then things grind to a halt once the ship is acquired. As mentioned, the world is huge and there's little direction whatsoever. Moreover, many plot-essential items are hidden in obscure places, inventory space is laughable, and the dungeons get more annoying and obtuse as the game progresses. As you move forward, it becomes apparent that the party isn't "balanced" in the slightest. The Prince of Cannock and Princess never seem to have enough defense, can equip fuck-all for weapons and armor, and are always the ones targeted by enemies. Seriously, monsters gang up on the weakest party member first. Assholes.

Things come to a head in the final 20% of the game. Seriously, the final stretch sucks. Exhibit A: The Cave to Rhone. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. It's a giant cavern rife with pitfalls and false exits. Don't even think about trying to make a beeline to the exit, as thorough exploration is required to acquire all the essential items that lie within. Now, things wouldn't be so bad if said cave wasn't in fact infested by diabolically hard enemies. In fact, some of these battles are nigh impossible to survive. Expect to run, a lot, and if you find yourself ambushed by four green dragons just bend over. You're done. The land of Rhone doesn't fare much better. This is the game's final "grind spot" and believe me, a shitload is required for the final stretch of bosses. Now in addition to featuring enemies even harder than those found in its adjacent cave, Rhone is also home to monsters that can kill the entire party with a single spell. Grind enough and it's time for the final dungeon, which features even more impossible-ish fights so fleeing from every battle is mandatory (wow, flashbacks to the first Dragon Warrior!). Mercifully the very very final couple of bosses are complete wimps compared to everything in their vicinity, assuming you did the requisite level-grinding.

So that's Dragon Warrior II. Sometimes a blast, frequently a chore. Ultimately it's just a game that overstays its welcome. I was ready to be "done" at twelve hours. Yuji Horii and friends demanded I stay for another eight. To those who attempt this series chronologically: don't be put off by the crusty nature of the first two installments. All is made right by Dragon Warrior III, which is pure bliss.

[MrPopo]

All is made right by Dragon Warrior III, which is pure bliss.

Can confirm. Though sometimes I suspect I'm grinding too much thanks to my policy of "grind until you can buy all the gear in town" before moving on to the next town.