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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by MrPopo Mon Dec 24, 2018 7:08 pm

First 50:
1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC
37. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - PC
38. Hard Reset Redux - PC
39. Nier: Automata - PS4
40. Darksiders - PC
41. The Banner Saga 3 - PC
42. Guacamelee! 2 - PC
43. Spider-Man - PS4
44. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
45. Star Control Origins - PC
46. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - PS4
47. The Messenger - Switch
48. Dragon Quest XI - PS4
49. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - PC
50. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - PC

51. Legacy of Kain: Defiance - PC
52. Iconoclasts - PC
53. Slain: Back From Hell - PC
54. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - N64
55. Warcraft II - PC
56. Kolibri - 32X
57. Super Smash Bros. Utlimate - Switch

Well, I just finished up Adventure Mode and have all the fighters unlocked, so I consider this to be beaten. There's still content to collect (finish the challenges, get all the spirits) but that'll be something to do when I'm in the mood. I think I've spent a good 30-40 hours on this game, which is amazing considering it's a fighting game.

So Smash Ultimate, as we all know, contains every single fighter and stage from every previous game, as well as some new stuff. It definitely lives up to its name in terms of sheer content. They also took the time to really flesh out all the game modes for people who aren't doing the basic multiplayer, which makes it a fantastic purchase for someone who refuses to pay for online multiplayer and rarely has people over. The first is the update to the Classic Mode. Now it consists of six fights and a boss, as well as a Race To The Finish style breather level (which is the same for everyone). What makes this more interesting than previous entries is that the Classic Mode is bespoke to each character. As an example, Ryu is a series of stamina battles against fighters meant to represent each of the SFII characters, complete with appropriate background music and being on the FInal Destination version of appropriate levels. The final boss fight also differs between characters. Most commonly it is Master and Crazy Hand, but sometimes it might just be Master, or one of several other bosses (including Dracula in a two stage fight based on CV1). Sometimes you even get a partner for the boss fight. Classic also ends up being the fastest way to unlock characters, as every time you beat Classic with a character a new one challenges you. And if you fail the refight will be available after the next time you clear Classic.

As for Adventure, this ends up taking in some elements from Subspace Emissary, but is its own thing. The basic core is that there is a giant board that you move around. At various points are fights, and clearing those fights will get you a specific spirit or unlock a character (if it's a character fight). These fights are heavily themed, so each one ends up being quite different and keeps it fresh, as you'll be doing 450+ of these if you go for a full clear. Spicing things up further is the spirits system. This is influenced by Subspace Emissary's sticker system. You can equip a single primary spirit, which has base stats it uses to determine your damage and defense, and then between zero and three secondary spirits. Different primaries have different numbers of slots for secondaries, and secondaries take up one to three slots. By combining these effects available on the primary and secondaries you can counter hostile conditions (such as lava floor) or buff up your character's attacks. There's also a rock paper scissors system of typing on the primaries, which give you an advantage or disadvantage (as well as a neutral element). This keeps you from getting too complacent, as you'll regularly have to swap them around depending on your opponent. Primary spirits can level up, and some of them can evolve into a secondary form (which is always more powerful). In addition, there are shops and other services on the map that once you unlock can be used to give you more bonuses. Finally, many paths are blocked off until you get a specific spirit. So you'll end up bouncing all around the map for a while until the later game, when you can get through everything. It's quite the meaty mode, and it keeps you engaged.

I don't hestiate to call this the best Smash ever. Though the tournament purists might still swear by Melee.
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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by PartridgeSenpai Wed Dec 26, 2018 12:39 am

Partridge Senpai's 2018 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017
* indicates a repeat

1-20


21-40


41-60
41. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Expansion Pass DLC (Switch)
42. Battle Block Theater (Xbox 360) *
43. Magicka (Steam) *
44. La-Mulana 2 (Steam)
45. Yooka-Laylee (Steam)
46. Snipper-Clips: Cut it Out Together! (Switch)
47. Magicka: Dungeons and Gargoyles (Steam)
48. Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project (PC)
49. Timespinner (PS4)
50. Hollow Knight (PC)
51. Wuppo (PC)
52. Super Mario Party (Switch)
53. Party Hard (Steam)
54. The Final Station (Steam)
55. GARAGE: Bad Trip (Steam)
56. Mr Shifty (Steam)
57. LISA (Steam)
58. LISA: The Joyful (Steam)
59. Divide by Sheep (Steam)
60. The Mummy: Demastered (Switch)


61. Iconoclasts (Steam)
62. Serial Cleaner (Twitch)
63. Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PSVita)
64. Hokuto Ga Gotoku [Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise] (PS4)
65. Pokemon Picross (3DS)
66. 3D Picross: Round 2 (3DS)
67. Vampyr (PS4)
68. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)
69. Slime-San (Steam)
70. Donut County (Switch)
71. Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4)

72. Marvel's Spider-Man: The City That Never Sleeps (PS4)

The City That Never Sleeps is is effectively the title of the season pass of Spider-Man on PS4, comprising the 3 DLC mission sets released for it that together comprise what is more or less a 4th act that follows the main game's 3. It follows Spider-Man taking on a resurging Maggia crime wave led by Hammerhead. It took me about 12 or so hours to get all the trophies in all 3 DLCs, but that, as with the normal game, is a fairly easy task to accomplish compared to many other PS4 games.

Given that this is more or less 3 smaller stories that make up a 4th act, it almost feels like an expansion to the main game or a micro-sequel that reuses the same city. Swinging around the city was still as fun as ever, and the 9 new suits (3 per-DLC) were a very welcome addition to the base game's 29, but it is just more Spider-Man. Despite being shorter, the story is still well told, and I especially liked what they did with Yuri's arc over it. If anything, I kinda wish it had been one large expansion from the beginning instead of 3 smaller storys, as the larger connected narrative feels a little rushed compared to the base game's. The DLC's don't seem to run as well as the base game, though. There were several times where I would flying across the city on my way to another activity and the game would just freeze to load in the area I was going into, and a couple missions had a floating/frozen car that kinda made that mission freak out, where those were never things I encountered in the base game.

The pack of 3 starts out a bit lukewarm, with The Heist having some remarkably aggravating and not fun challenge missions (which were already the worst part of the base game, so making those worse is saying something), on top of some other fairly uninspired side activities and a difficulty level that's a bit of a step down from act 3 of the base game. It really picks up the pace in the 2nd and 3rd bits of the pack though, with Turf Wars and Silver Lining having a very nice difficulty curve across the whole of the TCTNS expansion with some really brutal new enemy types, much better challenge design, and some enemy base missions that will really test just how good a grasp on the combat you have. Even the bosses are damn tough compared to a lot in the main game, with the final boss of the 3rd pack, while not having the atmospheric gravitas that the main game's climax has, it was certainly a far harder boss.

If you were to buy the digital deluxe edition of the game, which is $80 compared to the normal game's $60, then that's a pretty good value proposition as far as I'm concerned. You're getting 33% more game, and you're paying 33% more for it. At $10 a piece separate, it's a bit of a bigger ask, as is the $25 for the season pass, but this is a very easy recommendation if you pick the digital deluxe edition on sale for $50 like it is at the moment of writing this review.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. While it's not exactly a must-play, completely revamped version of the main game's story, it's a very well executed expansion to the base game that is well-priced and has good value for money (which is something many other game's DLC's can't really say these days). Even if you may feel that paying $20-$30 extra bucks on top of the base game's $60 is a bit much, I can say with high confidence that this is gonna be something well worth checking out if and when Spider-Man ever gets a GOTY Edition sometime next year ^w^
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by MrPopo Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:16 am

First 50:
1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC
37. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - PC
38. Hard Reset Redux - PC
39. Nier: Automata - PS4
40. Darksiders - PC
41. The Banner Saga 3 - PC
42. Guacamelee! 2 - PC
43. Spider-Man - PS4
44. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
45. Star Control Origins - PC
46. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - PS4
47. The Messenger - Switch
48. Dragon Quest XI - PS4
49. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - PC
50. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - PC

51. Legacy of Kain: Defiance - PC
52. Iconoclasts - PC
53. Slain: Back From Hell - PC
54. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - N64
55. Warcraft II - PC
56. Kolibri - 32X
57. Super Smash Bros. Utlimate - Switch
58. Pizza Titan Ultra - Switch

So back at PAX this year I was swinging by the PAX 10 section and one game caught my eye: Pizza Titan Ultra. The one sentence descriptor is "Crazy Taxi, but instead of a taxi you pilot a 10 story mecha/pizzeria and race to deliver pizzas while avoiding hostile robots." This is the kind of indie that isn't all artsy, it's just fun and would never be made by a large studio.

The game consists of 8 maps and two game modes. The first mode is an arcade-style time trial to earn as much cash as possible before time runs out on a given map. Delivering a pizza gets you a time extension, and there are pickups to give you extra cash or time. There are always five special ingredients which are worth a good amount and you get a bonus for collecting all five. As you progress the enemies get upgraded; they start as tiny robots you can run over, but then tanks and helicopters show up, and further on larger bots. Different bots require different attacks; helicopters might require you to jump attack, while ground units can be trashed with a slide kick. There are three different money targets as well.

Then there is a story mode, which is told in three missions per map. These consist of needing to complete a goal or goals to finish the map. You're still expected to be delivering pizzas, as those tend to be the best way to gain time. Some missions will give a larger time extension per pizza delivery; those ones tend to involve more time spent fighting enemies. The goals will include things such as collecting the big ingredients, destroying enemies, destroying the city, and NOT destroying the city. There's a good difficulty curve to things, both in terms of each map getting harder in the right amount and the goals being more challenging to pull off. Each mission briefing is also a giant pop culture reference that actually goes pretty deep. You can tell that each one inserted is not just a "oh, I remember this thing" but "I am passionate about this thing and will sprinkle in details that only someone super into it will know."

The whole game is a few hours to get through the story mode, and then you can screw around in the free running mode when you have some time to kill. And such a deliciously absurd concept needs our support.
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by dsheinem Wed Dec 26, 2018 3:38 pm

Games Beaten 2018
The first 50:
Darkwing Duck - NES (PS4)
DuckTales - NES (PS4)
DuckTales 2 - NES (PS4)
Talespin - NES (PS4)
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers - NES (PS4)
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - NES (PS4)
Scarecrow - PS1 (Vita)
The Heart of Dark - PS1 (Vita)
Justice - PS1 (Vita)
Caligo - PC
Tomb Raider (2013) - X1
Nephise Begins - PC
Diablo III: The Darkening of Tristam - PC
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - X1
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest - SNES
Forza Horizon 3 - X1/ PC
Elbub - PC
Tekken 4 -PS2
Injustice 2 -PS4
Apollo 11 VR - PSVR
Star Wars Battlefront II -PS4
Unearthing Mars - PSVR
Jenny of the Prairie - C64
Part Time UFO - iOS
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite - PS4
War of the Monsters -PS2
Far Cry 5 - PS4
Uncharted: Lost Legacy - PS4
Soul Calibur 2 - GCN
God of War (2018) - PS4
Orcs and Elves - NDS
Tekken 7 - PS4
House of the Dead 4 Special - PS3
S.A.R. (Search and Rescue) - PS3
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR - PSVR
Time Crisis: Razing Storm - PS3
Time Crisis IV - PS3
Marvel Ultimate Alliance - PS4
Dodonpachi Saidaioujou - 360
Ketsui Kizuna Shigokutachi Extra - PS3
Bad Dudes - Arcade (Wii)
Crude Buster - Arcade (Wii)
Wizard Fire - Arcade (Wii)
Heavy Barrel - Arcade (Wii)
The Bouncer - PS2
Thor: God of Thunder - NDS
Destiny 2: Warmind - PS4
King Oddball - PS4
High Hell - PC
Postal Redux - PC

Super Night Riders - PC
Slap City - PC
Ultraflow - iOS
Grim Dawn - PC
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - PC
Postal 2 - PC
Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend - PC
Street Fighter V (SF1 Story Mode) - PS4
Windjammers- PS4
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR - Dragonborn - PSVR
Demon's Crystals - X1
Blek - iOS
Destiny 2: Forsaken - PS4
Roundabout - PS4
Shoot 1UP - 360
Forza Horizon 4 - X1/PC
Tetris Effect - PSVR *new*
Donut County - iOS *new*


Total: 68


Previously: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Tetris Effect is the best version of Tetris since the Game Boy. Tetris + Rez + Lumines = transcendant magic. One of the best games of the year, easily.

Donut County is charming, short, and well worth the few bucks it costs on mobile. I couldn’t see paying $10+ for it on a console platform, especially as it feels designed for a touch interface.
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pierrot
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by pierrot Wed Dec 26, 2018 6:14 pm

dsheinem wrote:Tetris Effect - PSVR *new*

Tetris Effect is the best version of Tetris since the Game Boy. Tetris + Rez + Lumines = transcendant magic. One of the best games of the year, easily.

Ever since I saw the video of that NES Tetris champion trying out Tetris Effect, I have really, really wanted it. I don't have any plans to get a PS4 until Shenmue III is released, at least, though, and who knows how long it could take me to get on board with VR after that. So I'd be a little concerned that I almost couldn't play it until 2025 or something.
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by Flake Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:36 pm

Games Beaten January thru September:
January:

Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
Batman: The Telltale Series (PS4)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (DSi ware)

February:

Roundabout (PS4)
Pocket Fighter (PSX)
Double Dragon Neon (PS3)
Batman Arkham VR(PSVR)

March:

Gundam Versus (PS4)

April:

Batman: The Enemy Within (PS4)
Megaman 9 (PS4)
Megaman 10 (PS4)

May:

The Legend of Zelda: BotW (Switch)
Injustice: Gods Among Us (PS4)
Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA/WiiU)

June:

Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors Dreams (Switch)
Megaman (Switch)
Megaman 2 (Switch)
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS4)
Ikaruga (Switch)
Batman: Tell Tale Series (Switch)
Gunbird (Switch)
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Switch)
Caladrius Blaze (PS4)

July:

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD (PS3)
Street Fighter (PS4)
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (PS4)
Megaman X (PS4)
Megaman X4 (PS4)
Super Mario World (SNES Classic)

August:

Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
Megaman X2 (PS4)

September:

SNK Gals Fighter (NGPC)
SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy (Switch)
Super Mario Bros (NES Switch Online)
Super Mario Bros 3 (NES Switch Online)


October:

Super Mario Bros 2 (NES Classic)
Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion (Switch)
Banner Saga Part 1 (Switch)
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (Switch)

November:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Gundam Extreme Versus (PS3)

December:

Super Smash Bros Ultimate (Switch)

Slim pickings for ol' Flakey-poo at the end of the year! A replay of BotW (my third, I think?), an enhanced port of an old Arcade game and Nintendo's final answer to complaints about the new Smash being just a WiiU port.

So instead of mini reviews, I think I want to talk a little bit about 2018 in general. For nearly 10 years now, I've used these Games Beaten lists as a sort-of diary or journal. A way to look back on my year and remember these weird things that would otherwise be forgotten.

You can tell looking at my list what I was or wasn't excited about. A sudden rush of Street Fighter games, back to back? I was so psyched about Street Fighter 30th anniversary collection. A random play through of Gal's Fighter for the Neo Geo Pocket Color? Sorry, but Tag Team Heroines is the shit and shame on you for not anticipating it the way I did.

Then you have months like August where I only cleared a Megaman game and Mario Kart Wii. What the heck was up? Then I remember that my depression spiked and with it my drinking. Got myself into a dark place where I was ignoring the things that make me feel good like games, biking, hiking, and family.

There's a ton of replays on this list - some of that was how many compilations were released but some of that was me trying to leverage nostalgia to deal with some issues this year in healthier ways than drinking. My wife traveled a lot, my daughter grew up a lot (which sometimes made things difficult), and my role at work changed in a way that required me to seriously tackle issues I have with planning long term projects and handling multiple tasks at the same time - which was rough for me since I left my previous role because there were no more challenges. Be careful what you wish for, amirite?

In 2019, I want to be more positive in my reasons to game and in my reasons for choosing the games I play. I want to game as a method of coping less and instead focus on the joy of gaming. I want to clear the backlog. I want to be more social in my gaming, too - I bailed on elkinfencer more than once on games we were planning to play in tandem. I want to FINISH more games instead of retreating to short experiences that I've tackled dozens of times.

Another year is down - looking forward to another year of gaming with you all in 2019!
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by MrPopo Wed Dec 26, 2018 8:58 pm

First 50:
1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC
37. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - PC
38. Hard Reset Redux - PC
39. Nier: Automata - PS4
40. Darksiders - PC
41. The Banner Saga 3 - PC
42. Guacamelee! 2 - PC
43. Spider-Man - PS4
44. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
45. Star Control Origins - PC
46. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - PS4
47. The Messenger - Switch
48. Dragon Quest XI - PS4
49. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - PC
50. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - PC

51. Legacy of Kain: Defiance - PC
52. Iconoclasts - PC
53. Slain: Back From Hell - PC
54. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - N64
55. Warcraft II - PC
56. Kolibri - 32X
57. Super Smash Bros. Utlimate - Switch
58. Pizza Titan Ultra - Switch
59. Gris - Switch

As a nice contrast to Pizza Titan Ultra we have Gris, which is best described as an art house puzzle platformer. The game is short but gorgeous, and is better treated as an experience. There's not a huge amount of replayability; basically going back and redoing the various parts to collectables you missed to get the secret ending scene that sheds some final light on the game's story. But for the time you have it the game is a treat.

The first thing you'll notice is the art style. The game is done in a style similar to various alternative animated films, like Pink Floyd's The Wall. Not specifically The Wall's style, but that general style of "this is animation and we are not bound by reality, so our artist is going to let his imagination run wild and maybe let you know how much peyote he did". The whole thing is very impressive visually; frankly I'm shocked they managed to get some of these effects in Unity. I'd love to sit down with their programmers sometime and ask about how they got some of the effects to work.

Gameplay-wise, it's a level based puzzle platformer. As you progress through you'll gain abilities and then need to figure out how to apply those abilities to get through various sections of the game. The game does a good job of still using the abilities you earned early in the game later in the game, as well as new applications for those same abilities. The difficulty curve is well done, and it never gets too nasty. There are a bunch of little things you can collect which tend to require you to either explore a hidden area or do a more difficult version of something you already did. My only complaint is there are a lot of points of no return in the levels that aren't always obvious, and so you will miss out on said collectables until you unlock the chapter skip after the end of the game.

If you're interested in something artsy and don't mind the three hour gameplay then I highly recommend this.
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by noiseredux Thu Dec 27, 2018 9:58 am

Flake wrote:Another year is down - looking forward to another year of gaming with you all in 2019!


Great reflective post, dude. Happy new year!
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by Flake Thu Dec 27, 2018 4:25 pm

noiseredux wrote:
Flake wrote:Another year is down - looking forward to another year of gaming with you all in 2019!


Great reflective post, dude. Happy new year!


Thanks! I have a really good feeling about 2019 in general - both for gaming and for how things will turn out.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
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Re: Games Beaten 2018

by MrPopo Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:34 pm

First 50:
1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC
32. Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds - PS4
33. Resident Evil 7 - PC
34. Resident Evil 7: Not A Hero - PC
35. Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War III - PC
36. Overwhelm - PC
37. Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation - PC
38. Hard Reset Redux - PC
39. Nier: Automata - PS4
40. Darksiders - PC
41. The Banner Saga 3 - PC
42. Guacamelee! 2 - PC
43. Spider-Man - PS4
44. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - PC
45. Star Control Origins - PC
46. Valkyria Chronicles 4 - PS4
47. The Messenger - Switch
48. Dragon Quest XI - PS4
49. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - PC
50. Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 - PC

51. Legacy of Kain: Defiance - PC
52. Iconoclasts - PC
53. Slain: Back From Hell - PC
54. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater - N64
55. Warcraft II - PC
56. Kolibri - 32X
57. Super Smash Bros. Utlimate - Switch
58. Pizza Titan Ultra - Switch
59. Gris - Switch
60. Bridge Constructor Portal - PC

The bridge construction genre has been around for a while, giving us the civil engineering experience without all the lawsuits when we produce slipshod structures. It's essentially a physics simulator where you need to build bridges across hazards so a vehicle can make it from one side to another. Over time the levels get harder through needing to stay within a budget and deal with harder and harder setups for how to build a bridge that needs to be just sturdy enough for the necessary vehicles to get over.

Bridge Constructor Portal takes a different track; by utilizing the various obstacles from the Portal series your task instead focuses on how you'll get your vehicle convoy to get through a frankly crazy path to get from the start to the finish. This frees you up to not worry about how many struts you're using (other than the fact that they weigh something and so you need to make sure you don't overstress the structure). In addition to the titular portals, there is speed gel and bounce gel, turrets that can be defeated by knocking them over from behind, those evil ball things that disintegrate you when they hit you, deadly laser gates, and switches that will turn on and off stuff. Also, the game has you first send one vehicle through, then a whole convoy as a bonus. Frequently the convoy will require you to adjust things, as either the structure will have some bouncing as more stuff goes over it which affects trajectories or you need to get timing down for some criss crossing.

The game has a pretty good difficulty curve, and only the last level is really at the level of it not being evident what the path needs to be. I was even able to do one of the later levels in an alternate fashion, as I was able to get the triggers I needed while skipping some of the obvious selection. You'll do a lot of tweaking to get all the paths set up right, and you'll develop your bridge building skills as you go further and have to get more creative in how you get sufficient support for what you're doing. And they even got the voice of GlaDOS to give you encouragement before stages. It starts off being one per stage as things are introduced, then in the latter half it's only on certain levels for amusing quips.
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Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
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