Games Beaten 2015

[BoneSnapDeez]

404

Mario not found.

[Flake]

404

Mario not found.

It was difficult for me to admit as well. I thought about lying to you all and saying it was Hotel Mario or something.

[MrPopo]

1. Painkiller - PC
2. Front Mission 4 - PS2
3. Wasteland 2 - PC
4. Arcanum - PC
5. X-COM Terror from the Deep - PC
6. Military Madness - TurboGrafx-16
7. Unreal - PC
8. Shadowrun - SNES
9. Warcraft III - PC
10. Dungeon Keeper - PC
11. Final Fantasy X-2 HD - PS3
12. Descent - PC
13. Quake Mission Pack 2 - Dissolution of Eternity
14. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2 - Ground Zero
15. Sokobond - PC

This is a fun little puzzler that takes inspiration from chemistry, though it does simplify some things (you can actually generate a couple of isomers that don't work in real life). It's like sokobon in that you have one thing you move around, but rather than focusing entirely on pushing you have to mix pushing and pulling as when you encounter another atom you form a bond. It starts off simple, then adds in things such as rotation points, bond increasers (so you move over them and a single turns into a double, then a triple and a quadruple (another impossible thing in real life)) and bond splitters. And as you get further it combines those three, and a final thing they add is needing to create multiple molecules.

No chemistry knowledge is needed, though it does help a few times to figure out what molecule you're trying to build based on the atoms given to you. And after assembling the molecule it lets you know what you build and give you some facts.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2015

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call - 3DS
A Bird Story - PC
Quake - PC
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - PS4
Quake: Scourge of Armagon - PC
Quake: Dissolution of Eternity - PC
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis - NDS
Painkiller - PC
Gungrave: Overdose - PS2
Adventure -Atari 2600 (PS2)
Auto Racing - Intellivision (PS2) [1979]
Boxing - Atari 2600 (PS2) [1980]
The Count - TI99/4A (emulated) [1981]
Dragonstomper - Atari 2600/Starpath Supercharger (emulated) [1982]
Enduro - Atari 2600 (PS2) [1983]
Diablo III - PS4
Front Line - Atari 2600 (emulated) [1984]
Gertie Goose - The Lost Eggs - C64 (emulated) [1985]
Ocean Commander - Wii
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance - PS2
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - PS4
Mortal Kombat: Deception - PS2
The Order: 1886 - PS4
The Uncle Who Works for Nintendo - PC
Grab Them By The Eyes - PC
Growl - PS2/Arcade
Hydlide - NES [1986]
Ikari Warriors - NES [1987]
Jonah Barrington's Squash - C64 (emulated) [1988]
Steel Diver - 3DS
Super Mario 3D World - - Wii U
Quake II - PC
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number - PS4 *new*

Total: 33

Previously: 2014 | The First 400 Games

I think I ultimately liked this sequel as much as the first game. While that one was this wonderful breath of new gameplay and surreal aesthetics, this one saw everything done bigger and...usually better. The strange/surreal plot of the first is more pulpy this time - which doesn't work as well. The music is, somehow, even better than in the first. There are some very cool ideas and levels in this one unlike anything seen in the first. You can't cheese your way through anything with an overpowered mask like you could at times in the first. There's more focus on forcing you to play certain characters, less focus on the mask/loadout idea from the first game (though some of that persists).

To that end, the game seems harder...but I am not certain it is on the whole. Some levels are certainly large and brutal, requiring you to rack up some crazy combos from the very start just to get to weapons/hiding spots/etc. They are curse-inducing and will drive you mad.

All in all the game took me about 12 hours to play through everything, which is 4 hours longer than it took me to beat the first game. It also has about 50% more levels than the first though, so my time is (for me) pretty much on par. I averaged about 20-30 minutes per stage...some I did in 5-10 minutes and a few of the harder ones took me an hour and a half.

Still, I consider this one of the tougher series out there and also one of the most adrenaline-pumping...I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it and will likely give it a go again at some future point (perhaps on the Vita) to see if I can improve some of my level grades. Highly recommended.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Didn't that just come out?

[dsheinem]

Didn't that just come out?

Yeah. I started playing it Wednesday.

[bmoc]

1. Radiant Historia
2. Halo: Combat Evolved (Master Chief Collection)
3. Halo 2 (Master Chief Collection)
4. Killer Instinct (Season 1 Story Mode)
5. 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
6. Ori and the Blind Forest (Xbox One)

Ori and the Blind Forest was one of my most anticipated games of 2015 and it did not disappoint me in the least. It probably would have flown under the radar for me had I not gotten an Xbox One for Christmas and researched Xbox One digital titles (It is also available on PC). I watched a few trailers and was pretty impressed with what I saw. Thus began a long 3 month wait for its release.

Platformers are one of my favorite genres. I've been playing Rayman Legends recently since it is one of the free titles you get with Xbox Live. When I downloaded Ori and the Blind Forest, Rayman took a back seat and I couldn't put OatBF down. It took me just over 9 hours to complete and I did a fair amount of exploring. I think I was 90%+ in exploring Ori's world of Nibel.

OatBF has very little in the way of plot but it makes expert use of what little plot it does have. Parental love and friendship are key themes here and they are used well. I confess that I got a little misty eyed a couple of times. Pretty impressive for a game with so little dialogue. The main characters never say a word but you do have a Navi-like companion that occasionally chimes in to tell you where you should head next.

OatBF has a few RPG elements such as a skill tree which you can use to upgrade your abilities. I was able to complete two of the three trees by the end of the game and I completed about half of the last skill tree. You won't be able to complete all three trees without some serious enemy grinding so be careful with your choices. Personally I made getting Triple Jump and Ultra Defense a priority. Triple jump is just darn useful and Ultra Defense gives you effectively double health against enemies.

Ori's abilities are also very well done. The game does a great job of easing you into her multitude of powers and abilities. The game requires you to make use of all of her abilities if you want to succeed, very similar to Metroid in that regard.

One of my favorite features is the way you save your game. It is a good compromise between the more modern checkpoint save method and the static save point method. You have a resource that lets you use powerful abilities, open special gates, or summon a save point. Later in the game, creating save points can also restore some health so careful management of this resource becomes another strategic element of gameplay. You can save almost anywhere except in areas with environmental traps, most likely to prevent death loops.

Overall I did not find the game to be too difficult. However at the end of each dungeon, there is an extended area where you cannot save and you are typically rushed through the remainder of the dungeon due to some catastrophe. Those areas can be brutally difficult and your only recourse is to perform them over and over until mastered. And while I may have uttered several curse words during these parts, it was very satisfying to complete them. I believe that these difficult areas are there in lieu of boss fights. Ori does have a main antagonist but Ori does not really do much to confront her - Ori primarily evades her instead.

I greatly enjoyed Ori and the Blind Forest. Everything about it was just so well done. The gameplay, the artwork, and the music. So far it is my favorite game of 2015. I give it my highest recommendation.

[dsheinem]

bmoc: What games would you compare Ori to? Is it a collect-a-thon like the Rayman games where you need X number of doodads to advance to the next level? Is it a puzzle platform like Limbo, Braid, etc.? Is it more of a Metroid-style game where you shoot stuff? Can you say a bit more...?

[MrPopo]

Also, how necessary do you feel it is to be using a controller? For example, I think trying to play Super Metroid with a keyboard is going to feel terrible, but I was able to do Limbo with my keyboard just fine. That's going to inform whether I get the Steam version or the Xbox One version.

[bmoc]

bmoc: What games would you compare Ori to? Is it a collect-a-thon like the Rayman games where you need X number of doodads to advance to the next level? Is it a puzzle platform like Limbo, Braid, etc.? Is it more of a Metroid-style game where you shoot stuff? Can you say a bit more...?

Definitely more Metroid than Rayman. Shooting is the primary way you defeat enemies but you don't have to aim much. Your projectiles seek out the closest enemy. There are some puzzles as well. I found them easy to solve but fun to complete.

So I'd say it is a Metroidvania type game with minor collecting, puzzle, and RPG elements. Progression is limited by the discovery of key items or abilities rather than how many doodads you collect.