Games Beaten 2015

[MrPopo]

When you think about it, Centipede is like The Human Centipede; ever notice how all the segments have mouths of their own?

[Fragems]

1. Injustice Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition(PS4)
2. Infamous First Light(PS4)
3. Drakengard 3(PS3) *Endings 1-4. Ending 5 I watched online due to BS boss.
4. Infamous Second Son(PS4)
5. Thomas Was Alone(PS4)
6. Uncharted Drake's Fortune(PS3) *
7. Uncharted 2 Among Thieves(PS3) *
8. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception(PS3) *
9. Deadpool(PS3)
10. Red Dead Redemption(360)
11. Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare(360)
12. The Walking Dead Survival Instinct(360)
13. Fuse(360)
14. The Bureau Xcom Declassified(360)
15. Asura's Wrath(360)
16. Beneath a Steel Sky(PC)
17. Soul Gambler(PC)
19. Harvester(PC)
20. Coma: Mortuary(PC)
21. Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure(PC)
22. Freedom Planet(PC)
23. Tropico 3 Steam Special Edition(PC)
24. Far Cry 4(PS3)

Far Cry 4

Game play:
If you have played Far Cry 3 this is pretty much the same just with a few bells and whistles added. Basically the game can be broken down into hunting, capping bases/towers, scavenging collectibles, and running missions.Shooting mechanics are pretty solid and there are a nice variety of customizable weapons. The vehicles are about the same I think the only major addition was the Gyrocopter which completely breaks capturing towers since you can just fly around the map landing on the top floor and caping them.

Hunting animals is once again a huge part of the game and is necessary if you want to carry multiple weapons. You will also be collecting plants to create ridicoulusly game changing drugs which can allow you to see/track all enemies in an area, absorb more damage, double weapon damage, and etc.

The fortress/camp capturing missions are insanely easy with the right weapons and become a cake walk late game basically if you don't like stealth. Basically by end game you can just walk in with a grenade launcher or if your into stealth just get a high powered rifle with a silencer and pop everyone off at a distance since they will kill everything but the heavy enemies with a single shot to anywhere in the body.

This time around the "bosses" luckily aren't trippy QTE sequences but most of the time you don't really fight them you just have to infiltrate their facilities and kill them. Out of the four plus main bosses there is only 1 sequence in which you actually fight them head on. The rest were pretty much executions once you got up to them.

As for the new mechanics the only one I cared for was the grappling hook it made platforming a little more interesting but it wasn't very well utilized you are basically restricted to using it in only select areas and you can't use weapons while repeling. Other then that everything felt kind of tacked on. For instance one level in the mountains required you to collect oxygen tanks while you searched for equipment since you were at high altitudes. However that oxygen mechanic was only used once after that 10-15 minute mission it never popped up again. There was a lot of stuff like that which felt like it was just there to add a hint of variety, but wasn't deemed worthy enough to be polished and reused. Another instance is the race/survival vehicle side missions. I got excited when I first saw those because I felt that would be cool to race/evade AI opponents around the map, but you know what they ended up being... boring time trials that didn't even have interesting paths to follow.

There is a whole other side to Far Cry though and that is the co-op/multiplayer, but I never dabbled with that. I felt the game was easy enough with one player and if anything having a second player would be a liability since I prefer to be a little stealthy. There does seem to be a nice variety of player content for this game though so I will definitely have to hop into it sometime since there are player made missions which could easily be way better then what was present in the official game.

Graphics/Atmosphere:
Graphics are pretty good however there is a lot of noticeable pop in when flying/gliding through the air.

As for the setting I didn't really care much for Kyrat it's a very hilly region that doesn't really have much variety to it. There are a few interesting areas such as the shrines but the villages, forts, and etc. all start to blend together. There are a few missions that take you into the mountains but you just get teleported there and you can not revisit the areas on the open world map.


Story:
It would be best summed up with the word "Meh". They intentionally keep things vague for the majority of the story because the whole driving force of the game is trying to figure out your families past and their connections with Pagan(the crazy ruler of the country). The story isn't very well revealed through the missions though and characters will constantly talk to you as if you already have knowledge of everything that happened in the past. The only way to clear shit up is to collect your fathers journals which is kind boring and even though your Mom was a huge part of the conflict you never really get to know her side of the story.

The bosses really don't have very interesting back stories either and I kind of felt indifferent when they eventually got taken out since I only met them in passing a handful of times. The only one that was interesting was Pagan but you only get to know him a little bit because he calls your cell phone between missions on a regular basis to shot the shit with you. By the end Pagan kind of feels like your crazy uncle because he is about the only character in the game that truly seems to care about AJ and yet he wants to kill you at the same time. The ending with Pagan is kind of anticlimactic although I choose a kind of passive one since everything felt kind of pointless.

The factions of the rebels is also kind of a let down you get to choose between a power hungry leader who wants to gain power/wealth through drug trafficking, and a leader who is obsessed with tradition to the point that he treats women like second class citizens. By the end of the campaign it doesn't feel like your choices really had much of an effect either way you go though basically the mission objectives is the only thing that changes depending on who you decide to back.

Conclusion:
It's not a bad game, but it's not a great game either. In my opinion Far Cry 3 was a much more interesting and balanced game. However if you played through 3 and you liked it this is very similar, and as long as you don't mind a poorly laid out story there is a lot of content to be had.

[Flake]

1/3: Super Mario Bros 2: Lost Levels (Luigi Run) (3DS VC/NES)
1/4: Super Mario Bros. (Wii / All-Stars)
1/15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1/20: Super Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
1/28: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
2/15: Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (3DS)
2/15: Super Mario Land (3DS VC/GB)
2/16: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (3DS VC/GB)
3/3: Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (3DS VC/GB)
3/13: Dragon Ball Xenoverse (PS4)
3/23: Metroid Prime (Wii)
4/18: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii)

What a weird game. It does a lot of things better than the original Metroid Prime: The narrative is better, the characterization is better, the world building is better, the graphics are better.

And then it's all undone by an absolutely boring game map that requires endless backtracking and a late game 'fetch quest' that completely derails the game's pacing and kills the experience. And don't get me started on the last bosses (plural). I get it - Retro was trying to give the players a challenge. It was challenging but it was not fun.

I am definitely mixed on this game but mostly I am happy to be done with it.

[Exhuminator]

And then it's all undone by an absolutely boring game map that requires endless backtracking and a late game 'fetch quest' that completely derails the game's pacing and kills the experience.

What you wrote there is exactly what made me stop playing the game. The tedious unfriendly backtracking and ridiculous key fetching was the opposite of fun.

It was challenging but it was not fun.

Bingo.

Prime 2 is just a whole lot of pretty busy work.

It's worth nothing that Echoes is the only console Prime that Nintendo really gave Retro full reign on. Nintendo realized their mistake after that, because Satoru Iwata himself actually co-directed Prime 3 to keep it on the rails. "Mark Pacini, you are NOT going to screw this one up."

[Sarge]

I'm going to be a weirdo again, but I thought Echoes was easier than Prime. Maybe it was just me being used to the control scheme, dunno.

I still think it was a great game, too. Not as good as Prime, no, but still great.

[BoneSnapDeez]

First 50:

1. Grandia (PlayStation)
2. Jungle Hunt (Xbox - Taito Legends)
3. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
4. Jungle Hunt (Plug & Play - ColecoVision Flashback)
5. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
6. Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
7. Donkey Kong (ColecoVision)
8. Bubble Bobble (NES)
9. Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
10. 1941: Counter Attack (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
11. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PSP)
12. The Ninja Kids (Xbox - Taito Legends)
13. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
14. Golden Axe Warrior (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
15. Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 (Dreamcast)
16. Growl (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
17. Arabian Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
18. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
19. Gekirindan (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
20. Ys II (Saturn - Falcom Classics II)
21. Darius Gaiden (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
22. G Darius (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
23. Giana Sisters DS (DS)
24. RayStorm (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
25. Mr. Do! (ColecoVision)
26. Beauty & the Beast (Intellivision)
27. Boxing (PlayStation 2 - Activision Anthology)
28. Crystalis (NES)
29. Dragon Warrior (NES)
30. Faxanadu (NES)
31. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
32. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
33. Kirby's Adventure (NES)
34. Kirby Super Star (SNES)
35. Hoshi no Kirby 64 (Nintendo 64)
36. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
37. Dig Dug (Wii - Namco Museum Megamix)
38. Phoenix (Xbox - Taito Legends)
39. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
40. Pleiads (Xbox - Tecmo Classic Arcade)
41. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
42. Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy)
43. Gorf (Atari 2600)
44. Richard Scarry's Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever (Pico)
45. Mickey's Blast Into the Past (Pico)
46. Secret of Mana (SNES)
47. Psycho Soldier (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
48. Genshi-Tou 1930's (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
49. Datsugoku: Prisoners of War (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
50. SAR: Search and Rescue (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)

51. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)

Secret of Mana had me itching to play this again.

Flawless game.

Final save has all items & heart pieces collected, max rupees / bombs / arrows. No deaths. I just wish my "Games Played" total was 000 but as far as I can tell that requires a straight run-through with no saving.

No big write-up this time. You've probably played it and enjoyed it. If you haven't played this get off your ass, turn off your Pico, and grab a LttP cart pronto!!!

[REPO Man]

Sum Fighter (XBLIG), Story Mode as Edison.

It's basically BlockSum, but as a 2D-Fighter inspired puzzle game (a la Super Puzzle Fighter).

[ExedExes]

1. Call of Duty United Offensive Expansion Pack - PC (January 16)
2. Dead To Rights - Gamecube (January 24)
3. River City Ransom EX - GBA (February 21)
4. Call of Duty 2 - PC (February 28) (link missing due to this game's post being wiped during the great RB server move)
5. Quake - PC (March 31)
6. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC) (April 5)
7. *NEW* Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (PC)

You may remember when I beat this game on the Gamecube last year. This PC version had a little bit more to it, namely, being able to assemble 3 teams at once. Other than that, it looked a little better and was just a little less harder in difficulty, unlike that *other* FPS from this series I'm playing now.

[darsparx]

1.) The Silent Age(iOS)
2.) Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective(ds) - beat it on one battery charge got stuck in a few spots but not as much as last time. Even though I was remembering the story more and more since this was a replay, it still managed to keep me hooked and kept me going until the very end. I think I could see myself playing more games like this in the future, really interesting

[BoneSnapDeez]

First 50:

1. Grandia (PlayStation)
2. Jungle Hunt (Xbox - Taito Legends)
3. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
4. Jungle Hunt (Plug & Play - ColecoVision Flashback)
5. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
6. Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
7. Donkey Kong (ColecoVision)
8. Bubble Bobble (NES)
9. Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
10. 1941: Counter Attack (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
11. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PSP)
12. The Ninja Kids (Xbox - Taito Legends)
13. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
14. Golden Axe Warrior (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
15. Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 (Dreamcast)
16. Growl (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
17. Arabian Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
18. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
19. Gekirindan (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
20. Ys II (Saturn - Falcom Classics II)
21. Darius Gaiden (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
22. G Darius (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
23. Giana Sisters DS (DS)
24. RayStorm (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
25. Mr. Do! (ColecoVision)
26. Beauty & the Beast (Intellivision)
27. Boxing (PlayStation 2 - Activision Anthology)
28. Crystalis (NES)
29. Dragon Warrior (NES)
30. Faxanadu (NES)
31. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
32. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
33. Kirby's Adventure (NES)
34. Kirby Super Star (SNES)
35. Hoshi no Kirby 64 (Nintendo 64)
36. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
37. Dig Dug (Wii - Namco Museum Megamix)
38. Phoenix (Xbox - Taito Legends)
39. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
40. Pleiads (Xbox - Tecmo Classic Arcade)
41. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
42. Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy)
43. Gorf (Atari 2600)
44. Richard Scarry's Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever (Pico)
45. Mickey's Blast Into the Past (Pico)
46. Secret of Mana (SNES)
47. Psycho Soldier (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
48. Genshi-Tou 1930's (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
49. Datsugoku: Prisoners of War (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
50. SAR: Search and Rescue (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)

51. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
52. Tic-Tac-Toe / Shooting Gallery / Doodle / Quadra-Doodle (Channel F)

So, inspired by noisedishstark, I have decided to jump into the "Year Challenge." Essentially I'll be playing one game released per year from 1976 (start of the 2nd gen) until the "present" (at the rate I'll be moving I'll probably wrap this up in 2017 or so). I'll be doing this on-and-off, of course, as I still plan on moving forward with my "regular" gaming schedule, as well as participating in the Summer Challenge, Together Retro, etc...

A few notes on methodology, for those interested:

I'll only be playing physical retail releases that I own.
No ports (not even arcade ports), remakes, etc. No emulation or compilations. In other words, I'll only be playing games that were originally designed specifically for the hardware they were released on.
I'll eventually be playing North American localized versions of games that were originally released in Japan - but only if the Japanese and American versions were released during the same year (basically to avoid games like this.)
I think that covers it.
I have enough (old) games in my collection to make this possible, thankfully.

Moving on...

1976...

Tic-Tac-Toe / Shooting Gallery / Doodle / Quadra-Doodle

This is "Videocart-1" for the Fairchild Channel F, thus making one of the first (if not the first) commercially available video game cartridge!

Many of the early Channel F carts contain a series of mini-games, and this one is no exception.

Some general notes about the Channel F, as I assume most are unfamiliar with it:
Everything is hardwired - the power adapter, TV cable, and two joysticks. The sticks lack buttons of any sort but instead feature a triangular "cap" on top which can be pushed, pulled, turned, and twisted. Sound (beeps and boops) is emitted from the console itself - I actually recommend leaving the TV on mute unless you enjoy the sweet sounds of static buzz. There are five pushable buttons on the Channel F system - one to reset and four others used for selecting among mini-games and setting time and difficulty settings. Cartridges are inserted horizontally in the front and there's even an eject button (something I wish was standard on every console).

Let's look at the four mini-games one by one...

Tic-Tac-Toe
Exactly what one would expect: a game of tic-tac-toe against an AI opponent. It's quite easy as the player always seems to go first and the computer isn't particularly bright. It is worth failing at least once, however, if only to see the YOU LOSE TURKEY! message prominently displayed in red text across the bottom of the screen.

Shooting Gallery
The highlight of this game cart by far. You control a "gun" and shoot at duck targets dropping from the right side of the screen. After every successful shot the angle of the gun is changed. I found that a "test shot" was often necessary to determine the trajectory of the bullet - then I'd aim for a duck. Two numbers are tallied at the bottom: total shots fired and ducks hit. The game ends when the timer runs out - this can be set from 2 minutes to 20 minutes.

Doodle
Literally a "paint" program. Doodle pictures, write words, etc. Controls make it a bit tricky.

Quadra-Doodle
Like Doodle, but with the computer taking charge. It mostly creates geometric shapes, though the player can jump in at any time to make edits.

I found this really enjoyable, both from an aesthetic and historical standpoint. It's miles ahead of many previously released home video games. Being able to doodle and play tic-tac-toe on a television screen must have been a treat back in 1976. And the Shooting Gallery game is legitimately fun and would feel right at home on the Atari 2600 or Intellivision with some improved graphics and sound.