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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 *new*

Total: 21

Previously: 2014 | The First 400 Games

Finished the D3 expansion on the PS4, and again was really impressed by how well the game translated to the console. With the addition of local co-op and offline mode, the console can arguably be considered the best way to play. Like we did with the the base game a few weeks ago, we played through the expansion on "Hard" mode.

I let my son deal the last bits of damage to the final boss (Malthael: The Angel of Death), and he was beside himself with excitement...he even managed to stay alive for the requisite period of time in a few instances today when I died in order for me to come back without being bounced to a checkpoint. So proud.

I'd like to think he's one of the few five-year olds in the world to have played through all of Diablo 3 and its expansion, and to hold his own while doing it. I am not sure if that makes me a great father (yay bonding over video games!) or a bad one (scary demon themes!). Since he never had any nightmare or anything, I'll opt for the former.

1. Jazzpunk (PC)
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
3. Grandia (PS1)
4. Hotline Miami (PC)
5. Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - I absolutely adored Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, the spectacular sequel to the gamecube classic that most people didn't realize they wanted. The magic and charm of the original Luigi's Mansion is back and better than ever. Luigi is animated phenomenally and is rich with character. Now, there are numerous mansions worth exploring and numerous missions to complete as you try to piece together the shattered Dark Moon, a crystal that kept ghosts complacent and happy in this haunted valley.

What makes this game so special is the sheer variety of locales and puzzles. Luigi's vacuum now can do numerous things like, reveal hidden traps and furniture, money can be collected to upgrade your vacuum and increase your ghost busting prowess, plus numerous environmental props can be used to your advantage like a bubble plant that helps lift you into the air as you navigate prickly hazards.

The only real downside I can say this game has is that the ghosts themselves are not nearly as varied as the original. They tend to be of the generic, cartoony Minion/Rabbid variety, but I do not mind so much as again the environment and Luigi himself is remarkably animated.

I found the mission system to be a very welcome benefit to the portable medium as each can be finished in roughly 10-20 minutes, with tons of secrets and collectibles to uncover. The game was superb and I can honestly say that it will stick with me as one of the more enjoyable non-Mario games. I can not stress enough how much I enjoyed it.

A Wolf Among Us (01/03/15)
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ (All courses S ranked on 01/08/15)
Distance (beta 3315, 01/11/15)
Shantae: Risky's Revenge- Director's Cut (01/16/15)
Sega Bass Fishing (01/17/15)
Fairy Bloom Freesia (01/17/15)
BasketBelle (01/18/15)
Tiny & Big: in Grandpa's Leftovers (01/20/15)
Sideway: New York (01/22/15)
Doom 64 EX (01/23/15)
Shadow of the Ninja (NES, 01/29/15)
Shatterhand (NES, 01/30/15)
S.C.A.T. (NES, 01/31/15)
Abadox (NES, 02/01/15)
Never Alone: Kisima Ingitchuna (02/05/15)
Sine Mora (02/09/15)
Red Faction (02/19/15)

I didn't expect much from Red Faction. I honestly didn't know a lot about the game, and with the title and the logo, which I mistook for a sickle rather than a pick axe, I had mistaken this for a game about Communist Russia. I was wrong, as it is instead a futuristic game set on a mining colony on Mars. I had passed it over in bargain bins for the PS2 for many years, but eventually picked it up on GOG.

I'm sure that when the game released, it felt a bit like a wannabe Half Life, but I have enough distance between me and Half Life, that this doesn't feel played out. The story telling isn't as well done as Half Life, and the A.I. can't compete at all, but the destructible environments are a pleasure. I even enjoyed the silly "Glass House" bonus feature where you are given a glass house, a machine gun, a rocket launcher, and remote explosives. Bang, boom, crash! So few games let you burrow tunnels with explosives that this still feels like a satisfying novel concept, even 14 years after Red Faction was originally released. I like that you can even ignore certain "get the key" quests by just blasting a hole through the walls to get into your destination room.

The other major element is the pacing. This game never slows down or gets boring. It whisks you off from one mission to the next, actually leaving you with a few unexplored corridors that you just are too propelled forward to return back to without another play through.

My only major gripe with this game was that the enemies often have perfect aim, making it far too easy to die, especially in the later segments of the game. The final boss was particularly difficult because she was highly agile and required about 20 shots to kill, but she could kill you with about 3-4 shots fired in quick succession. I only beat her because I discovered an exploit that when I climbed up a ladder when she was in a particular spot, she froze in place and I could peg her with a scoped precision rifle repeatedly while out of her range. Despite the over-perfection of enemy aim though, the game is definitely doable and remains fun throughout. Again, that pacing made the game a nonstop thrill. I was actually surprised and disappointed when the credits rolled because I didn't feel ready for it to end, which I think is the hallmark of an enjoyable game. Thankfully, I own the sequels, so there is still more Red Faction ahead of me.

J T wrote:Thankfully, I own the sequels, so there is still more Red Faction ahead of me.

Red Faction Guerrilla is probably my all time fave sandbox-style game. So fun.

I remember spending lots of time with the glass house test room when the Red Faction demo came out all those years ago. But I always felt like the game itself was pretty meh and the GeoMod effects underutilized.

J T wrote:Thankfully, I own the sequels, so there is still more Red Faction ahead of me.

Red Faction 2 is almost completely different. There is little to no destruction aside from some breakable cover and the story focuses around super soldiers and a government conspiracy on earth. It is a good game though they have some really creative weapons, good set pieces, and a decent story. Multiplayer with bots can also be a ton of fun.

Red Faction II is 80% on rails with worse "GeoMod" destructible environments somehow. I think it's one of my least favorite FPS sequels next to Perfect Dark Zero. It was awful. I agree multiplayer was kind of fun though.

As someone who didn't have the best PC for years I had to stick with the PS2 for FPS's and Red Faction was one of my top favorites. Great stuff, love the Total Recall vibes.

1. Beavis And Butt-Head In Virtual Stupidity (PC)
2. Renegade Ops (PC)
3. Arena Of Octos (Apple II)
4. Beauty And The Beast (Intellivision)
5. Chivalry (Apple II)
6. Donald Duck's Playground (C64)
7. Left 4 Dead (PC)
8. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)

In the last month I've run thru every single level of L4D1&2 with Ack, Fast and our buddy Xen. I don't even know where to start. These games are just amazing. There so much strategy to be found, and I love just how important the multiplayer really is in this game as far as communication, planning, and just helping each other is. I saw some incredible stuff playing this game with these guys and am thrilled to have run through it. There were some truly heart-pounding moments - the heavy rain sections come to mind. This is totally the kind of game I could happily run levels again when we don't have anything else to play.

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)

You may have thought that I had run out of Ys I & II ports to play. You were wrong.

The Saturn version of Ys II is available on Falcom Classics II. It's a bit of a skimpy compilation as it only contains one other game: Asteka II. Think you haven't heard of Asteka II? Think again.

I won't write much about the actual mechanics and design of Ys II. Many folks here are familiar with it and I've talked about it extensively. Instead I'll look at what makes this port unique.

Ys II on Saturn is essentially the PC Engine CD port reworked for the 5th generation. The maps - as well as the placement of NPCs, shops, enemies, items, etc. - are identical in both versions.

The graphics have been updated for the Saturn. There's more detail in every environment - swaying grass in fields, torches on walls, and so on - and the anime portraits have been given a cleaner and less-pixelated look. It's one of the better looking 2D games of its era, though I still prefer the bright contrasting colors and 80s anime aesthetic of the PC Engine variation.

The soundtrack has taken a massive hit here. The songs themselves are still phenomenal, of course. Unfortunately it's hard to tell as everything is so compressed and muffled. Sound effects are also significantly louder than music so when Adol begins using his fire magic that's really all that's audible. The voice-acting has also been stripped out of Saturn Ys II, with the exception of a bit during the opening cutscene.

One area of (arguable) improvement is Adol's movement. He can move in eight directions now and can run while the B button is held. Enemies, however, are still (comparatively) slow and generally move in four directions. This huge advantage given to the player makes this an incredibly easy port. Level-gaining occurs much quicker here, which decreases the overall length of the game. I was done in under 5 hours. Oh, and Adol can still "juggle" enemies with the ever-broken fire magic.

Bosses are an absolute joke here too. Every one I faced went down on the first try with minimal effort. One exception was the final boss, who is quite annoying and tedious. Seems much harder than his PC Engine incarnation as well.

Ultimately I enjoyed Ys II on Saturn. No surprises there, as it's one of my all-time favorites. But I can't recommend this to anyone except for the hardcore retro RPG and Falcom fanatics. The TurboGrafx predecessor (which is also in English!) is so vastly superior overall. Check that one out.

1. Resident Evil 4 (PS3) Digital
2. Resident Evil 6 (PS3) Disc Version
3. Dying Light (PS4) Disc Version
4. Red Dead Redemption (PS3) Disc Version (Replay)
5. Batman Arkham City (PS3) Disc Version

Well it was an okay game. Some of the time you spent looking where to go next because it was not very obvious. Felt like I was wasting time by running around looking for the way to go in a manner that just added time to the overall play through. I would rather have been experiencing story than confusion. Also, backing out of buildings was irritating, wish they would have just teleported you out. It was pointless to try to backtrack like that in an empty building.

Combat was fun and worked well. The gadgets and such were cool to use. Wish Batman would pick up and use dropped weapons though. Having all of the side quest was nice and I did a few of them. You really do not need to do them but they help in leveling Batman up and make the main story easier. I also spent a fair amount of time just running around and beating up bad guys for experience. My suggested would be to level up his suit first against bullets and then melee and then fill in the other stuff.

I want to move on to Origins but it may burn me out before I finish it. Oh yeah, stick around through the credits, you get a creepy moment.