Topic: Games you've recently beat

@KratosMD I agree with you on Rise of the Tomb Raider, I thought the first was a tighter experience. It was great game though, I just got on with the first one better.

Finished Horizon today! Surely one of the best games I've played on my trusty PS4. It's going to be more than just 'hard' waiting on the DLC and sequel. 5/5 stars and, by the way, a very easy platinum. Does anyone here know how difficult the Ultra Hard mode is and if you can recommend a New Game +.

Been slowly working my way through Disney Afternoon Collection. The games are short, so they're nice to play every now and then when you want that NES gameplay between longer games, which can take weeks or even months to finish (I'm probably around halfway through Miitopia which was released in late July, for example).

Finished Ducktales 2 recently on the Disney Afternoon Collection and Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 will be next. Then it's onto the Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 for that retro fix.

@KratosMD Ignition was never of interest to me but DS2 is a rollercoaster of awesome. Play it and love it!

Thanks to those horrid suits I was able to finish FFXV. I might finish Mad Max, but I'm working on Hellblade.

@KratosMD I remember playing Ignition at a friends but never got it myself. In truth, I can't remember much about it. I'd say get straight into DS2 - time to shoot off some more limbs!

@KratosMD Enjoy DS2. It really is super. Leans toward action over survival horror. But it's as Aliens is to Alien.

Some great nods to the original too, one chapter in particular.

Story gets kinda squiffy toward the end but the changes they've made to Isaac and the varied locations and awesome set pieces make up for any negative points.

Plus secondly fire on the rifle is actually useful now.

God I love DS2.

@kyleforrester87 @KratosMD Good choice, get to the good stuff. If you want more story then just watch the western anime 'movies' which are, well just average but quicker than a game to get through.

Finished Life Is Strange today. Wow, I was not expecting this game to be as heavy as it was. I had to pause several times just to digest certain events.

So yeah, a pretty tense game. It hit me by surprise due to the more down-to-earth tone that's presented, and it just escalated every episode. I initially thought I wouldn't enjoy this, but it did keep me hooked, and I don't regret playing it.

It's definitely worth at least one playthrough.

@DerMeister I agree. I didn't think I was going to like it but ended up really enjoying it. Despite the poor character animations and general lack of graphical prowess, it was a beautiful and touching game and the plot was quite good and, like you said, at times pretty heavy. I like how the decisions you make could affect the story. Telltale should take note.

Beat Dragon Quest Heroes 2. Mixed feelings. The game is good and a lot of fun to play, but I think the original did it better. Semi-open world aspect hurt it. I also found the the quests to be annoying. Some were timed, others required specific party members and some just had the strangest conditions (carry an egg across a battle field).

Story is good and the art style is beautiful, but the game couldn't hold my attention. Beat the main campaign in just under 30 hours, whereas I spent 60 hours with the original and got the platinum.
Bigger is not always better.

I finished off Heavy Rain just the other day, can't believe I missed out on this when it released.

Telltale's Game Of Thrones. After finishing the first 3 episodes, I would have said that this was one of Telltale's finest. But in the end, it turned out to be another typical TT game where choices don't particularly matter and story branches seem pointless. I did enjoy playing it, though, especially all of Mira's intrigue in King's Landing.

Finished FF12 the Zodiac Age.
It felt INCREDIBLE in may ways, especially coming from something beautiful but traditional, linear and narrative driven as Persona 5. This is more aligned to my current taste and I must admit I appreciate it much more now than when it originally released.

Minor gripes and considerations: Sakamoto's score is very peculiar and filmic, really unlike any other videogame soundtrack I heard and while this adds to 12's uniqueness in a way, I found myself longing for a more immediately recognisable melody. You can tell they must have noticed as well and placed the classic Final Fantasy theme on the title screen.
The characters are almost all well developed and relatable but... a bit bland? I'll fondly remember the 4 bros from XV for years, I camped with them, I listened to their banter, I bonded with them...these guys? IDK. They are nice the way acquaintances are nice.

Just finished Undertale. Not a game I'll be forgetting in a hurry! So full of character. Well worth playing.

@Quintumply Which routes?

@Ralizah No major spoilers, but to answer your question... Pacifist. Tempted to do a neutral/genocide run on my Vita, but I really liked the way the story wraps up on the pacifist route so I almost don't want to. Have you played much of Undertale?

@Quintumply All three routes, with the disturbing and challenging genocide route being my favorite. It's an incredibly different experience: almost like a horror movie. All of the routes tie together thematically to form one greater whole, imo.

@Ralizah Hmm. I'm really interested to see how much the three paths differ from each other. What are the parameters for the neutral story? Like, are there specific monsters I need to kill/not kill?

@Quintumply Well, if you got the pacifist ending, then you've already done the neutral route. The neutral route content feeds into the pacifist route content. It just requires you not to kill anyone, and do extra stuff after defeating omega flowey. At this point, all that awaits you is the genocide route, which requires you to kill every enemy in the game. Not just kill all enemies you come across, but systematically kill all the monsters in an area until a change is triggered (you'll know when this happens, because it's eerie and triggers a change in the background music), and then move on to the next and do the same. This is deliberately designed to resemble level grinding in a JRPG, which is where the satirical element first comes in. If you progress past an area without killing everything. then you abort the genocide run, and it just transitions into a neutral route run. Once this route is triggered, it causes the game to change in enormous and substantial ways. Actually, I'd argue that this game has two different plots: one for neutral/pacifist, and one for genocide. They're nothing alike. This route has new music, new boss battles, a substantially different plot, and, of course, a radically different ending.