Topic: Games you've recently beat

Still can fathom how we played games with the N64 controller without giving ourselves some kind of permanent physical damage!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Glad to see I wasn't the only quicksave-spammer at the end of DOOM 64 and yeah, the more time has passed, the more I'm feeling like I'll return to "properly" complete it someday. There are cheat codes around, which work on the PS4 port, if you're curious to see the full Unmaker and a few of those bonus levels quickly, but I think it's one of those rare times where an older game is accessible enough to make the cheats unwarranted.

Anyway, congratulations on clearing the game, and thanks for the tag!

@Ralizah The analog stick has proven to be a superrevolutionary thing, and I can't imagine games without it. That being said, I don't think there's any controller design that feels so outdated by today's standards as the N64. It's just hard to imagine that people actually played on those.

I never had a N64 myself by the way. Played the console maybe a couple of time over at other's. By way of Virtual Console and remasters I was able to catch up on some of the games I missed out on back then. Which were maybe only five or six games?

@JohnnyShoulder I feel superdumb now, but until now I actually thought two Vampire games were the same games... Gosh.

Oh, and I'll try to steer this a bit more on-topic as well by saying that I finished Cuphead the other day. Yes, I'm very proud of myself and yes, I thought and think it's a great game.

The game handled the difficulty of this game really well. There were not a lot of bosses that you really had to cheese or you could only beat with a specific combination of power-ups. It got really hard in places, but never unfair, because you can totally dodge every boss' attack without having to do insane stuff, you just have to keep really focused.

I also appreciate (even though I didn't like that all the time) how the game's art sometimes obscured your view a bit, like big explosions or foreground objects, but that it all felt like part of the difficulty.

Then of course there's the star of this game: art style. Throughout the whole course of this game every level just looks great, is fresh and distinguishable. Never will you see reused assets or do things feel rushed. There's a lot of great details in every level, especially with regards to animation, and it must have just cost the developer so much work to realise it. And not only manages this game to really capture the look, but also the feel of those 40's cartoons, in every aspect of the game. Music and sound really help too.

And never was this game not fun. Easily one of the best games I played this generation

@Kidfried I was super confused when I was first reading about Swansong a few weeks back as I just assumed it was Bloodlines 2.

Thanks for write up on Cuphead. It's been on my watchlist since it was on Switch, but i suck at shmups and would need to try a demo before I get it.

@Kidfried High praise indeed; thanks for sharing! Since it came to PS4, I've been climbing down from my initial concerns with each subsequent comment or post I read.

Congratulations on beating the game. Is that 100% complete, or do you have things left to do?

@RogerRoger My save file says I 100%ed the game. A few caveats there, though:

There's a hard mode you unlock, not unlike a New Game +. I really like some of the game's levels so I might try my favourites on hard mode, but I can't see myself really playing a full extra playthrough anytime soon. The bosses having more hitpoints just doesn't sound that attractive.

Aside from that the game has some optional levels, which I completed all of them. That's mostly because the optional levels are platforming levels, and they're way easier than the regular boss levels. Also, at the start of the game, completing those levels were 'false optional', because I needed the coins you get from them to buy the upgrades I definitely needed.

Then there are a few collectible coins and a few side quests, but that will only take up maybe 15 minutes of your playtime in total. What I'm saying here: there isn't really side stuff, so anyone who's finished the game probably 100%ed it.

What there is, for the more serious gamer, is the option to replay the levels to try and gain a higher grade. Currently I mostly have B's for the levels. I MIGHT try to earn myself a few A's, but I'm really not the type of gamer that enjoys getting higher scores too much. So I can't see myself putting that many hours into it.

And like I said, the game is a lot of fun and it's really fair, but I still died about a 1000 times during the game. And from what I read online that's kind of average. So don't go in expecting to win every level in a few tries. Especially the last two levels, it took me about two hours per level, what is supposed to be a 3-minute long level.

@Kidfried Interesting, thank you for the information. I suppose that, with so much trial and error, there isn't a need to include much padding (particularly considering your closing time statistic). I love your definition of a "false optional" as I've played a couple games with those kinds of supposedly-bonus-but-not-really levels. Might borrow that term, if you don't mind!

It sounds like a really tough Sonic the Hedgehog game, and I've struggled through enough of them in my time (with an average B-Rank result, funnily enough, and that's usually good enough for me, too) so I reckon I could be tempted at the right price. Thanks again!

@Kidfried Glad to hear you enjoyed Cuphead. Despite the steep difficulty, I always felt motivated to try my hand at difficult bosses again until I conquered them. The fact that reloading feels almost instantaneous certainly helped, I'm sure.

The Expert boss difficulty isn't too overwhelming if you're just trying to beat them. If you try to S-rank (only achievable on Expert) all of the bosses, though... you basically have to become perfect at the game. I can't even manage to eat a single hit in this difficulty, since I've found that the HP charms tend to lower my DPS just enough that it's difficult for me to kill the bosses quickly enough.

If you want another insane challenge to look forward to, the game also tracks the Run'n'Gun levels you manage to complete without firing a single shot. If you manage to achieve the "Pacifist" ranking on all of those levels, you'll be able to unlock a Black and White filter for the game... which sucks once you realize it makes it impossible for you to tell which projectiles you can parry off of.

I managed to 100% Crash 2 there. I really enjoyed it, way more than the first game. The warp zone structure just suits the game better since you get an element of choice. There were also more secrets, some well hidden ones but nothing too frustrating. That being said, there were some truly brutal gems to get towards the end of the game and I don’t even know how I managed it. Great game though, onto Crash 3!

Finished Nioh 2, or the main campaign at least. One of my favourite games of this gen, I enjoyed it thoroughly from start to finish.

@Gremio108 I loved the first game but have had no inclination to pick up the sequel whatsoever. I have no idea why.

@Thrillho I get like that sometimes. I really enjoyed The Surge but could not be bothered to play the second game for no particular reason. 🤷‍♂️

@JohnnyShoulder I’m just not sure I can face another Soulsborne, even though I haven’t played one in a couple of years at least.

@Thrillho I'm saving myself for Demon Souls Remastered. Then my life will be complete. Again.

@JohnnyShoulder @Thrillho I absolutely loved Bloodborne, but I gotta admit that I also have some weird pent up aversion to starting another FromSoft game. I even tried to ease back into the Souls-like with Jedi: Fallen Order, but I just can’t get motivated to take on another full-blown Souls game.

@Th3solution If Demon Souls Remastered dropped tomorrow I would be all over it. Of the other games not made by From Software, I've only enjoyed The Surge, and whenever I see them I just don't find them appealing at all.

@JohnnyShoulder I’ve been tempted by Code Vein. I like the anime aesthetic but when I played the demo the gameplay was tough to wrap my head around.

I’ll probably end up playing Demon’s Souls because there will be only so many PS5 games available in the early going.

@Th3solution I didn't like most of the character designs and heard a few things regarding the combat which put me off Code Vein. I could say 'I'll play it one day' but that would be a lie as I've got loads of other games I want to play before that. If it came on PS Now I would give it a whirl.

@JohnnyShoulder The character designs were quite prophetic, actually. We all wear these masks over our mouths now like the characters in the game, albeit less cool looking. 😛 I’ve not seen people carry around large swords or wearing strategically torn up shirts or capes yet though.