Topic: Games you've recently beat

@render no shame at all fella… you were almost playing it blind having returned to it after a few years away. I played it through twice (once blind and once for collectibles) over the last couple of weeks… so was just like pushing a pace on a local running route (in a parlance to which you’d be accustomed 😉).

@colonelkilgore I did a lot of wandering around in circles and plenty of dying. Glad that doesn’t happen too often when I’m out for a run 😂

@colonelkilgore I am playing this on Switch (I haven't finished yet, but I am getting there).

But it is so beautiful. I loved the art style. I think this one flew under the radar for many people.

@HarmanSmith Sniper Elite?… nice, glad I’m not the only one. It must be an eye strain on the handheld screen though… I’ve actually found my eyes hurting from playing it on a 65inch. Fair play to ya!

Tomb Raider III is complete. Well that all got a bit frustrating in the end. I actually really liked the opening Antarctica level but the last 3 levels of the game are just plain annoying. The Lost City of Tinnos especially is a big old maze with about 7 MacGuffins to hunt down before you can get into the exit. Then the final boss is a complete mess. He kills you in one hit with a homing attack that can’t miss. Spent far too long trying before I realised that if you sprint using the barely used sprint button then you can make it back before he uses that attack. Glad the game’s over, it’s not as good as the first two but it does have some interesting ideas. I’m definitely intrigued as to where the series goes next.

Just finished the Momohime storyline of Muramasa: Rebirth after 10 hours of playtime. Apparently there are multiple endings and another character storyline so I think I'll be checking that out as well. Anyway, the first playthrough was so much fun. Even though this is pretty much a Metroidvania, it didn't really focus that much on exploration since each area is very linear. The level design isn't that great either, it's mostly the same kind of areas all the time. The focus is clearly on the gameplay and the game does a great job of delivering a satisfying combat system. Not to mention having RPG elements where you level up and spend souls in order to unlock better blades. It's just such a fun game that I want to keep playing it and I'm glad that there's so much content, not just in terms of e.g. extra dungeons but also different storylines and also DLCs which add an additional 10 hours of new content. I can definitely see myself playing this for the foreseeable future, it's a really underrated game on the Vita.

Homefront The Revolution. Garbage. Absolute garbage. From the painful plot that takes itself way too seriously, to the sluggish gameplay, it’s an absolute chore to play. I wonder if they actually realised that having the North Koreans be referred to as ‘Norks’ the whole time was worryingly close to ‘J*p’ or ‘Ch*no’ or if they were too busy slapping themselves on the back for AMERICA. Also every single female character in the game dies. Literally every one of them. God I hated this.

lmao 😂 😂

Cyberpunk 2077 is done, at least my playthrough as Corp V. Overall I really liked this game, borderline nuts and brilliant at times but the world isn't as much of a fun sandbox as what Rockstar created all the way back in 2013. Some really memorable characters and missions and very few bugs!

Going into it, I thought Keanu as Johnny Silverhand would prove to be a bit of a gimmick but I couldn't be more wrong. Definitely a very interesting character and it seems as if Keanu had a lot of fun playing him.

I wish the game had third person mode, even if it was only in cutscenes. The menu and crafting and everything else can be a bit complicated but it was the same with The Witcher 3.

I know it was awful upon release and some people are upset that it wasn't as good as it was hyped to be, but I can definitely recommend this game. It's a good game, combat can be fun but not dazzling and the more time I spent in the world, the more sucked into it I become. Slightly sad that it's all over but time to move on.

8/10

@Col_McCafferty I didn't expect Keanu to be in the game anywhere near as much as he was either. I was obviously glad to be wrong.

I'm also obviously very glad I waited until the PS5 version came out as I highly enjoyed it as well when I played in a couple of months ago. They did a really good job with the characters and the world as well. I've never been a huge GTA fan, so I never really compared the two as far as the sandboxes go. I just know that CD Projekt Red did a good job with the world and most of the side missions.

I did basically totally skip Wakako's gig side missions though, as I plan on playing it over again as the Female V as I played as Male Nomad V the first time. That'll give me something new to do during my second playthrough someday.

@Col_McCafferty Glad you enjoyed Cyberpunk. For some reason I couldn’t get into it. The first person perspective was a big part of that, but it’s just a personal preference. I think CDPR pulled off a good setting and backdrop, but something just didn’t gel for me about the characters and storyline. Having not played a GTA game since GTA3, I have a hard time comparing, but to me Cyberpunk did feel a little like it was trying for that epic feel but just didn’t quite deliver.

Just finished Shadow Warrior 3
It's not very long but tbh with this kind of level and encounter design, I thought it was just about the right length.
That also makes it a perfect to play on a subscription service and one I probably wouldn't have played otherwise - but I'm glad I did because it's a solid game overall. Not trying to hide its Doom Eternal inspirations at all, it might not be as good in the shooting department but I thought level design was pretty good, story and characters were good enough and it just works.

I did encounter a couple bugs - one that wouldn't let me redeem skill points from completed challenges and another one that was pretty frustrating until I figured out it wasn't supposed to happen - a moving platform in one of the levels wouldn't appear and I would fall to my death not knowing where I went wrong. Turns out I didn't.
Both were resolved by exiting to menu and reloading.

Edit: I'm only 3 trophies away from platinum, so I might as well do it 🤷‍♂️

Just finished Concrete Genie on PS4. Absolutely brilliant game! It's been quite some time since I've experienced such a unique and creative exclusive on PlayStation. From beginning to end, it managed to keep my interest up by continuously introducing new gameplay mechanics, switching up the level design and upholding a good pacing. It definitely doesn't overstay its welcome, which is nice to see.

I also really liked the level of creativity the developers showcased here. I'm not a big fan of customising stuff in games (in this case the painting mechanic), but they managed to make it simple and fun in this game.

It was also nice to see them switch things up towards the end of the game, which I believe you @sorteddan mentioned didn't sit quite right with you. Personally, I thought it added some fun variety and considering you fundamentally do the same stuff for the majority of the game, it was quite refreshing to do something else for a change. It definitely enhanced the overall experience for me.

All in all, great story with likeable characters, fun and varied gameplay, and a very unique and creative game overall. I'm so glad that I got to experience it!

I finally strung enough hours together to put the finishing touches on Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I’m leaning toward writing an official review because there is a lot I have to say and a myriad of emotional responses I’ve had to the game, so I’ll refrain from any detail here. Suffice it to say I really enjoyed it.

I did wonder at the end after defeating the corrupt Rot God, when all the rot leave you and merge into the original form of the Rot God, do you get that ending regardless of whether you collect all the rot? I had already made sure to collect them all before I went into the final battle, so I was just wondering if people who didn’t go through the trouble of finding all of them got the same ending. Best I can tell from searching online is that there is only one ending, but it just seemed narratively to be dependent on finding all of them.

@Th3solution Took you long enough...

I wish I could remember if I collected them all or not, but it's been a while and I play a lot of games these days, like actually enjoying Cyberpunk....

@ThereThere I've played Sea of Solitude but didn't like it that much. I'll keep The Last Campfire in mind though, thanks for the tip!

@KilloWertz KBoS was actually a lot meatier than I expected. I probably spent 20 hours on it, which is about an ideal length for a game like that actually. But unfortunately I just didn’t have much free time in recent weeks so it took me a while. And I ended up getting all collectibles and all the trophies minus the Master playthrough, so that took some time. Definitely got my $20 worth!

Speaking of getting my money’s worth, I definitely got my value out of Cyberpunk because I sold it back at a profit, but I just never got into it. Glad you’re enjoying it though. I can see objectively what people like about it but the whole thing was just not for me.

Jut got 100% on Far Cry 6 and all it's DLC's. Best entry in the series since Far Cry 3. Especially since the Far Cry games are all 'played one and you've played them all' series.

@Th3solution It's all good. I was just messing with you of course. I beat the game without worrying about extra trophies, but I usually don't go out of my way to try to platinum (or close to) games. Even though I got it on release day ($40 I believe), I still feel I got my money's worth out of it too. Really good debut for the company.

@KilloWertz Oh yeah, no worries. I do get a slight inferiority complex when I see people tearing through games like crazy and I take a month to finish a 20 hr game 😅.
I’ve tried to be less obsessive with my playthroughs, but I’m not always successful. It depends on the game. Usually the more I like a game the more I am obsessed with seeing all of its content or shooting for trophies. …Yet, sometimes I forego trophy or collectible hunting even in games I really like, so there’s no telling. Maybe it depends on my mood.
I’ve been playing BioShock 2 off and on for a month also and howlongtobeat has a thorough playthrough estimated to take around 14 hours and a completionist playthrough 23 hours and I’m not even finished yet and my console says I’ve been playing for 25 hrs! 😅 Not sure what I’m doing wrong but I’m probably only about 2/3 through the game. Usually I’m not that far off the hltb estimates, but I way under-planned for that one. (Incidentally, I waver on whether I want to finish the game. It doesn’t call to me like other games do, but then when I start playing it I enjoy myself, so we’ll see)