Topic: Games you've recently beat

@BearsEatBeets I think the game really comes alive in Hard mode to be honest.

On the normal play through, you can kind of get through without worrying about your load out too much, and I never bothered to really make the most of using other characters other than Cloud.

But in Hard mode, you really have to make the most of every character and their abilities seeing as MP is such a precious resource. Strategic equipping of materia is also essential to get through.

That said, I think you need to spend a fair bit of time in the Coliseum first to grind a load of materia to top level first as you’ll need everything as powerful as possibly beforehand (including at least a couple of fully levelled HP+ materia per character!)

@Thrillho And there he is, the resident Mr Play FFVIIR on Hard Mode is Best of the forum. It's kinda like the forum version of Candyman!

@nessisonett I seem to remember it's special being quite powerful? Unless I'm getting mixed up with another character!

@JohnnyShoulder @nessisonett Toysarus 🤨 I'll be having strange flashbacks to Persona 5 if I have to have a cartoon cat in my party in the next parts.

@Thrillho I didn't mind when I read you can't use items on Hard as I was barely using them near the end anyway but MP not refreshing on benches doesn't sound good. Yeah I've read maxing everything in the Colosseum before trying it is good idea. I'll probably mop up a couple of bits I missed (one music disc and two weapons, plus 'Biker Boy') then do that. I'll see how I get on with the first Chapter or 2 to see if it's do-able.

@JudgeDredd Oh man it just gets whackier and whackier. I suppose 'fantasy' is in the title.

@JohnnyShoulder I was going to say I should just have that post saved so I can copy and paste it every time someone mentions they've beaten the game

@BearsEatBeets Not using MP and items means you really have to manage HP with other materia (I forget the name of the yellow materia that gives health), character abilities, and HP absorption attacks. Similarly, for MP you need to use it strategically and have more dedicated "mages".

Some of the boss fights are brutal though; Hell House was bad enough on normal and the solo fight against Rufus also requires some serious planning and then a certain amount of luck too!

@Thrillho Yeah I was using Chakra ability and Aerith's Prey to heal quite a lot near the very end of my Normal playthrough. In fact those final two battles I think I was just blocking about 95% of the time then squeezing in abilities in the tiny windows between their attacks. The idea of that being harder isn't too appealing. Oh yeah the Hell House was probably the one where I was beginning to find the battle tedious it went on so long.

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course. I defeated every boss on regular difficulty, got the divine relic, and did the King's challenges.

The expansion was a lot of fun. It's more of the same, so those that enjoyed the base game should totally check it out. The main change in the expansion is being able to play as Ms. Chalice. Her controls are a bit different to Cuphead's, and I found myself doing better with her style.

Just finished Kirby's Dreamland 3 on Wii U. Got the "bad" ending since I didn't collect all the secret items in every level, which you need in order to unlock the true ending. But I genuinely couldn't be bothered going for them since this game isn't that compelling to play. It struggled to grab my attention for long, not to mention that I kept picking it up and putting down every couple of months until I finally finished it today. So yeah, I'm happy that I at least managed to beat it at all. The older 2D Kirby games sadly don't hold a candle to the modern ones like the 3DS titles and Kirby's Adventure Wii. Kirby 64 is very good though. Anyway, I'm glad that I finally got to experience Dreamland 3.

Finished a couple of indie gems on the PS Plus thing, Minit and Thomas Was Alone. Both very very good.

@nessisonett
I'll second your endorsement of Thomas was Alone, remember really enjoying that one. Think the narration was a big factor but who would have thought I'd get so engrossed in the plight of some anthropomorphic rectangles.
Minit I got stuck with and used a guide for the last third or so which kinda took away most of the enjoyment.

Uncharted 4

6 years ago, just like with Uncharted 3 when it released, expectations and it's troubled development were too much and I ended up being disappointed with my second Uncharted game in a row. It's not that I didn't like it at all, but between the departure of Amy Hennig causing development problems and Nathan having a brother completely out of the blue made me question the story. I thought they ended it perfectly for Nathan and Elena by the end of the game, but I was always wondering what the game's story should have been if Amy stuck around and the development went smoothly.

Fast forward to now with the release of the PS5 version, with no expectations other than hoping I enjoyed it better this time around. The Nolan North interview earlier this year revealing that they completely scrapped the script and recast some people (like Sam) also erased my 6 year issue of Sam coming out of nowhere as he was always intended to be in Uncharted 4, while I originally thought he might have just been thrown in by Neil and company as their own idea.

After beating the game again on Sunday, this might be the biggest turnaround for a game in my gaming history, as it goes from being a disappointment to joining Uncharted 2 as one of my all-time favorites. Although it will never reach that height, it is similar to Uncharted 3 that I replayed late last year where it went from a disappointment to an enjoyable experience. Horizon Forbidden West lived up to my lofty expectations this year, but obviously sky high expectations sometimes kill a gaming experience before it even starts. Now I'm glad to be able to say Uncharted 4 is now one of the greats like I hoped it would be 6 years ago.

@KilloWertz I’m still to play 4 (& Lost Legacy) myself but glad it finally connected for you. I find that high expectations often kill a game (and movie) for me… but when I return much later expecting very little, I almost always get a completely different take away.

I’m very nearly done playing through all the old God of War games, once I’m done maybe it’s about time i play through all the Uncharteds.

@colonelkilgore I remember playing the remastered collection on PS3. I had never played the series before, so that was a real pleasure. I still have yet to play Ascension and the two PSP games that were re-released on PS3 though.

I would definitely recommend trying the Nathan Drake Collection at some point. A couple of things like jumping at times in Uncharted 1 and 2 might not have aged gracefully, but they are still really good games. Obviously the stories and the characters will always be really good.

@RogerRoger It'll probably be a while given how much is coming out in the last few months of the year, but at some point next year for sure. I don't want it to be any later than that as I would like to compare the two again closer together than the first time, but a replay of The Lost Legacy is planned. I enjoyed it a good bit more than Uncharted 4 the first time around, so hopefully it doesn't suffer the same fate that Uncharted 4 has with you.

@KilloWertz for me I saw no real drop-off in the psp titles and Ascension, they were all pretty good fair play. I just have 3 left and I was supposed to start it today but changed it up at the last moment.

I played through the first 3 Uncharted games and although they’re not really my thing, I enjoyed them more than I thought I would. I played them before I got into trophy hunting though, so I’ve gotta go back and try and get the plats… and I’ll just roll into 4 and Lost Legacy once I do.

@colonelkilgore Maybe someday whenever I get a PS3 again. Obviously I'd upgrade and just play Ascension via PS Plus Premium if we didn't have to stream PS3 games, but that's another story. I still have my PS3 copy that I stupidly never played somewhere in the house, so it's no huge deal in the end.

Good to know that they surpassed your expectations. Uncharted is a major reason why I'm a PlayStation gamer to this day obviously.

@KilloWertz I have ties all the way to PS1, but I’d agree — Uncharted was one of the main foundational pieces to my fandom.

@Th3solution I've owned every single PlayStation console (minus handhelds), but it wasn't until the PS3 that I became a legitimate fan. Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid 4, Heavenly Sword, and some others really set the foundation once I bought a PS3.

Just finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge on Series X. Great game and perfect to play in between AAA experiences. I didn't grow up with TMNT but I did watch the 2012 show on Nickelodeon quite a bit and enjoyed it a lot. So I did like Shredder's Revenge more than I otherwise would have, it was nice seeing all these characters again.

And most importantly, I didn't find it to be that challenging compared to other arcade beat 'em ups like Streets of Rage. I played through it on Normal and found it to be a fair challenge. There's always a good amount of health pickups throughout the levels and the amount of lives always reset after each level, so you'll always start out with at least three lives, which is plenty. So even if you find games like this challenging and therefore not up your alley, this one is milder in difficulty and you can even play it on Easy if you want. I highly recommend it.

played through Bioshock 1 for the first time. Never gave it a chance before. played it 1 hour at most before. But now this year i am going through games that i never finished. Perfect year for that.

@kenshin4ever
Would you kindly expand and share your thoughts on the experience? I replayed it last year and thought it held up quite well, story wasn't really affected by its age but I quite enjoyed the combination of fun play and powers as well. Are you planning on doing the trilogy?