Topic: Games you've recently beat

Just finished my first play through of the original Dead Space and all I can say is, that I now totally understand why the series (well one and two at least) are held in such high esteem. I’m not necessarily a survival horror fan… but I do like third person shooting mechanics, high production values and a well told story and all three of those are elite level here.

Gonna cleanse the palette with something way different next (I’m currently thinking maybe Alice: Madness Returns, Prince of Persia 2008, or Brutal Legend) before coming back for Dead Space 2 & 3.

edit. I forgot that I’ll actually be doing a second Dead Space run on Impossible first before playing something different, in between this and the sequel.

@colonelkilgore You’re tempting me to pick up Dead Space Remake on sale right now for $25. Of course if I could be confident that I will finish it in a month I could always just do one month of EA Play at $6 and do it that way.

Either way, that’s high praise. I had prioritized the RE4 Remake to play first and now I’m wavering. 😅

@Th3solution you could definitely finish it in a month mate but… while it’s a great game, I think that Resident Evil 4: Remake is probably the slightly better game. This is from someone who hasn’t actually played 4: Remake tbh… just going off the general consensus.

@colonelkilgore It’s interesting how there’s a renaissance of these old survival horror game with RE, Dead Space, and now Silent Hill all within a couple years.

As for Dead Space, I did briefly try it back on PS3, but probably played an hour or less, and just dropped it before really knowing what it was. I remember at the time a lot of excitement about the lack of a HUD and some of the innovation with presentation. If I’m not incorrect, the quality progressively declines as the series progresses, but I think #2 is still well regarded (and #3, less so), but I look forward to seeing how you get along with them.

@Th3solution yeah 3 is definitely considered to be the worst in the series. Having played it a bit a few years ago, it definitely leans into being a shooter rather than a survival-horror, which would’ve undoubtedly upset fans of the series. I think it may have been one of the first full price games to also have micro transactions too… which would’ve added to the negativity it garnered.

By all accounts 2 is arguably even better than the original. There are fans who will argue for each one but from the vast majority of people I’ve spoken to the sequel is the high-point.

Spyro 2 via the Re-Ignited Trilogy. I still have a ways to go before I do everything, but I rolled the credits last night.

While it's a solid evolution of the original game, I... kind of miss the original's atmosphere and simplicity. Unlike the original, I never played this on the PS1, so it was a totally new experience for me.

Very, very good, still. The main villain is fun as well. My only real complaint is that the second boss is weirdly hard. WAY harder than the final boss. Took me almost twenty tries to beat him (versus beating Ripto on my second try, and the first boss on my first try).

Unlike the original, which had very open, windy, exploratory levels, most of the levels here are far more streamlined and have an explicit flow to them because of the way each one is structured around a miniature narrative. To make up for the less challenging level design, the sequel throws in a butt-load of mini-games and optional challenges to flesh out the levels. You also get these challenges in-game for each level, like beating it in a certain time (which is absolutely brutal for the Flight levels), destroying all of a certain type of enemy, not taking damage from a boss, etc.

Locked it to 45fps on my Steam Deck OLED and it runs perfectly with gorgeous visual quality.

@Malaise Have you played Dave the Diver? I felt similarly about it. Not yet completed it, but plan on finishing it off soon. A lot deeper than I thought it would be. No pun intended.

@Malaise It has taken me a bit longer than norm, as I've spent just as much time just chilling catching fish and serving food than progressing the story. I found it a good palate cleanser.

Nioh 2 really does just hit all the right notes. What a game. It gets better and better as it goes, with the final epilogue being super rewarding compared to the slight slog Nioh 1 became towards the end. I won’t play NG+ but I enjoyed the ride tremendously.

@nessisonett any narrative connections to 1 or is it completely standalone given that William is not the playable protagonist?

@HallowMoonshadow It all has that same 'generic American CG cartoon movie' look Skylanders had (minus the really stupid Spyro re-design), for sure, but the actual in-game environments can look quite nice. Cutscenes make me feel like I'm watching clips from a Dreamworks movie, though.

The third game was shopped out to a separate developer? That's unfortunate. Curious to see how different it feels now compared to the remakes of the first two.

There really is just nothing in the platformer world that compares to the vibe of the Spyro trilogy. Especially the original game. I can get lost in the zen of these games for hours on end.

A new Spyro game more in line with the original trilogy would be cool, but I won't get my hopes up considering who owns the IP now.

@Yousef- It starts out as a prequel and takes place over like 50 years. Let’s just say it catches up with the timeline and leave it at that for spoiler reasons!

Completed Spyro 2, with the exception of the logbook challenges. Having permanent super flame is cool, I guess, although I never fully understood giving you access to cool powers once there's not much to do with them.

I'd have probably opted to do them, but I know I'll go nuts trying to speedrun those flying challenge levels, ugh.

I'll do them if I need them to unlock cheevos, but otherwise I'm not worried about it.

@HallowMoonshadow That's disappointing to hear.

Thankfully, the games are fun on a sheer mechanical level, so as long as there aren't too many bugs or performance issues, it hopefully won't affect my enjoyment of the trilogy too much.

Prince of Persia (2008) done and it just kept growing on me for some reason… that is difficult to quantify if I’m honest. Doesn’t particularly play all that well if you get down to the brass tacks but there was something about it that entertained.

A slightly tricky plat due to some inherent glitches which can prevent two of the more grindy and finicky of trophies from popping Light Seed Master (for collecting 1001 light seeds) and Combo Master (for completing all 63 combos) but seemed to pop okay for me.

Conversely, there is a positive glitch that helps players pop two other trophies that can be a pain Be Gentle With Her (for not dying more than 100x) and Speed Demon (for completing the game in under 12 hours). If you refuse to install the latest patch until right before the final boss, then install it… it resets your death and time counters 😉.

At the end of the day that’s what matters.

A slightly tricky plat due to some inherent glitches which can prevent two of the more grindy and finicky of trophies from popping Light Seed Master (for collecting 1001 light seeds) and Combo Master (for completing all 63 combos) but seemed to pop okay for me.

Conversely, there is a positive glitch that helps players pop two other trophies that can be a pain Be Gentle With Her (for not dying more than 100x) and Speed Demon (for completing the game in under 12 hours). If you refuse to install the latest patch until right before the final boss, then install it… it resets your death and time counters 😉.

I know that pain. Can be really demoralizing, so it’s nice that didn’t happen.

Completed Shadow of the Erdtree! For me, it is almost the perfect piece of dlc to accompany the main game. And to call it dlc is a bit of a misdemeanor, as it is flippin huge with so much content.
I probably preferred the layout of this compared to the main as it felt more natural how everything is laid out.
I didn't find it difficult as some people either. I only used npc summons and spirit Ashes when I was really struggling, or for story reasons.
I found myself experimenting a bit more than i did in the main game too, and tried a lot more weapons and Ashes of war then I have previously.
Feels bittersweet at the moment as I'm glad I've managed to finish it but feel gutted that there will no more Elden Ring.

Just finished Red Dead Redemption II on PS5 after about 50 hours of playtime. What a phenomenal game! In terms of the story, I enjoyed this one much more than the first game's. I feel like the first game didn't have much of a serious tone considering Rockstar titles tended to be more tongue-in-cheek back then. But this game is the complete opposite, which made for a more memorable experience.

I really liked the gang aspect, which was missing in the first game. You can't have a wild west experience without being part of a gang, so the second game basically complemented the first one in that regard. Not to mention getting to know the characters you encountered in the first game a lot more and seeing how different they were when they were younger. It was seriously so cool seeing how everything connected to the first game and it makes me wish for Rockstar to make more games that are connected like this.

I can't stress enough how much I liked the characters. Arthur Morgan is probably one of the coolest protagonists I've seen. All the other guys, like Javier, Charles, Dutch, Sadie and so on were also really cool. I just loved how much time you spent with them, doing basic stuff like playing dominoes or more serious stuff like robbing banks. Even the moments when you sat around a campfire and sang were just so wholesome. Rockstar absolutely nailed the social interactions with your friends.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the lengthy epilogue. It was awesome to play as John Marston and experience the events that lead up to the first game.

All in all, absolutely phenomenal game and I'm glad to have finally played through it.

@LtSarge Agree with all your thoughts there about RDR2. Arthur as a character is top shelf. I actually loved Marston in RDR and as you alluded to, his younger version is quite interesting.

I also liked the epilogue, although it did drag on quite a lot. With the way the story of Arthur finishes with such an epic showdown and closure to his arc, all the added time with Marston felt slightly anticlimactic. If they shorten that section by half it probably would have felt better. Similar to the end of the first game where you play John’s son (Jack I think is his name?) for just a short epilogue to get revenge, that was perfect, imo.
Still, even with the lengthy epilogue of RDR2, the game is such a masterpiece and one that grows in my mind as time passes. Few games have that quality where they stick in your memory and settle there for weeks, months, and now for me, even five years later and still such fond memories.

@Th3solution I did question some missions in the epilogue, like working at the ranch or building the house. Were they really necessary to include?

I just got home from work and I feel a bit empty now that the game is done. I've been playing this game almost every day for nearly a month now. I'm really going to miss it, so I agree with you that it really sticks with you. I think that's the sign of a truly phenomenal game.

@LtSarge 1. House building part is vital for the song alone. It is like a classic Rockstar troll mission though, but it was still cool 😁

2. The Red Dead Void is real, but it is what led me personally to go all in on a Witcher 3 playthrough despite it not having clicked with me before that, and it also led me to try a certain first person medieval game called Kingdom Come Deliverance. And playing these games that were initially a bit out of my comfort zone eventually led to stuff like Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3. So RDR2 has basically made me enjoy gaming more than I ever thought possible.

So, trust me, you will probably find something to fill that void at some point. But it certainly makes you want to find and play games that will give you similar feelings in at least some ways, games made with real soul and passion, for sure.

A proper masterpiece it was, but there is other great stuff out there that maybe you will appreciate more now too 😁