Topic: Games you've recently beat

@graymamba I assume you did all the DLC? I wonder if doing all of that contributed to the burn out. As a fellow disparager of DLC, I usually skip them, but I’ve heard the ME2 add on content is great, so I had planned to do them when I get around to my replay.

@Th3solution yeah, at least some of the dlc content is included within the trophy list for the Legendary Edition. It’s weird though as I wouldn’t think that the dlc content I did took up more than 5 or 6 hours and my full playtime was only around 35 hours but… it did start to feel a bit of a trudge by the end. It’s difficult to put my finger on why, as I’ve played many games for well over 100 hours and would’ve been happy to keep going.

Still, it was still really enjoyable for the most part and the final mission(s) were a pretty cool climax (for the second part of a trilogy at least), so I don’t want to seem to cold on it. I was just really glad it was over for some reason.

@Th3solution The DLC incorporates really well into the game. The two additional characters have their own recruitment missions, much like most of the characters and the Shadow Broker content is kind of crucial to the whole game/series.

The Arrival DLC ties in to the main story well too and has links from the second to third game as well (this was the only DLC that didn’t come with the PS3 version of the game).

The Legendary Edition was the first time I played much of the ME3 DLC though and that was mostly really good too; it was particularly nice to play through the Citadel DLC at last!

@Th3solution @graymamba And I can’t remember if I ever mentioned it on here but when I played through ME1 with the Legendary Edition (the first time I played the game) I almost managed to lock myself out of being able to complete the game.

Near the end there’s a section where you’re supposed to drive the Mako down a really long corridor and I somehow inexplicably failed to notice the Mako so spent forever running down this corridor. But the next part is a race against the clock to get to the end point which was physically impossible on foot.

Thank god my technique of rolling manual saves went back just far enough that I could replay that segment!

@JohnnyShoulder
Well I'm not averse to the idea. I think a couple of reviews I scanned mentioned that TDA was a bit more deliberate and calmer in pace. On the other hand over its not currently on my radar or priority list of games im keeping tabs on so maybe somewhere down the line.
But, unlike you, I did really like 2016 (one of my first digital purchases iirc) it just felt like they took all of the good stuff from that game, added a bunch more stuff then turned it all up to 11.

Thinking about it I believe I may have Doom 64 installed on my PS4 that I've never got around to playing so that will probably happen way before I finishing picking up TDA.

@sorteddan Oh I enjoyed what I played of 2016, if I remember right I hit a difficulty spike, played a few others things then couldn't get back into when I played it again.

Yeah I hear TDA strips certain elements back and adds others. From what I've seen of it looks to be more my jam than Eternal.

@Thrillho Ah yes, I’m a big proponent of the ‘rolling saves’ strategy. It has saved my bacon a few times too, although not quite that drastically. That’s crazy that the game would allow you to even take the path on foot!

Wasn’t able to get much gaming in on the weekend but managed to grab a couple hours this evening and finished off the main campaign in AC: Rogue and managed to go back and get full sync on the one mission for which I missed it. Good main story I thought and a nice soupçon of Unity right at the end too, which was another nice surprise!

Nice, so I get to start the open-world/ocean grind for side-stuff on my day off now. I know most people hate the idea of that kinda stuff but I love a full side-activity mop-up, particularly on a big open map like this. Stick a podcast on and just sail from port-to-port cleaning up… the zen is real 😎

Finished Mafia 2 after a little time away from it. I do wish they could have gone 'full Vavra' with it at the time, but the seeds were definitely there in 2kCzech for what was to come later with KCD/KCD2 at Warhorse.

Another good game, and apart from the butchered audio in some cutscenes in the definitive edition, it still looks good enough, even though they didn't go the whole remake route as they did with 1.

The new one that is coming in August really does look like a very, very shiny version of Mafia 1 and 2 (I mean, verging on it being the same old assets and gameplay mechanics polished up anew 😬) so hopefully that is a good thing and not a bad thing, as they are good games, even if they are quite old and janky mechanically.

I promise if there is a winding hill I have to drive up multiple times I will call foulplay, though, as I will swear under oath that that very same hill is in Lost Haven and Empire Bay 😅

@Ravix Do they have they same animations for using your grapple hook or getting in a boat as the previous games?

@JohnnyShoulder clearly 😛 to be fair stealth has him at least 2 inches lower in his stance now.

Like I say though, it isn't necessarily a bad thing to use these games as a base to work from

This guy forgot the petrol tank rampages you can go on too, blowing up ALL the cars 😁

Beat Need for Speed ProStreet, certainly the oddest one yet in my binge. All legal races, taking the form of race days involving multiple events in the one area, with different cars for each event that you have to keep repaired across the races. Some great ideas but some absolute stinkers, like the fact there’s deliberate input delay when steering in order to simulate the driver’s reaction time (???) and the cars can get totalled at the drop of a hat.

I did enjoy parts of the game though, the speed challenge events feature some of the most insane, edge of your seat races I’ve ever experienced in a game. I had a Koenigsegg (the one that almost murdered The Stig) thanks to the wonderful world of grey area delisted DLC ‘acquisition’ and it went ludicrously fast while the slightest nudge of the stick moved the car gliding across the track in a way that felt very natural once you got used to it. The screen shakes and motion blur effects seemed overwhelming at first but when you get in the zone, the sense of speed is the best in possibly any video game ever. I genuinely forgot to blink at times during the climactic race in Nevada. Speaking of tracks, a very mixed bag. Enjoyed some of the real ones, realised immediately when I reached the corkscrew that I was on Laguna Seca which obviously I’ve driven a million times across Gran Turismo games and some other series. It’s a good rendition of the track. The Tokyo tracks I really did not enjoy however, narrow walled motorway lanes are truly not fun when the game has such a punishing damage system and suicidal AI which will ram you into the walls. The final set of races featured a couple drift tracks too that absolutely floored me, took literal hours to win and required a combination of as good a run as I’ll ever get and the AI putting up far less points than usual.

Overall, it’s a good game with some massive issues, a complete departure for the series but with the best sense of speed in gaming. I should probably play the popular modded version at some point that fixes a lot of my issues with the game. Next up is Undercover and the overwhelming hatred of that game led me to not even bother playing the vanilla version and just play the modded one that apparently makes it semi-playable.

@nessisonett The NFS games are a bit of guilty pleasure of mine but I’m not sure I’ve played one since Payback. I’m sure I’ve got Heat downloaded but it never makes it to the top of games to play next.

I can’t even say I ever heard of ProStreet though but they really did churn the games out in that era.

@Thrillho It was one a year back then, with the stretch from Underground through to Carbon being one of the most impressive yearly runs of games out there. The wheels seemingly fell off once the PS3 era hit with increased production times making the model basically unworkable, EA Black Box were making Skate at the same time too. Not a surprise it all fell apart and they were shut down.

I hate micro management in games. Even the thought of it makes me stressed and it often came as like that. These were my thoughts as well for Frostpunk games but when I heard the premise of The Alters it was just so interesting and I was so curious that I couldn't say no this time and boy am I glad that I did!
+Awesome premise, great sci-fi setting, micro management done right overall, complicated at first but easy to adjust menus for a lot of different mechanics, addicting gameplay loop and this was one of the rare times I just wanted to keep playing and progressing a game until I can't, Alters being unique with their own characters and feeling like they are much more than your clones, good graphics, timeline stuff, adjusting/upgrading/planning the base, hard choices, great dialogues, really makes you wonder about your choices in life and makes you reflect your decisions not just in game too, great performance by Alex Jordan, Alex Jordan, Alex Jordan, Alex Jordan, Alex Jordan, Alex Jordan and of course Alex Jordan, closing of 1st act has one of the best gaming moments of all time for me.
-Menus can be a bit complicated at first, if you are an easily stressed person game can be annoying especially towards the middle parts, sometimes you have to go back several days to fix mistakes, side missions not carrying out between Acts, even if you are not an easily stressed person things get really tough towards the end of Act 2, ending could be better even though it's far from "bad" and still feels like a closure, gameplay loop is addicting but at the same time it sometimes feels like you are doing the same things over and over again when it comes to resource management/creating stuff etc.
Overall I'm surprised how much I liked a game like this since I have no prior relationship with micromanagement stuff. But this games proves that with a good setting and intriguing story gameplay aspect can be elevated a lot even for people like me who don't usually interested in that specific genre. I will be there Day 1 for the new 11 Bit Studios game.
4/5

This was one of my most anticipated games of recent years. When I saw the gameplay trailer couple years ago I knew I needed to play prior games so that I could fully experience this. Since then I finished AW1-Remastered which I liked because of the story and atmosphere, AW-American Nightmare which was fun side game and Control which was mediocre to me and I really didn't care about it other than excellent AW DLC in it. And finally I was ready for this which I only got excited even more after all the praise.
AW2 is one of the biggest dissapointments in recent years for me. It's not a good game, not a good story and definetely not a good experience.
+Great intro, intriguing mystery, INCREDIBLE graphics, great/scary atmosphere, AWESOME soundtrack, "We Sing" chapter will be remembered for years, Alan Wake is still one of the most iconic protagonists in last 10 years probably, really loved Mind Palace/Story Board mechanic, I am glad Alice is not dead, one or two good twists

-***** jumpscares, didn't care about Saga at all, cluncky and boring combat, it should had been half the length maybe even shorter(I was ready for it to wrap it up by the Hotel chapter), unnecessarily strecthed/convoluted story like I felt "Why did you made me play this part then" a lot of times, pretentious/drowning/convoluted writing nearly made me vomit in most of the parts and I got really suspicious about them masturbating to their own writing throught to game, continuing the game after the climax where it should had ended,
unsatisfying and anticlimactic ending, wide areas decision was a mistake and exploring has little rewarding and mostly waste of time, lack of enemy types, mediocre boss fights other than the first one, bad survival horror game too
As you can see, I didn't like Alan Wake 2 much. I really don't care what Remedy will do from here and I only wait for Max Payne 1&2 remake. Hopefully game not selling well make them consider to change some things about the approach to their game design in the future.
3/5

Finally played this. All those years of hearing it's one of the best in its genre and gaming overall made me curious about it. Remake announcement only made it grow stronger. I wanted to experience the og first before playing the remake.
It was not fun to play unfortunately. I am not talking about depressive stuff, I will talk about that later. From the gameplay point I really didn't enjoy SH2. It shows its age a lot! Combat is cluncky, boss fights are awful; I don't feel like I'm unfair to this game because I just finished RE1 from 1998 this year and it still is fun to play, continuing: James' VO is terrible, most of the town feels like waste of time more than atmosphere tbh, twist didn't affect me a lot even though I wasn't spoiled at all which is interesting since I am usually unlucky when it comes to this stuff.
But I am still glad I experienced this cult of game. Even 25 years later the atmosphere is incredible, it's still scary as *****, so disturbing, the most unsettling game I've ever played, Mary's VO so good; especially the letter at the end made me really emotional, overall sounds, lore pieces, classic survival horror gameplay loop with fun puzzles, interesting side characters, intriguing mystery from the begining, great soundtrack, even though I am usually pre-determined ending guy; seeing other endings and learning the details about them felt authentic to the game's world. My ending was In Water btw.
I guess I won't touch old SH games until 1st game's remake which I plan to play the 1st one beforehand. Other than that I am reading a lot about the lore of 2 and analysis etc; really deep stuff and made me appreciate some choices even more like Pyramid Head. Overall, hope remake feels better in the areas I talked without taking away what makes this game special.
3/5

Okay, gave Street of Rage 4 another try; turns out we stuck at the last level of the game while playing co-op. I tried the last level with different characters solo to no success. I will still try to beat it for good one of these days.
+Great art, good animations, mostly fun beat'em up, gallery function should be in every game ever, variety of characters.
-It definetely needed a dodge/roll/parry of some kind, having both health and power moves in a same bar was a mistake and discourages you to try power moves because you die way quickly that way since they deplete your health and you can't always hit back enough to fill it quickly, enemies' attacks not interrupted once they start doing it but they could stop yours in a similar scenario feels unfair.
Overall I recommend it to anyone who likes to genre but keep in mind that it's definetely on the harder side of its peers.
3.5/5

@Scottyy I don't want to be 'that guy' (I do, because it fits the theme of being pretentious, haha) but the whole point of Alan Wake is the pretentiousness of Alan Wake and his struggles as a writer, and adding more trite, convoluted, pretentious plot points, forced symbolism and genre tropes is a very Alan Wake thing to do, is it not? 🤷‍♂️

I'm not criticising your views, but i'd ask you to just think around that over the next few days and see if you still feel the same way afterwards

🐿

@Ravix

It's been more than 10 days since I finished it and I still think the same. I like the writing in both 1st game and AN side story, I even liked it here in the first hours; but after a while it started to get me like that and since there was no reward or satisfaction about it overall -to me anyway- it became a very big con.

To explain it further: Things that are happening in the story -mostly- really intriguing ideas and I was excited for them at first but the execution letting me down over and over again and getting bored with every other hour finally made me give up and I finished it just to see where it all goes more than being enthusiastic about it.

@Scottyy The Alters is one on my wishlist and I'm glad to hear another positive review for it!

I think I've bought Alan Wake 1 and 2 but have still yet to play them, mainly because of some of the trophy requirements for the first game.

@Thrillho

You should definetely give it a go. Alters>Blue Prince but unfortunately it feels like it won't be mentioned a lot around Game Awards season.

1st AW definetely a rough game and feels old but it's worth it for the story, atmosphere and soundtrack. I didn't like AW2 unfortunately.

I just beat Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and got the platinum trophy for it. It was fantastic, and hard mode really channeled the original spirit of NG in its difficulty.