Topic: Games you've recently beat

@CaptD
Thanks bud.
I didn't think the difficulty was overstated but I did die a lot in fairly preventable ways. Think once I had a couple of parasites/artefacts I wanted and a weapon I could use then runs became much easier. Though maybe I'm just a bunch less skilled than you are, my reactions certainly aren't as sharp as they once were!
Anyhow it seems I now need to search all the areas to find some fragments then go for the final boss again... As long as the difficulty doesn't massively increase then I'm (say it quietly) fairly confident that I should manage it.

@sorteddan
I don’t think the difficulty should change much tbh.
Finding all the fragments can be a royal pain, it is a good idea to do a screenshot for each biome fragment so you can see which you already have but you are obviously past that stage. I found biome two and six to have the rarest ones, they were my final ones.
One tip I could give is that when you are down to just the last one or two fragments then you can abuse the cloud and save before you go to the desired biome, if it isn’t there then download from cloud and try again. It can be very annoying and I note that it beat Shu, he failed to get the platinum.

@sorteddan Nice! Yeah, I think you should be fine going through the biomes again and taking the final boss again. Similarly to the Souls games, the early enemies that squashed you before are now easy prey for your supreme skills and prowess.

I’m playing through Saros now and loving it equally. Do you think you’ll give it a go? Looks like the price has already dropped on it. On sale right now for $49 on PS Store and I saw the base price for the physical disc is now $49 at the retail shop I went to recently.

@sorteddan Can't believe I put in on the backburner for so long. Convinced myself I was nowhere near competent enough to survive the game but I think it's probably a mindset thing as much as a game difficulty thing. Glad I gave it another chance and looking forward to see what the next run wants/needs me to do.

• Congrats, if you apply that same thinking to life nothing can stop you. I've heard a lot of people say that such a game might be too difficult for them or that they aren't competent enough to get through, you proved to yourself that you can.

@LtSarge Thanks for the tag about Shadow Generations up there! I'm so pleased to see you enjoyed it as much as you did, and that I'm not alone in saying "Maria!" along with Shadow every time!

@GirlVersusGame While it does contain a heck of a lot more than its random handful of Sonic games, that Genesis (a.k.a. MegaDrive, depending on your region) collection you mentioned got de-listed shortly after Sonic Origins came out. SEGA have form on this, and they're not the only ones. Whenever a new remaster gets made, there's a purge of older releases, removing previous ports or occasionally worse, the original game itself. It's a real shame, but it does also mean that, if you're curious, the best way to experience the classic Sonic games would be via Sonic Origins.

@Werehog I just checked having never heard of Origins before and you are absolutely right, I had no idea that collection existed. Also twelve Game-Gear titles? I know of the handheld and possibly have one but had no idea it had such a big library of games. I do have a book called The A-Z of Sega Game Gear Games, time to give it a second look. I always wondered if Playstation fans made their way to the format after Sega or after Nintendo. Sega seems likely because Nintendo are still going strong. There are a lot of Sonic fans, no one mentions Mario. The Origins box and presentation is really nice, I'll definitely grab a copy, thank you for that. Sonic in general seems to be handled well, like the encyclopedia and there's comic-book one too, really well made. I had a read through some of the old player's guides from the early nineties too, then there's IDW collections, anniversary collections, archives, I didn't realize the franchise was that big, you probably had Sonic throughout your life and since the message and tone of the character/games seems so positive it might explain why you exhibit those same traits. Or else you'd probably be a plumber.

@GirlVersusGame I certainly found my way to PlayStation after a SEGA upbringing. Aside from an original model GameBoy knocking about (with like, two games) my childhood was devoid of Nintendo. The Game Gear was technologically more ambitious than the GameBoy, and it had the advantage of being on par with the Master System, but this just meant that most of its library ended up being Master System ports. It also had a shorter battery life and was way too big to practically take on-the-go, meaning it eventually lost out in the handheld console showdown of the early 90s. Those twelve Sonic titles were its biggest draws because, around that time, Sonic was briefly more popular than Mario, at least when it came to home console games.

You're very kind to say I reflect the positivity of the Sonic franchise! Given how big of a Sonic fan I am (and always have been) you just paid me the ultimate compliment, thank you! He's the underdog more often than not, at least in terms of global reach and brand-level analysis, but that just makes his supporters even more steadfast. It's great to see the franchise being handled so well lately!

@Werehog I don't think I've done much on the Gameboy and only collected up a handful of games, I remember Kirby, Tetris, and very little else. That Lego one though, building it, was one of the best three-hours I ever spent on any set or game, I can't recommend it enough. I'm also looking forward to the Lego Playstation One in October, it looks to be shaping up well. I thought perhaps I'd build it in December because you guys have Christmas one month before me so either I celebrate both this year or I don't log-on for a few days/week, it was odd last year. I was starting to know people but a major holiday like that a whole month apart made things feel even more alien. Perhaps this year if I celebrate both it won't be as awkward. Ravix saying his Santa didn't get mock taken by special forces, all of that too, different traditions. It sort of reminded me of when chatrooms would clear-out on the twenty fifth, then I realized they had a different Christmas. I might be putting the cart before the horse, but if I can avoid the awkwardness then I'll try. I never thought of it before but there must have been a little rivalry between Sega and Nintendo, like Playstation and Microsoft. It's starting to sound like Sonic pretty much ruled the early 90's. The encyclopedia definitely made it seem so.

I forgot about the Master System too and have tried that, not many games. What I can remember was Sonic, SpyHunter, a really good game that felt like an early Bloodborne called (checks) Master of Darkness, it was definitely last year because I talked to Zuljaras about it. He brought up Castlevania (shocking I know) and I think that game was some kind of attempt on the genre. Another great one was a game called Bonanza Brothers, it's a kind of heist game and was fairly simple but the presentation and music was really well done. I need to check if it's on that PS4 Collection, it is. I really need to try it again, it obviously got the Mega-Drive treatment too.

ChuckRock and Cool Spot were good too. I've definitely played more Mega-Drive games than Master System. Lots of licensed ones like Alien 3 (very hard) Aladdin (hard too) Judge Dredd (one of my favorite cheesy comfort movies, I've watched it so many times and the game is fun) Batman Forever (hard too) Robocop versus Terminator (it needs a remaster, the concept is really good) Home Alone (surprisingly brilliant) Super Nintendo was the same, with retro I gravitate towards something familiar and that's usually a game based on a movie. Most focus so heavily on action but others like Looney Tunes and Taz Escape from Mars are more family friendly and play like some modern Indies.

I played quite a few Disney games, the Super Starwars games too. Luckily the 90s were all about licensed games so for a first timer/retro player it's not hard to feel at home with each game. There aren't all that many with those later generators, so many were movie tie-ins and a little rushed, now games take years to develop and cost as much as the movie. The Original Playstation had it's fair share too, PS2 too, PS3 seems to be more Pixar/Marvel, while PS2 went with pretty much everything from Lord of the Rings to Scarface (not Ravix's scuffed looking Tony Mantan Mbrace, the proper one) I definitely have some PS2 movie games that I never thought could be made into a game, Reservoir Dogs is another weird choice, Fight Club was terrible and had Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit) there was also The Thing and Matrix. You can probably tell I try a lot of retro games. It's a fun part of the history.

@GirlVersusGame I'm glad you enjoyed building your LEGO GameBoy! Thanks for the recommendation, but I'm already a big fan of building LEGO sets, to the point where I struggle to display them all. I'd heard rumours about the forthcoming PlayStation set. Looking forward to seeing what it looks like, and I hope you enjoy building it as and when! Please do share some shots if possible!

And don't worry, I'll still try and post as much as I can over the holidays. I'm sorry last year was awkward for you, and hope this year ends up being a little easier.

Cool Spot is a SEGA classic, for sure! As is that Aladdin game from the MegaDrive, that was a huge part of my childhood (despite being way too difficult for me to ever complete). I also know of the Bonanza Bros. because they made an appearance in one of the Sonic & SEGA All-Stars racing games. Spy Hunter is a series that kept trying to make a comeback during the PS2 and PS3 eras. There's a game starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson which was supposed to tie in to a movie, but the movie fell through, so you're left with the oddity of a licenced game existing without its licence! If memory serves, there was also a revival on PS Vita that was supposed to spark a series, but it didn't sell well enough.

I'd argue the PS2's generation represented the golden age of licenced games. Almost every year, there'd be guaranteed releases from all my obsessions, including James Bond, Star Trek, Star Wars... heck, even Indiana Jones got two PS2 games! And then there'd be the random releases to support new movies and TV shows, like The Matrix and 24. It's why this year has made me smile so much. With so many new licenced games getting either announced or released, it feels like a throwback to that era!

@Werehog And don't worry, I'll still try and post as much as I can over the holidays. I'm sorry last year was awkward for you, and hope this year ends up being a little easier.

• It's not a you thing, it's a me/culture thing so don't worry about it. I just hadn't spent much time around people who celebrated the holidays in December so it was very strange. I'm just thinking ahead, sometimes three steps, sometimes five and that's just something I did consider. I don't build enough Legos but I do like reading about the history of the company/sets, there are some great coffee table books focused on both. I also like looking at the old catalogs and they go so far back into the eighties. Some of those older sets seemed to have more of an edge and traditional photography and set-design was used too so you can see really intelligence behind the placement. Like a diorama if you know these things. Do you collect a certain Lego style or just anything? There are categories and niches within the brand is why I ask. I've built a lot of real world things, buildings, flowers, cats, etc.

There's an example of what I mean by catalogs, I love the effort that went into setting it all up and the energy they captured. About StarTrek, I've never seen it, the television show or the movies. I think once I found StarWars I had my 'space thing', and like the universe that franchise keeps expanding too.

L.A. Noire - Stunning Action
Right after playing L.A. Noire for a little while, I managed to beat the story part of the game some time ago.

So what did I think about Noire? I feel like L.A. Noire is maybe one of the most ambitious games in some ways, even if some game-interested people might have missed L.A. Noire .

You basically play as a police officer who is tasked with investigating a series of crimes in LA.

LA feels in some ways like maybe one of the better digital background settings created because the city feels so detailed—beating, in my opinion, for example, the Afghanistan/Africa map in MGSV. Car handling feels very good; it likely has one of the better car physics systems. I honestly had quite a hard time coming to grips with this because Noire was not released yesterday, but first came out in 2011 (with a remastered edition later).

I also feel in general that L.A. Noire[ /strong] is a game much better experienced than just read about, so I don't want to spoil too much of the experience. But a somewhat movie-like experience can be expected.

On another note, [strong]L.A. Noire came out just before Rockstar's shift in focus towards live service and GTA Online… And well, I honestly think L.A. Noire could give a taste of what GTA VI might bring.

If anything, I think Noire might resemble Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice a little bit. Hellblade which was developed by Ninja Theory, which is also a British-based studio.

@GirlVersusGame Like you, I can get lost looking at old LEGO catalogues (or other nerdy toy catalogues in general, as we've mentioned before about action figures). My partner knew some folks who used to work for LEGO and so, while my interest used to be light, he's really helped make me more aware of its charms, so we often chat about trends, latest releases, etc. and he's occasionally managed to score me an early set release, which is real sweet of him. Most of my LEGO is (surprise, surprise) Star Wars stuff, but I'm also lucky to have Batman, Spider-Man, Sonic, Doctor Who, and Horizon sets out on display. My partner is a little more random in his tastes, so his collection is a little more eclectic, but he really likes the classic aesthetic and would love that picture you embedded up there. I also got my mother some of those LEGO flower sets you mention, because she's a keen gardener!

Beat Super Mario RPG (the original) for RetroAchievements purposes and, uh, I expected to enjoy it more. Even as a big fan of Square’s golden age, I just felt like it only really hits its stride maybe about 60% of the way into the game. Up until Booster’s Tower it’s super by the numbers, possibly because we’ve had so many Mario RPGs since that the novelty’s worn off. The writing’s pretty great though, Bowser in particular is very funny. I expected Geno to be y’know useful to the plot given everyone wants him in Smash but he really is just the 5th party member, Mallow has far more relevance to the plot. I did find myself enjoying parts of it, and the grind to max level was fairly harmless. Decently hard final boss too. I dunno, there were quite a few annoying dungeons and that’s where RPGs live or die for me.

Beat Trails into Reverie. These games are starting to suffer from the same issues as the MCU. If you need to keep topping the last one then something will give, and it did in this one. The cast is laughably large even split across 3 parties, which means only about two characters get any development. The map is also practically non-existent, you barely move and can’t revisit areas. And I can’t stress enough how badly it runs on Switch, like I’m talking single digit frames trying to move though most areas. And when the game loves to do the thing where it switches across different groups of people listening to the same speech, it’s like a solid 30 seconds of loading between each single line of a cutscene.

Writing wise though, there’s way way less dodginess than the last couple of Cold Steel games. Still a bum line or two that border on hate crime levels and some stuff that would get you put on a register in any country outside Japan. But it was a bit more enjoyable not cringing after every line. That’s probably because the story was largely pointless and completely out of left field. It tackles AI, yes AI, for anyone who’s only played the Sky remake and is confused as to how we now have the Internet, AI and Skype in this world now. It’s a lot. Not a big fan of the jump in technology, and I even noted that back when I played the Crossbell games. It’s less steampunk and more just modern day with monsters now. Ah well, think I have the Calvard games next. Here’s hoping they work at all on Switch.

Mafia: The Old Country PS5

Right what do I think about Mafia: The Old Country? Well, I think Mafia: The Old Country felt very much like an early 2000s action game with very nice graphics and very very nice sounds.

Otherwise, we basically get an Uncharted clone with some cool stealth elements, which is not bad at all, in my opinion.

I wasn't bored when I played and eventually beated Mafia: The Old Country.

While there is not always to much action as there as some lengthy stealth sessions. I think in part the game compensate with that with the presentation of the game which I think is very very good. Also Mafia the Old Country is a very, very short game—in fact, I think it might be one of the shortest modern AAA games out there. Even if it now have come out DLC material which of course extends the length of the game (quite a lot it seems).

It feels clear to me that Hangar 13 succeeded most with the technical, aspects of the game because I feel it is what Mafia the The Old Country
succeeds most with the in the game. In fact I feel like it is in the graphics and sound department where Hangar 13 breaks new ground and do things better then the AAA games on the market. I think Maifa the old country looks and sounds so very, very nice. All the time, from start to finish. So here I think Hangar 13 could teach other studios a lot. But beside this Mafia the Old is a ok game (if we focus most on the gameplay).

Graphics 9/10
Sounds 10/10
Gameplay 6/10

I have recently beat a few games:

Super Mario Brothers (NES)- Been so long since I played this. I can't even count the number of hours, I put into this game as a kid, trying to beat this. It was so fun to play this and remembering all the great times from my childhood.

FIFA '98 (PS1)- This is such a fun game, even if the rosters and the graphics are dated. I played on the easy difficulty and took Germany (yes, I know they are one of the stronger teams in the game). Including both the qualifier and the World Cup, I think the closest game I had was either six or seven goals. Still, it was fun to play. Perhaps, I will try to play next with a weaker team, like the Cook Islands.

@oliverp sounds good, I haven’t played Mafia 3 yet which (controversial statement incoming) I think will be my favourite… but once I’ve played that The Old Country shouldn’t be too far behind.

Finished Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy on Series X yesterday. Been looking forward to playing this game for a while and it definitely delivered on my expectations. What's more, I love the direction the developer took with this title compared to the previous A Plague Tale entries where this felt more like an Uncharted/Tomb Raider experience with adventure, puzzle-solving, platforming and combat.

The pacing was a bit uneven during the first 3-4 hours as you solve too many puzzles in the beginning of the game. But then the pacing ramps up and there's a good alternation between combat, puzzle-solving and platforming.

Moreover, the combat felt great but it was also rather challenging. I died a lot, but I never felt discouraged to try again.

The story was also interesting with supernatural elements just like the previous titles. I also liked that you got to experience the backstory of one of the side-characters from the main games. It gave you a good idea of the grief and hardships that the character carries with her. I'm actually a bit interested in watching the cutscenes from the main games with her just to see if some of them makes more sense having now played this game.

All in all, this is another great A Plague Tale game and if you're craving an adventure game akin to Uncharted/Tomb Raider, look no further. I played it on Game Pass, so if you are subscribed there, definitely check it out.

@LtSarge It sounds like a lot of fun, I haven't played the series but I did buy that one at launch. I'd seen it leak one-week before the official launch, watched it get downloaded over and over again, all I could think was it would damage the studio, it probably did. How are you by the way? I was pondering to myself yesterday 'where's LtSarge, they've been quiet lately', then you popped up, a happy coincidence. I'm paws deep in Crimson Desert, it's such a brilliant game, I might even do a write-up, I don't think I've done one before for a game and it definitely deserves some praise for where it is now. They made something really special.

@GirlVersusGame This game is actually a great starting point as it's a prequel to the main series!

I'm well, thank you! I've been really busy at work (as usual haha) so I've been working late most of the days now and when I get home I don't have much time left besides for working out, making dinner and watching a TV show. I barely have enough time for gaming during weekdays, so that's why I've been so absent here.

How are you doing? Hope you've been well! I've heard great things about Crimson Desert, so I'd love to read your thoughts about it. Be sure to tag me if you do a write-up.