Topic: Games you've recently beat

@RogerRoger Yeah I’m finishing up the first episode of Before the Storm and I can definitely see how playing as Chloe is going to completely alter my feelings about her character. I’m impressed so far with the game and what Deck Nine did with the IP. After my initial dislike of Chloe’s new voice, I’ve now grown used to it and I think the actress does a pretty good job. I’ll be sure to leave my impressions as I get along with the game.

I finished New Super Mario Bros. for the DS yesterday. I'm tagging @Tasuki here since he was curious about my thoughts on it.

Overall, I think this game mixed old-school and modern platforming very well, as well as being a beginner friendly Mario game. The levels were designed really well with what I think was a perfect amount of challenge. It's not as hard as the classic Mario games, but the levels are comfortable enough to play through, and with three Star Coins in each one, there's some challenge there if want to take it. Of course, there are some rough spots. World 8 will bring the pain, as my 30 or so lost lives will attest.

What makes this a beginner friendly Mario is that it's willing to toss you items. There's plenty of mushroom houses on the map to give you power ups, most of them being unlocked by Star Coins. In an odd way, it's helpful yet also rewarding. Occasionly there's also a red item block that may give you a special power up.

The only real cons I can name are that the bosses can be hit or miss. Some got the job done, but the Bowser Jr fights are all easy. Especially if you happen to be Fire Mario. I also felt the new power ups were kinda meh. The Mega Mushroom is a good cathartic way to breeze through the level, the Mini Mushroom is only good for secrets, as you're super small and can only take one hit, and the Shell, while fun to traverse, isn't something I'd want for serious platforming.

This was definitely a good addition to the series, so I'm glad I finally played it. A great modern platformer with classic charm.

@DerMeister Yeah that's how I pretty much felt about NSMB and it easy to see why Nintendo made that a series on to it's own. Though I tend to agree with the masses that the others in the series don't live up to the first one but they are still fun. Now all this talk makes me want to hook up my Wii U and play NSMBW and NSMBU. 😂

Just finished Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana on the Nintendo Switch. Didn't quite 100% everything, but I did every side-quest that I could find, maxed everyone's affection levels (with a few exceptions: I could never find out how to increase my rank to max with Ed or Katthew), uncovered the map 100%, opened 100% of treasure chests, 100%'ed the harvest points, completed every optional objective in Dana's sections, and S-ranked the majority of the raids, so I'm pretty satisfied with my playthrough overall.

Ys VIII follows the adventurer Adol Christin who manages to get stranded on the "cursed isle" of Seiren after the boat he's on is attacked by a sea monster. He sets out to find other castaways and learn the secrets of the mysterious island.

Absolutely fantastic game overall. It's equal parts Action RPG and The Legend of Zelda, with some satisfying social sim and crafting elements mixed in. One thing I really appreciated about this game, and future non-open world Zeldas could stand to take note of this, is that it has a super helpful overworld map that lists points of interest, obstacles I've encountered but wasn't able to clear, and generally always gives me a good idea of where I need to go next once I've received a new piece of exploration equipment (called "adventure gear" here). It also allows me to quickly fast travel around the map, making getting to new places a breeze.

The combat is visceral and satisfying, like a much more responsive and action-oriented version of Kingdom Hearts combat. In the heat of battle, as I'm dodging attacks at the last second to activate bullet time (flash-dodging) and perform over-the-top anime super-attacks against enormous, screen-filling bosses, I was even reminded of the combat in some of the Platinum games I've played. Besides managing an SP bar that you have to refill by timing attacks against the enemy, you also get a wide assortment of unlockable skills for each character to train and level up. You can have any four of these equipped at a given time, and it allows for some dynamic possibilities in combat.

You earn "reputation points" by interacting with and helping the other castaways on the island you're trapped on. You can do this by gifting items to people, defending against enemy raids as the local monster population tries to destroy your community, completing quests that people ask for your help with, and, eventually, learning enough about them for them to open up to you. Not only does this cycle increase your reputation points (you need 200+ for the true ending), but when they open up to you they also become useful in future raids by occasionally helping to perform attacks against enemy forces.

Although I wasn't a huge fan of any individual character, I will admit that I felt a sense of community with them by the end and was sad to have to end the game and move on to something else.

Plot-wise, the plot is unique for a JRPG in the beginning as you're simply trying to survive against various threats on this island, find castaways, and find a way to deal with the sea monster that sunk your ship. It was a satisfactorily narrow scope for a game in this genre, which usually get weird and metaphysical as they go on. Unfortunately, this exact change happens almost halfway through, as practical and grounded plot concerns are subsumed by the larger mysteries of the island. Eventually, as in pretty much every other modern JRPG, you end up defying the metaphysical scheming of some higher order of intelligence and kill a God figure. I do like the way this larger plot eventually resolves, though.

The music is stellar throughout, and the game's OST nails everything from electrifying battle themes to affecting tunes that play in the game's more tender moments.

Version-wise, I want to mention performance. The game targets 30fps throughout on Switch and mostly hits this goal when it needs to, but some cutscenes and certain demanding sections of the game really take their toll on the framerate. Some optional dungeons in Dana's timeline were the worst culprits, as the game really stuttered badly in some of these areas. Resolution is also uneven: it mostly looks good throughout in both handheld and docked modes, but there are times where the adaptive resolution goes a bit nuts it cutscenes and it becomes distracting. The resolution also plummets in those demanding optional dungeons I just mentioned in reference to framerate issues.

Thankfully, these problems didn't crop up too often over the course of my 64 hour playthrough. The vast majority of the game is smooth, responsive, and a joy to play,

So, yeah, I was really impressed with this game. Much morseso than I expected to be. This was such a better experience for me than The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, which is the only other Falcom game I've played. This was my first experience with Ys, but it definitely won't be my last.

Just finished L.A. Noire on PS3. Got some conflicted feelings to be honest.

The gameplay does a very good job of putting you in a cop's shoes. The investigations are the highlight for me. Examining crime scenes to find clues and conducting interrogations felt thrilling to me. Reading the character's highly detailed faces to deduce answers was actually kinda difficult for me, since I had trouble understanding if I should doubt them or accuse them of lying. When I got it right though, it felt pretty good. This is the best part of the game to me.

For a Rockstar game, there really isn't that much to do in it away from the story. There's street crimes, basically side missions, collectable film reels I never found, and that's kinda it. Considering how bloated games are now I'm fine with it, but it can be surprisingly off-putting if you were expecting more.

The story is where the conflicted feeling comes from. It's not a bad story- The tale of former marine Cole Phelps is actually something I found interesting, and I enjoyed being a mostly upright cop in a story filled with cynical or corrupt people. The catch it that the way it's told clashes with the gameplay. Basically, some cases ultimately don't matter due to how the story plays out, and it's not really appreciated in a game where you have the ability to choose the suspects yourself. It holds the game back in my opinion.

The graphics for a PS3 game are impressive for the most part. Many of the character's faces look great thanks to the technology used, but some hit the uncanny valley a bit too much. There's also plenty of texture pop in, but otherwise this is a good rendering of 1940's Los Angeles.

Overall, the game stands well enough by itself, but I think it could have been better.

Finished A Hat in Time the other day. It's a great little platformer. The game is so cute, and has so much charm and cuteness and humour poured into it. I enjoyed it so much more than Yooka Laylee, which for me was lacking in charm and felt kinda bland.

My only real issue with A Hat in Time was that it was a little short. However, there is an announcement planned for the 20th, so maybe they'll announce some DLC then.

@KratosMD I find indie games really good if you need a break from any game you are deep into, as they usually offer something a bit different from bigger budget titles.

Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Steamworld Dig 2 as it is on my radar too.

@KratosMD That sounds better for SD2. I much prefer hand crafted levels to procedurally generated ones.

Finally beat .hack//G.U. Last Recode, Volumes 1-4! That's a big one out of the backlog (~60hours). I beat Volume 1 back in January, but I've been preoccupied with the more recent releases, so I'm glad to finally finish it.
The actual gameplay is easily the worst part, but I really enjoyed the story and I thought the 'Avatar mini games' were pretty good. Volume 2 in particular had a fantastic twist that I had not seen coming- can't think of a better one right now... .
Great soundtrack.

@KratosMD if u are interested in trying out other indie games I would highly recommend hyper light drifter if u haven't played it yet. I play alot of Indies and it may be my favorite. Either HLD or salt and sanctuary.

@KratosMD if ur not a big fan of Souls games then HLD probably the better choice. Both are pretty challenging though.

@ellsworth004 @KratosMD I second Hyper Light Drifter. One my favourites. Tough but fair with amazing music and atmosphere.

Just finished the first uncharted, alot better than I thought it would be. Now on to part 2.

@ellsworth004 That’s great! The Uncharted as such classics! So let us know what you think of the games as you get along. I’m interested or hear a fresh perspective from a first timer. Most will agree though that the first one is the weakest of the series. With that in mind, you’re in for a treat with the rest!

Ni No Kuni 2. A really enjoyable game.

Just finished up the Captain Scarlett DLC for Borderlands 2. This was my first time playing through and I.enjoyed it alot. I like the new characters Captain. Scarlet, Shade, and even Herbert were entertaining. I didn't feel that the enemies where too hard (my son and I were running a Maya/Axton team) and in fact once we got the Sandhawk and the Pimpernella it almost was too easy. Still for.someone like me who enjoys Borderlands this was just more of it.

Have you played the Tiny Tina DLC yet? One of my favorite DLC's from last gen.

@Th3solution played the beginning chapter on the train, already looking better. I dont know why I've never played these games before.

So I just finished Life is Strange: Before the Storm. Overall I really liked it. It’s is one of those games that you have to sort of be in the mood for though. And as much as I loved the plot, characters, and the way everything unfolded, I can also see the criticisms that are sure to abound amongst other gamers.

**First, the negatives —
>The game oozes with teenage angst and the classic anti-social rebellious narrative of a disgruntled teenager. The way that Chloe is presented and her defiance to authority and ‘Eff the world’ attitude can be annoying if you’re not ready for it. The portrayal of her lack of maturity probably runs the risk of being an immediate turn-off for some players. But if you stick with it, I believe you will really grown to care for and appreciate her character.
>The graphics are quite dated, the controls are pretty clunky, and the animations are bordering on last gen. Somehow this never bothered me, as occasionally the art direction is quite fetching, but overall, this game is not pushing toward any technological breakthroughs. It did function pretty well for me however. No game crashes, no lost saves, and only a few times did audio cut out briefly at the end of a statement.
>As much as I liked the narrative, I could see some might complain about the disconjugate rationale in the plot.
>The talk-back feature was a little confusing and kind of ‘meh’ imo.

**Now the positives —
>I really liked playing as Chloe. After the initial dislike of her new voice actress (which later grew on me) and looking past her eye-rolling anti-authority hate-everything attitude, I later found I related to her much more than Max from the first game. To me, she is a lot more interesting and a more complex character. You really feel the deep struggles within her and how broken her life feels.
>Reading Chloe’s journal and listening to her thoughts at various stages in the story really adds to the depth of her struggles
>Each episode unwinds with both interesting plot developments and with character and relationship building between Chloe and all the people in her life. The story never seemed to drag, even when time was taken to spend on playing through games with Rachel or arguing with her mom’s boyfriend. I also really liked the attention to detail with showing people and alluding to events that would take place in the original game. I think it’s a sign of a well done prequel when after playing this I immediately wanted to play through the first game again and see how it picks up now knowing the backstory of Rachel. I’m not going to do that, but I actually kinda want to.
>The music, like it or hate it, is perfectly crafted to the game’s style and presentation. Music is a big part of Chloe’s life and I thought it was well placed and helped to accent different emotions of the plot
>The tale was truly heart wrenching at parts, and despite knowing what happens to Rachel because of the events of the first game, it’s hard not to be smitten with her and root for her and Chloe.
>The decision making and how it changed the plot slightly was also well done. I enjoyed seeing how my decisions compared to the rest of the world. And it’s a great sign to see that some of the very most significant story decisions came pretty close to a 50-50 split statistically from players around the world. The moral dilemmas, although fairly fantastical and dramatically portrayed, were actually pretty hard for me to decide about. I actually went back and replayed the end of the final episode and chose differently just to see what I missed out on with what I had chosen.

I’m playing through the bonus episode “Farewell” now and I’m wondering if maybe it would have fit better to play it first since it goes back to before Max leaves. I’ll see how I like it.

@ellsworth004 Yeah, the second game is a big leap forward. It’s probably my favorite, along with UC4 and LL, but really, they are all good.