Finished Any Games Lately?

Cleared a couple of small indie games this weekend because I couldn't be bothered to fish out my systems from the mountain of boxes.

A.R.E.S: Extinction Agenda - Finished this up on a whim. Draws some serious inspiration from Mega Man Zero, but I'm not a huge fan of 2D platformers where the mouse aims and the keyboard is movement. That said, had fun despite some annoying spots and I'm considering keeping it around to work on grinding all the upgrades and the higher player ranks.

Windosill - This is Botanicula lite. Fun diversion this morning while I drank my morning tea. If you just want a quick diversion to make you smile you can't go wrong with this for $3.

spider_j wrote:

I just wrapped up 10000000 on iPad. 5.5 hours for the escape, and full upgrades, all challenges etc.

Nice. I think I've sunk about 3 hours or so into that and I only hit the 10% mark on the goal

spider_j wrote:

I just wrapped up 10000000 on iPad. 5.5 hours for the escape, and full upgrades, all challenges etc.

I thought I was done with match 3 games, but apparently not.

My wife has been playing a ton of that game. I desperately want to get in on it because it looks like it would hook me, but you can only have one save game apparently... so no dice.

Just finished Sleeping Dogs on the PC. It's got some issues but it's easily my biggest surprise of the year and I loved it. The ending also leaves a potentially major event being the first thing to happen in DLC. I hope the DLC for this is good because I'll be all over it if it is.

I beat New Super Mario Bros 2 earlier today (the straight main-line missions -- none of the side stuff), without using any cheats or Invincibility Leaves. Probably about 5-6 hours in total, and I ended with 130 extra lives.

This game is by no means revolutionary, nor even evolutionary -- it's basically an iterative step forward, combining SMB3 and Super Mario World together to form one pretty darned amazing gaming experience. Every level I've played feels so different from the others, and just about every one of them adds a unique play mechanic or environmental hazard that I found myself needing to keep playing just one more level, just to see what else Nintendo would throw at me.

One little meta-game tip:

Spoiler:

I suggest not spending any of the big Star Coins until after you beat the game...

finished Mutant Blobs Attack on my Vita today. So incredibly good! DrinkBox Studios is amazing and I'm now automatically interested in whatever they make going forward.

Just put the finishing touches on Dark Souls last night on my first playthrough. It was the most satisfying gaming experience I have had in this generation of consoles.

Before this, Fallout 3 had been the most involving experience I'd had and boy did it dethrone it.

There were a few things I did not do before taking on the end boss:

- I didn't get the only Blue Titanite Slab in the game as the invisible bridges in a certain area of the game nearly drove me insane.

Spoiler:

Revisiting the area when I was tying up loose ends did not prove any better as, in my perspective, the snowflakes were clearly falling ahead of me and breaking apart as to denote steady though invisible ground. Apparently that was not the case and I fell to my death. Several times.

- I never did kill the Hellkite dragon, though I fought him repeatedly. Sometimes he would isnta-kill me, perhaps because I lowered my shield for a fraction of a second, perhaps because he's a cheap bastard. Either way, I managed to drive him off as I reached the altar it guarded. Reading up online, the beast should've returned eventually, but it did not, no matter how many times I revisited. So I declared it a lost cause for my first play through. I will attempt it in earnest in NG+, though it will be twice as difficult from what I can tell. Fun!

-

Spoiler:

I was unable to save Solaire. I went via the shortcut into Lost Izalith and found chaos bugs aplenty, but for some reason Solaire went aggro on me right there and I was forced to kill him.

Oh, well. Perhaps next time.

I honestly hope From Software make a new souls entry before this generation is through. This has been so much fun!

From Dust which was enjoyable as cheap entertainment. I enjoyed the take on the god game genre, but it ended up somewhat lacking in complexity.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Steam says it took me 7.3 hours to finish the 'good' (Autobot) ending; I still need to go back and get the other ending though I'm not sure how different they are. I could have used a double helping of some characters/levels.

Very enjoyable game that made me joyously giddy in parts. Sure, you could pick holes in the gameplay and such, but the whole thing was so thoroughly smothered in Transformery goodness, and it took me back to watching the cartoons as a kid many years ago. War for Cybertron didn't quite give me that nostalgia, it's probably something to do with Dinobots and Insecticons. Grimlock still basically looked like the toy I still have on the top of my bookcase

I got the impression the people who worked on it were genuine fans, which is obviously a big plus.

Finished Spec Ops : The Line. Interesting story but the setting is definitely the star. Shame about the incredibly dull combat, but I just slapped it on easy and played for the story...

Just completed Resistance 3. Not bad, fun combat and weapons, although the atmosphere feels stolen from Half Life 2 a lot. I think my tolerance for hammy FPS dialogue is decreasing as I get older too.

Watched the credits roll on Burnout CRASH! for iPad this weekend. Feel ambivalent about this one. Major knocks against it:

(a) Progression is unlocked by playing the levels semi-competently. I didn't feel like a was getting better at the game, so the sense of accomplishment was generally pretty low. I guess it's more of a score-chase game?

(b) Indirect controls. You swipe your car and it moves over a small increment. So you end up spending each round frantically swiping at the screen, seeing things you'd like to accomplish, but can't because the object you control moves disproportionally slow. I know that the entire game's mechanics hinge around this obfuscation of direct control, but... that's a game design decision that I can never support. Control as enemy is too meta for me.

Also finished up Squids for iPad recently. Great game! Good and consistent art design, fun levels, not too hard. It was a bit on the short side, and I found the leveling system/other character choices rather unnecessary. Great fun, though, and if I ever finish off my Pile of Shame, then I'll be picking up the sequel, Squids Wild West.

I finished Fluidity on WiiWare this weekend. It's easily my favorite WiiWare game and one of the more satisfying and novel experiences I've had on the Wii. I got it for free through Club Nintendo, but I honestly wish I'd paid money for it.

You play as a body of water, sloshing through cleverly-designed physics puzzles to collect Rainbow Drops and defeat inky blobs known as the Influence. As you progress, you'll gain new abilities like the power to gather all your water together into an explosive mass, freeze into a block of ice, or evaporate into a raincloud. These abilities introduce a Metroidvania element to the game as you revisit the game's four maps to unlock previously inaccessible puzzles and collectibles.

It's an addictive structure that had my wife and I taking turns hunting down each new puzzle as it became available. We were only frustrated by one or two puzzles that were poorly checkpointed; failure near the end of the puzzle started you back at the beginning. But other than that, we spent nearly 20 hours collecting everything and enjoyed every bit of it.

As to whether or not Fluidity comes with any other caveats depends on your taste in motion controls. The game is played with the Wiimote held sideways. The d-pad and face buttons are used for a few form-specific powers, but otherwise you'll tilt, twist, and shake the controller to move around.

Personally, I felt that the motion controls greatly enhanced the gameplay. Your movements are connected to what happens onscreen in an intuitive way, and they give you more fine control over your actions than you could get with buttons and analog sticks. But I know not everyone is as fond of motion controls as I am, so calibrate your tastes accordingly.

I know that most everyone has abandoned the Wii at this point, but if you're looking for an inexpensive, engaging title that showcases the system's strengths through strong design and a novel application of motion controls, give Fluidity, or at least its demo, a chance.

shoptroll wrote:

Nice. I think I've sunk about 3 hours or so into that and I only hit the 10% mark on the goal :(

Progress on the target speeds up massively and suddenly about 2/3rds of the way through. Also, luck! I haven't come close to matching that score since.

Just finished Papo & Yo on PSN. It's gameplay is not inspiring, it's technically unpolished the message it's trying to deliver can be heavy-handedIt's purpose was message over gameplay but unlike similar projects like Dear Esther, this was actually a game and in the end, I was still quite moved. Maybe it's cause I had an abusive father as well (though not physically and not because of alcoholism) but I was holding back a bit of a lump in my throat during some of the end bits. Also, it is nothing short of criminal that I can't buy this game's soundtrack somewhere.

Crossposting this from another thread. The game in question comes with my highest recommendation, and those don't come easy.

Finished up my (first?) playthrough of The Last Story tonight. I'm still tooling around the end-game.

If you have ever liked JRPGs, or are curious about them, and have access to a Wii, this is a must-play game. Don't leave it on the pile, don't wait for an unlikely sales drop. If you have the means, it deserves your attention before getting lost in the shuffle of the holiday release season.

I very rarely give out such universal recommendations. It is a remarkably unique experience, rare these days both in the industry as a whole and the genre in particular. It presents a breadth of gameplay rarely seen in modern design. It surprised me at least once per 30 minutes, through its entire 30 hour span.

What the world lacks in scope it makes up for in depth and masterful craft. Throughout the game I could sense the flourish and swagger of the development team daring me, challenging my expectations, acknowledging our shared history. If you've played a Final Fantasy game, there are some subtle but unmistakable thematic nods to all of Sakaguchi's entries in the series. A certain scenario fondly evokes Resident Evil. The city is vibrant and dynamic, like something the Zelda team would produce if asked to approximate a Final Fantasy game.

The characters are not the deepest at first glance, but they blossom throughout the game, and you get to know them as you would a new group of friends. They are as apt to surprise you as the wily tinkerer behind the game. Mechanically they are static, but it never bothered me as I had expected. Aesthetically, the game allows for more character customization than I've seen in the genre. The game also has a great sense of zany humor at times, too.

There are some nits to be picked, some jankiness due to either the game's ambition or the hardware's age. While the music is pleasing and appropriate, it often gets lost behind voice acting and sound effects, a trend in gaming since the end of the PS1 era that I am not entirely happy about. However, the flaws are insignificant in light of its achievements. I haven't felt this good about the genre I loved first in a long, long time.

10 our of 10, from me. Strong GOTY contender.

TL;DR? Check out this video review. It's about as close an opinion to mine as I've seen.

Written version here.

Blind_Evil wrote:

Finished up my (first?) playthrough of The Last Story tonight. I'm still tooling around the end-game.

If you have ever liked JRPGs, or are curious about them, and have access to a Wii, this is a must-play game. Don't leave it on the pile, don't wait for an unlikely sales drop. If you have the means, it deserves your attention before getting lost in the shuffle of the holiday release season.

Thanks for the friendly reminder that I need to purchase this ASAP in case it ends up being a game that's really hard to find pretty soon. As far as I'm concerned, Lost Odyssey is the best JRPG of this generation so I don't know why I've been hesitating.

Really like how you said "through its entire 30 hour span" as well. Probably one of the biggest reason I stopped playing these games is the 60+ hour commitment a lot of them are.

I haven't cared for JRPGs for years now but I've got to admit, I'm quite intrigued by this after watching that video. Might grab this and give it a go next month if I've got the budget.

Just finished God of War, part of the HD revamp of GoW1+2 for the PS3. I never understood the hate for QTEs and jumping puzzles, despite having beaten Psychonauts (incl. meat circus) using mouse+keyboard. After finishing God of War though, I get it. The combat stuff was nice, but challenges like the rotating climbing wall full of blades in Hades, the Aphrodite's Necklace room (needing to push a box around on a 20 second timer, after which the entire floor becomes spikes) on the Cliffs of Madness or several of the balancing acts stressed my patience quite thin.

It's a fun little 9 hour romp (would easily been 10-12 hours without a walkthrough), but utterly forgettable. I don't know if and what they improved in GoW2 (and I have zero urge to play it anytime soon), but I am glad I never payed full price for this.

spider_j wrote:

I just wrapped up 10000000 on iPad. 5.5 hours for the escape, and full upgrades, all challenges etc.

You know, I just finished up 10000000 as well and it said my "Time In Dungeon" was 6.5 hours. That really doesn't seem right, since I've been playing it pretty steadily for the past couple weeks. That basically equates into about a half hour a day, but I know I put in a lot more than that during my play sessions. Ah well

Either way, I enjoyed it--I'm not usually one for grindy style games, but for some reason it definitely scratched some sort of itch I didn't know I had. Now it's on to Dungeon Raid I suppose.

Finished the campaign mode in Retro/Grade on PS3 last night on Normalcore mode. This is a really great, fun little game for $10. Other than the 3 other campaign difficulties left to do, I went and checked out the Challenge mode and there's hours and hours more stuff in there. Definitely worth checking out if you've got a PS3.

Luggage wrote:

Just finished God of War, part of the HD revamp of GoW1+2 for the PS3. I never understood the hate for QTEs and jumping puzzles, despite having beaten Psychonauts (incl. meat circus) using mouse+keyboard. After finishing God of War though, I get it. The combat stuff was nice, but challenges like the rotating climbing wall full of blades in Hades, the Aphrodite's Necklace room (needing to push a box around on a 20 second timer, after which the entire floor becomes spikes) on the Cliffs of Madness or several of the balancing acts stressed my patience quite thin.

It's a fun little 9 hour romp (would easily been 10-12 hours without a walkthrough), but utterly forgettable. I don't know if and what they improved in GoW2 (and I have zero urge to play it anytime soon), but I am glad I never payed full price for this.

GoW2 ditches the majority of the gymnastics portions, adds more boss fights and varies the environments more, and has a less interesting story. While I liked 1's story, the Hades sections nearly ruined the whole game for me. 2 was much more fun to play overall, but if you weren't sold on 1's combat and controls, I doubt 2 or 3 will do anything for you.

I skipped all possible side paths in Hades and ground my teeth through the climbing wall section. While I don't mind failing and dieing once on a while, their checkpoint system was not well thought out. Sometimes it took you back 10 seconds, sometimes it was 3 minutes of re-collecting all the orbs and collectibles before getting back to the tricky part you failed on. I did like the combat portion though, so maybe GoW2 is something to keep on the list.

Luggage wrote:

I skipped all possible side paths in Hades and ground my teeth through the climbing wall section. While I don't mind failing and dieing once on a while, their checkpoint system was not well thought out. Sometimes it took you back 10 seconds, sometimes it was 3 minutes of re-collecting all the orbs and collectibles before getting back to the tricky part you failed on. I did like the combat portion though, so maybe GoW2 is something to keep on the list.

I haven't played GOW2 yet but I had similar thoughts about GOW1 and absolutely loved GOW3.

Just finished Dear Esther. Wow, what a different change of pace from the couple games I've been playing of late (Amnesia, TF2). The gameplay story is captivating, yet sedate. The stunning graphics along with the ethereal soundtrack meld together perfectly. Good, yet different game. Not too long, not too short.

I just finished Transformers: Fall Of Cybertron. What a game!

The first half, played as the Autobots, is a competent third person shooter at it's core, with some truly spectacular scenes that could never be accused of being dull, as parts of the first game were. There are a couple of problems, such as the cramming in of a stealth mechanic for one character, and a feeling that Optimus Prime, in particular, is far too flimsy; a couple of blasts from a nameless 'bot will put you back to the restart screen. Thankfully, checkpoints are frequent. Nothing bad here, just a bit of generic gameplay. A lot more melee attacks would have been wonderful.

Once the Decepticon campaign comes around, things seem to kick into really high gear and the gameplay catches up with the scenery. The characters used are not always big name ones, but they are so much fun to play. The end game is truly spectacular.

The game has a real sense of humour, too. The banter between characters in and out of missions, some of the moves involved and the ending credits are definitely capable of raising a chuckle.

The music and sound are a real triumph. There is never any doubt that you are in a war when you are on the battlefield; it approaches overload at times. Other environments are suitably musically creepy.

I'm still have a weakness for Transformers, but I never expect much from the games. I am very pleasantly surprised by the very high production values involved, and would recommend the game to people who aren't interested in the franchise in general.

Parallax Abstraction wrote:

Finished the campaign mode in Retro/Grade on PS3 last night on Normalcore mode. This is a really great, fun little game for $10. Other than the 3 other campaign difficulties left to do, I went and checked out the Challenge mode and there's hours and hours more stuff in there. Definitely worth checking out if you've got a PS3.

I had a good time with that at PAX East. Will have to give it a try once the PS3 is hooked up again.

Dragon Age: Origins, one of the finest gaming experiences in recent memory. I took my time and did the vast majority of side-quests; it was worth it. It has excellent writing, extremely likable characters, compelling stories, a well-realized world, and satisfying game play. It's the kind of game you keep thinking about even when you're not playing. And to think there are five origins, three endings, hundreds of decisions, and thousands of lines of dialog I've never seen!

The epilogue made me as proud an alter-ego as I am likely to be. What a wonderful time. I'll wait a while before playing Awakening; I want to savor this.

That's very nice, Archangel. I enjoyed it, too. Definitely give it a rest before you go through Awakening.

Finished up my (first!) campaign run in Syndicate this morning. Really a fun little game with some halfway decent story beats for a routine future-corporate-dystopia theme. Had no idea that Brian Cox and Rosario Dawson were modeled in the game, and was disappointed that the charismatic Michael Wincott (who is also Death in Darksiders 2) didn't have his character modeled after him as well. (That jawline!)

I was surprised that the game actually ended up being almost more of a puzzler than a shooter. There were environmental puzzles where you had to manipulate various objects in your surroundings in order to continue, and all the boss fights had some sort of 'trick' you had to figure out in order to be victorious (i.e. use your bullet-time; activate EMP charges; breach armor). I was also surprised at how much reading/lore there was. I seriously spent probably 1/4-1/3 of my playtime reading entries into the codex about weapons, people, agents, executives and other syndicates. Really added a lot of depth to the world they built, and also set up some of the justification for the co-op missions as well.

The movement felt clunky, but it's not surprising coming from Starbreeze as the Riddick games had a similar feel. I was also a bit disappointed in the lack of chip upgrades for your character. You have this fairly substantial grid of upgrades to choose from (27 I think in total) but you only get about 9 or so upgrades in the entire game, and with that limited amount, there is no real incentive to experiment outside of health boosts and damage increases.

The co-op is proving to be quite fun too, and I find it to be very similar to Brink in feel (team focused, checkpoint based progression with multiple minor objectives leading up to the final objective), and the upgrading is much more substantial as I've already unlocked more upgrades in that then I did in the entire single player.

Overall, a nice little tide-over until Borderlands drops.

Just finished off VVVVVV. So so so very happy with that game. Checkpoints galore, yet every time I got though a tough screen, I had such a wonderful feeling of success. Just barely challenging enough to get my blood boiling, and I'm not one of those gluttons for punishment. Please finish this game if you haven't! It's takes less that 2 hours!