No Tournament for the Pile - Pile of Shame March 2019

Well, February was a bust. I hope you all had better luck than I did. At least there's an additional 3 days this month for me to not finish a game.

If you're interested, m0nk3yboy, has the 12 month 2019 pile plan thread over here.

A quick reminder, in order to be considered "Pile of Shame" the game needs to be at least three months old. Otherwise, it's just a new game you haven't gotten to playing yet.

Also, if you are curious about some of the previous threads, Picks of the Pile, etc... Please go here and check out the spreadsheet I setup.

Let's get on to the games!

This month's Pick of the Pile is

Frostpunk


IMAGE(https://s.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/1d2d179f47ab168955a87e3f8b615c22/204263511/Frostpunk_-_Expedition_Artwork-ed.jpg)
"In an ultimately frozen world, people develop steam-powered technology to oppose the overwhelming cold. The city ruler has to manage both the inhabitants and the infrastructure the citizens live in. The Leader’s tactical skills face challenges, frequently questioning morality and the basic foundation of what we consider an organized society. Here optimization and resource management often clash with empathy and thoughtful decision-making. While city and society management consume most of the ruler’s time, at some point exploration of outside world is necessary to understand its history and present state.

Become a leader of a steam-powered City, the last bastion of humanity. Oversee your society, manage resources and make difficult, ambiguous choices. But whatever you do, always remember: The City Must Survive. Frostpunk takes on what people are capable of when pushed to the limits. What interests us is what society do to survive and how it changes in the process. How survival in the end leaves us different beings. If worse, better, stronger, weaker or, last but not least, more or less humane - that is debatable." (Official Wiki)

Multi-Platform
Bastion - bobbywatson
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - LastSurprise
Elder Scrolls Online - jdzappa
The Gardens Between - jdzappa
Ghostbusters: The Videogame - brokenclavicle
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Eleima
INSIDE - AUs_TBirD
Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth - Eleima
The Last of Us: Left Behind - JohnKillo
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II - JohnKillo
Persona 5 - bobbywatson
Prey - Eleima
Saints Row the Third- AUs_TBirD
Salt and Sanctuary - JohnKillo
The Swapper - LastSurprise
Thimbleweed Park - brokenclavicle
Transformers: Devastation - brokenclavicle
XCom 2 - jdzappa

PC
Frostpunk - jdzappa
Warhammer Total War 2 - jdzappa
Yorkshire Gubbins - Eleima

Nintendo Gamecube
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader - AUs_TBirD

Here we go!

AUs_TBirD in February wrote:

Gonna carry over: INSIDE (pc/multi) and add Saints Row the Third (360/multi).

About 25% through INSIDE. Technically, it's a one-sitting game, so I'm bummed I still didn't manage it in January.

Should be 3 sittings away from the end of Saints Row the Third, assuming I don't get too distracted by side activities....again.

This is a tough one.

I'm deep into Persona 5 (multi) at the moment, so I'm going to declare that (I think I have about 30 hours left or so).

On the other hand, I feel like I need to take a short break from it and play something else, and I'm somewhat undecided between To the Moon (multi) and Bastion (multi). Therefore, I will declare both, and hope for the best! (I believe they're both pretty short, so it's doable, I think.)

I'm going to start by declaring Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (multi). It's fairly short and I'm a little ways into it. Then, maybe an NES game or two!

Declaring the following:

Thimbleweed Park (Multi)
Ghostbusters: The Videogame (Multi)
Transformers: Devastation (Multi)

They all fit nicely into the narrative I'm going for this month where I play games that tie directly to my childhood. Thimbleweed Park ties into Maniac Mansion, which I played and struggled with almost daily for a good chunk of a year in the early 90's, and Transformers and Ghostbusters were my jam back in the day when it came to cartoons, movies, and toys.

Well here’s hoping I do better this month! I'm carrying over Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (multi), Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth (Multi), Prey (multi) and Yorkshire Gubbins (PC).

Hoo-boy! That was rather fast! I got through Transformers: Devastation already. Had started it a few days ago, but I just go through the last 3 chapters today.

One down, two to go.

Carry over post. Still trucking

Trails in Cold Steel 2 I'm still in the early bits. Sort of feels like the World of Ruin in FF6. The enemy has won and you are doing your best.
Salt and Sanctuary At the mid to last part of it. Got to the red barriers and now can get past then.

Ive been busy with newer games but trying to get back to the pile. Here's what I have:


Warhammer Total War 2
XCom 2
Frostpunk
The Gardens Between
Elder Scrolls Online

Hooray, I finished Yorkshire Gubbins!! Very quirky and funny, I do recommend it.

Guess what? Salt and Sanctuary done and in the can. Wrapped up. A bow has been placed on it.

It is probably number 2 of Dark Souls clones.

One more to declare: The Swapper (multi).

Warhammer Total War 2 is down! First big game of 2019 in the bag!

Thimbleweed Park is in the books.

I have a hard time believe I'm finally typing those words, but... Persona 5 is done! Bastion, you're next!

Not in the mood for a cryfest, so I will drop To The Moon.

Also: Bastion is done! It was... fine, I guess? Beautiful and fun to listen to, but otherwise, it was OK, if repetitive.

And with that, I'm done for this month. I started two super long games this week, so it will be a while before I beat anything.

Ghostbusters: The Videogame is in the books, and that was a fun ride. I can see the flaws that are inherent to the point in time when the game got made and released, but can appreciate how fun and atmospheric it is - light though that may be - for its time. It's interesting to see how far games have come in the past ten-or-so years. In any case, it was a bit of a dream come true, to be the 5th Ghostbuster, for a dozen hours or less. Makes me pine for what a sequel to this game could be.

Between the 19th and the 26th, credits rolled on:
INSIDE (PC/multi) - I had trouble getting into it, even though it was weirdly fascinating. I'd still recommend people at least try it out.
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (Gamecube) - undeclared - wasn't expecting this one to end, as I'd given up in January. Even with the Gamecube component cables, the game was irritatingly blurry on a modern TV. 2.5 months later I invested in a GC HD II. 20 minutes later, the credits were rolling (10 of those minutes were spent relearning the controls).
Saints Row the Third - the Full Package (PC/multi) - 55 hours in I'm nearing 100% completion. I loved it.

I finished Pillars of the Earth last night so yay me!