It's That Time Again - Pile of Shame Oct-Dec 2019

The year-end extravaganza is here. Welcome to your 3 month long Pile of Shame thread. For those of you new to this, due to release season and holidays a lot of us (ok, it's me) get preoccupied with the new and shiny. This helps to restock the next year's pile, but it doesn't do a whole lot to reduce the existing backlog. So, we go with a 3 month long thread to give folks a chance to at least beat one (except me, I'm averaging about .25 games) game during the end of the year rush.

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!

The Year End Pick of the Pile is

The Witcher 3


IMAGE(https://gamespot1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/original/1365/13658182/2856691-the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_you-need-to_find_their_weak_spot_rgb_en_1429886453.png)

"In a war-torn world, with the Wild Hunt on your back, you'll take on your most important contract -- to track down the child of prophecy, a key and a weapon which can save or destroy all" (Official Site)

Multi-Platform

Anthem - jdzappa
Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - bobbywatson
Assassins Creed Odyssey - jdzappa
Assassin's Creed: Origins - Forlorn Hope
Baldur’s Gate - LastSurprise
Banner Saga 2 - jdzappa
Batman Arkham Asylum - jdzappa
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - AUs_TBirD
Civilization 6 - jdzappa
The Darkness II - AUs_TBirD
Darksiders II - brokenclavicle
Dead Cells - brokenclavicle
Dead Space 2 - AUs_TBirD
Divinity Original Sin 2 - jdzappa
Dragon's Crown - bobbywatson, Malkroth, LastSurprise
Gato Roboto - Stele
Guacamelee 2 - brokenclavicle
Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms - Eleima
Halo 4 - virtualdev
Inside - Forlorn Hope
Kingdom Hearts III - Forlorn Hope
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - bobbywatson
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Forlorn Hope
Life is Strange - AUs_TBirD
Lollipop Chainsaw - AUs_TBirD
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - AUs_TBirD
Moss - AUs_TBirD
Nier Automata - Forlorn Hope, AUs_TBirD
Nights of Azure - Malkroth
Prey - virtualdev
Red Dead Redemption 2 - Higgledy
Remember Me - AUs_TBirD
Resident Evil - brokenclavicle
Resident Evil 4 - brokenclavicle
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams - AUs_TBirD
Tactics Ogre - LastSurprise
Torment: ToN - brokenclavicle
Vampyr - brokenclavicle, Eleima
The Witcher 3 - brokenclavicle, jdzappa
X Com 2 War of the Chosen - jdzappa

PC
Europa Universalis 4 - jdzappa
Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire Expansion - jdzappa

PS4
God of War (2018) - brokenclavicle

3DS
Fire Emblem Echoes - LastSurprise

NES
Shatterhand - AUs_TBirD

Ok so.. I'm going to declare..

Nier Automata (PS4/Multi)
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (3DS/Multi)
Kingdom Hearts III (PS4/Multi)
Inside (Epic/Multi)
Assassin's Creed: Origins (Uplay/Multi)

Fingers crossed I have a better track record in the remaining months. Nier Automata, I technically have got endings A/B but I'm not counting it as beat until I get ending C.

I just picked up Gato Roboto (Switch, Multi) on sale. Dove right in, so maybe I'll actually finish it soon.

Going ambitious here... time will tell how I fare with what I've chosen!

Darksiders II (Multi)
The Witcher 3 (Multi)
Guacamelee 2 (Multi)
Torment: ToN (Multi)
Dead Cells (Multi)
Vampyr (Multi)
Resident Evil (Multi)
Resident Evil 4 (Multi)
God of War 2018 (PS4)

That's a mean task I've set for myself, but I'm faily confident I can whittle down about half of these by year's end, at least. I've got most of these partway through a playthrough, so there's that in my favor... unless I end up feeling lost and figure it's best to begin anew, that is!

Declaring the following, split by month in which I hope to have them done by:

October:
The Darkness II (PC/multi) - 3/4 done. Really enjoying it.
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst (PS4/multi) - one of the first two games I bought for my PS4 (the other being Last Guardian). Played through the opening and have liked what I've seen.
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams (Xbox/multi) - this is the year, I'm sure! ...or next one. Maybe.
Shatterhand (NES) - Not sure why this has languished unbeaten for so many decades. I've always enjoyed it when I played it.

November:
Remember Me (PS3/multi) - my eternal pile pledge.
Dead Space 2 (PS3/multi) - really enjoyed the first and have been looking forward to trying its sequel.
Life is Strange (PC/multi) - Hoping to see what the hype is about.

December:
Nier: Automata (PS4/multi) - For the JRPG club. Several hours in already but last played it about 2 months ago.
Lollipop Chainsaw (360/multi) - stupid, but fun, with some pretty fluid combat.

I'll add to the list as I (hopefully) clear pledges.

As I watch the pile, ever-increasing, grow in front of my eyes, I reach into the pile and withdraw the next items to conquer:

Halo 4 (Xbox One/360) - never played it before, wanted to see how the story runs through
Prey (Xbox One/Multi) - just picked it up on a sale, why must there always be sales! But...$5!

That's likely all I'm going to get to consume before the end of the calendar year.

That new Star Wars Fallen Order game looks real shiny too....

And some of my buddies just started playing Breakpoint....

No, back to the pile game dog!

Hopefully, these will be done by the end of the year:

  • Grandia III (multi)
  • Dragon's Crown (multi)
  • Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (multi)

Of those three, Grandia III is the most likely to get the axe, as it's not great, and not holding my interest.

brokenclavicle wrote:

Going ambitious here...

Mate, ambitious is an understatement here, even if most of those are in progress! Best of luck

charlemagne wrote:
brokenclavicle wrote:

Going ambitious here...

Mate, ambitious is an understatement here, even if most of those are in progress! Best of luck :o

What can I say? I like painting myself into impossible situations! hahahaha

Thanks for running (and updating) the thread Hemi!

Seeing my name up there so many times is kind of intimidating, but I have to remind myself that it's for three months, not just one.

...unless, rather than brokenclavicle, I really did somehow declare Witcher 3 like it says; then I'm hosed.

I’m going to try and finish Red Dead Redemption 2. I got off to a odd start with it. With the criticism over the mechanics, etc (which work for me adding to the worlds solidity) and the deserved criticism over working practices. I didn’t really know how I felt about it. I wasn’t sure if I was truly enjoying the game or if wasn’t really but was determined to press on regardless.

I’m glad to report that, having gone back into the game, it’s all still working for me and I’m still getting a ludicrous amount of enjoyment from just riding around on my horse and camping.

Wrapped up The Darkness II last night.

In spite of its shortcomings, I really enjoyed the original Darkness (by Starbreeze Studios) on 360 earlier this year, so I was looking forward to trying out the sequel (by Digital Extremes) now.

Mechanically, it's a much better game, and the story is no slouch, leaving me questioning what was reality even after the credits rolled. The game picks up a few years after the original with the same cast of characters (those that survived at least), and adding some new ones as well. It goes to some very unexpected places and finds radically different roles for friends and enemies alike. If I had a hat I would tip it in respect.

Visually, The Darkness II departs from the realistic art style of the original and goes for a comic book aesthetic that really works. The game introduces a new upgrade mechanic in which you purchase powers based on points earned in game for specific actions or finding collectibles. I believe it's impossible to get all upgrades in one playthrough, so there is certainly some replayability here. The one power I do miss from the original is The Creeping Dark, in which you take control of a darkness tentacle, maneuvering through cracks in the walls, into air ducts, up walls and across ceilings in order to chomp on unsuspecting adversaries (and open gates). The original also had an interesting open world structure in which the player navigated environments that felt more or less alive (especially the subway stations), talking to people, and accepting subquests. In the sequel, this is gone, but in exchange we get a much tighter story.

I also miss being able to watch several different channels of TV, including two full movies, but that was just a sweet little bonus. The Darkness II gives us up to 4-player co-op custom missions with characters not seen in the main game - I'm sure these would be pretty fun, but I doubt I'll ever get a chance to play them with anybody; the game is now approaching 8 years old and apparently sold poorly enough that planned DLC was cancelled and so were any plans for a Darkness III.

A shame really. While the two games in the series were very different in some ways, I have a hard time picking a favorite. Both are definitely worth playing.

AUs_TBirD wrote:

Thanks for running (and updating) the thread Hemi!

Seeing my name up there so many times is kind of intimidating, but I have to remind myself that it's for three months, not just one.

...unless, rather than brokenclavicle, I really did somehow declare Witcher 3 like it says; then I'm hosed.

I hang my head in shame. Copy and paste has failed me for the last time!

I will mimeograph all posts, then hand write my updates, scan with OCR and the re-type into thread.

I've updated it. This thread can be a bit of a beast to make. Some of the things I do to speed up updates don't always work. Reminds me of when I missed a close tag on a strikethrough and most of the original post was marked off. Also done that with italics.

Ok here goes - I’m going to play all these games and hopefully will beat 1, maybe 2. All PC:


Anthem
Assassins Creed Odyssey
Banner Saga 2
Batman Arkham Asylum
Civilization 6
Divinity Original Sin 2
Europa Universalis 4
Star Wars Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire Expansion
Witcher 3
X Com 2 War of the Chosen

I've come to the realization this week that I have absolutely no desire to go back to Grandia III. This one is now off of the backlog (and my copy is already on eBay). I might see if I can find a story summary on YouTube or something. I don't really care about it, but I still want to know how it ends.

bobbywatson wrote:

I've come to the realization this week that I have absolutely no desire to go back to Grandia III. This one is now off of the backlog (and my copy is already on eBay). I might see if I can find a story summary on YouTube or something. I don't really care about it, but I still want to know how it ends.

I haven't played or bought this, but it's always been on my radar, hence I'm curious about why you chose to drop it.

brokenclavicle wrote:

I haven't played or bought this, but it's always been on my radar, hence I'm curious about why you chose to drop it.

It's just kinda tedious, really.

Battles are probably fairly strategic if you want to spend the time to play them properly (I didn't), but there's so many of them, and they're all the same. I know the Grandia battle system is highly regarded, but somehow this time it just didn't click with me. (FWIW, I did like the first two games.) Going through an area takes forever because there's so many battles. The story itself is not very interesting either and, contrary to the first two games, the music is super boring.

The game looks pretty good for a PS2 game, but that's not enough to keep me interested, and the best character actually leaves fairly early in the game. The other characters are super uninteresting.

bobbywatson wrote:
brokenclavicle wrote:

I haven't played or bought this, but it's always been on my radar, hence I'm curious about why you chose to drop it.

It's just kinda tedious, really.

Battles are probably fairly strategic if you want to spend the time to play them properly (I didn't), but there's so many of them, and they're all the same. I know the Grandia battle system is highly regarded, but somehow this time it just didn't click with me. (FWIW, I did like the first two games.) Going through an area takes forever because there's so many battles. The story itself is not very interesting either and, contrary to the first two games, the music is super boring.

The game looks pretty good for a PS2 game, but that's not enough to keep me interested, and the best character actually leaves fairly early in the game. The other characters are super uninteresting.

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind, then. I'll check out some Youtube vids and make a decision at some point hehehe.

I had to take one and a half days off this week due to a stupid cold, and that gave me enough time to beat Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. For the most part, I really enjoyed it, despite a fairly high number of bullsh*t missions. Will definitely continue the series with Revelations, but that will wait for a while. Two AC games in a year is enough (I played the second game in January). (I will need to buy Revelations, but I can wait for a Steam sale).

Controversial opinion: The tomb raiding sequences in ACII and Brotherhood were better at tomb raiding than Tomb Raider 2013 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. TR and RotTR are very good games, maybe even great games, but I didn't think they were good Tomb Raider games.

Cross off Nier Automata (PS4/Multi) for me. Got endings A-E. Next up is probably Inside. Seems appropriate for this spooky month of October.

I will need to find more from my backlog to clear up this quarter. For now the only thing I have going that's not new is Dragon's Crown (multi). And that should be a relatively short game. Hopefully I can think of something when I finally finish Fire Emblem.

I will add The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild (multi) for this quarter. I restarted this weekend, and will play this concurrently with Dragon's Crown.

I finished off Halo 4. It was an interesting romp, but certainly not the best in the series. I felt like it was trying to be Call Of Duty sometimes. I believe it's the first one non-Bungie and I think it shows.

Started up Prey (2017) this morning. Wow, that's quite a shift in technology and storytelling from Halo. It's quickly reminding me of Half-Life/Portal from way back in the day.

God of War is in the books! It's a tall order, the task I've set for my self pile-wise, but I have faith that I will beat at least a third of the games I've chosen. Famous last words? Perhaps hehehe.

Progress report on pledged games after 1 month:
The Darkness II - Finished!
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - Played it quite a bit. About halfway through the story. The open world is neat, but I need to learn to ignore most of the garbage side missiony stuff.
Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams - didn't start.
Shatterhand - Got to it once. Died lots. Then the baby started crying again.
Remember Me - didn't resume it yet. Last played in February or so.
Dead Space 2 - didn't start.
Life is Strange - didn't start
Nier: Automata - last played in July.
Lollipop Chainsaw - last played in August.

Also played:
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger - whoa, this is really good! About 1/3 done and itching to play more.
Final Fantasy VII (on Switch) - portable with fast loading times is the way to play this. Just got to the overworld and am enjoying myself.
Untitled Goose Game - halfway through. Too recent to count for this thread though.

Finished all main and side missions in Mirror's Edge Catalyst last night. This and The Last Guardian were the two main reasons I initially bought a PS4, so it's fitting that Catalyst is the first game on the system that I finish.

Catalyst has some problems, but I feel it has a worse reputation than it deserves. Just like in the first game, the city you traverse is stunningly gorgeous, and there is some great music (although a rendition of the signature track "Still Alive" from the original game is missing). Parkour elements feel pretty great and have probably been improved upon (not sure, it's been 10 years since I played the first). The first person perspective is highly immersive and the rushing wind sound that gets progressively louder as you plummet from a great height is still as unnerving as it was the first time around.
The game throws a surprising amount of interesting, diverse locations at you to run through and this is fleshed out by the addition of a ton of optional side content in the form of collectibles, delivery runs and timed runs. Additionally, if you connect online, the city will reflect your friends activities on billboards and you can create and share runs. Catalyst is - and I was not aware of this initially - an open world game with some light rpg progression systems. The skills you earn with experience, and unlock after certain amount of story progression, will allow you to traverse the city in new ways and reach new areas.

This is at once a strength and a weakness. On the one hand, the city is really fun to run through, and when you hit that stride, you can really feel like you're in the zone. The challenge of scaling difficult sections, or even just figuring out HOW to climb them can feel great. On the other hand, there are too many junk missions (deliveries, timed runs) scattered all over the place. It's nice that they exist for those that want to do them, but I had to train myself to ignore them in order to enjoy the game more. The first few were fun, but seeing probably well over a hundred of these icons on the map made me mentally go "uuuuggghhhh...".

The other universally criticized aspect is the combat. Perhaps the most hated part of the original game for most people were the rare combat sections in it. For whatever reason, developer DICE decided to include more of it in Catalyst, make certain encounters mandatory, and flesh out the move set. I didn't think it was that terrible, but most of the time it did feel awkward.
In theory, Faith (the protagonist), should be running all over the place, executing flying jump kicks from above, off of furniture and walls, and performing sliding tackles, all without breaking stride. In reality this rarely works, and instead devolves into stiff stationary kicks followed by a dodge or three, and more kicks which cause the opponents to clumsily stumble about. Repeat until the enemies are all lying on the ground or have fallen to their deaths. It's not the worst combat ever, but it's rarely a highlight of the game.

Finally, there's the story, which is a prime example of wasted potential. The big plot twist was obvious at least an hour before it happened, most of the characters are very one-dimensional, and the writing was just so hackneyed much of the time. On the positive side of things, most of the major characters are women and people of color, and they are portrayed as capable, independent people. The game explores some interesting territory regarding the balance between safety/survival vs individual rights, as well as personal freedom vs family/business responsibility.

In a way, Mirror's Edge Catalyst itself is very meta. Just like its seemingly prisitine, perfect City of Glass, there are deep problems hidden underneath its shiny exterior which undermine the ideal it aspires to. I hope the series gets a third chance to finally reach its lofty goals.

Inside (Epic/Multi) is down. The ending sequence is one of the most disturbing things I've seen in a long time.

I’ve finished Red Dead Redemption 2

*I’VE TRIED TO TALK IN GENERALITIES ABOUT THE THEMES AND STORY IN RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 BUT YOU COULD WELL CONSIDER THEM SPOILERS*

The first Red Dead Redemption is one of my favourite games of all time and John Marston, an outlaw trying to leave his past behind in order to have a life with his estranged wife and son, is a character I remain enormously attached to. I realised just how much when he appeared in this game as a member of the diverse gang of outlaws Arthur Morgan, the main character, interacts with. The game being set before the first Red Dead.

Arthur isn’t someone who’s outlaw past is behind him. He’s a man who is happy to rob, steel and collect depts with menaces. This is a tale that resembles a classic gangster movie like Goodfellas or The Godfather and, much like those movies, in the beginning you only see the glamour, power and freedom of a life style where you can do and take what you want through threat and force. As the game gradually unveils it’s story however Arthur and the rest of the gang slowly and painfully start to reap the consequences of their lawless life.

I’d have loved the game if it was only that, as well done as it is, but it goes beyond that to give Arthur a long journey through dawning realisation of his own culpability to his own slim chance at redemption.

It says something about the game when I can say, honestly, that the outstanding moment of Arthur’s story, for me, is a short but achingly honest conversation he has sitting on a bench at a train station.

Time for some cleanup! I’m going to declare: Dragon’s Crown (multi), Baldur’s Gate (multi), Tactics Ogre (multi), and Fire Emblem Echoes (3DS). That’s probably more than enough!

I completed Dragon's Crown about a week ago and have been picking away at a second playthrough of Trails of Cold Steel. But that doesn't count for this thread, so I am going to declare Nights of Azure (multi). I started on it sometime last year and enjoyed the bit I played, so want to get back to it and complete it.

Finished Call of Juarez: Gunslinger's (PC/multi - undeclared) amazing yarn a few days ago. I have yet to be disappointed by a Call of Juarez game (because "The Cartel" never happened), and Gunslinger - while having pretty much no links to the original pair of games besides its name, is a fantastic time in its own way.

I absolutely loved being immersed in the old West setting, reliving events experienced by my unreliable narrator and learning - via the collectible "nuggets of truth" the ...well.... truth behind the stories. Luckily, the game is no one trick pony, as the gunfighting, with its combos, bullet time, and sheer viscerality is a bloody good time.

Rounding out the package are some great graphics and music, as well as a showdown minigame that's pretty darned good.

Gunslinger will be in my top 10 of the year list.

---------------------

Also beat all the story objectives in Untitled Goose Game which is too new for this thread, but at least it never made it onto the official pile. Loved it for most of the story, but it was started to wear on my near the end. Once the story was over and I saw the additional objectives, I knew that I was done with it for the forseeable future. I don't regret the purchase in the slightest though. It's inventive, unrelentingly charming and at times made me elicit some gleeful chuckles at my own wickedness. The art style and soundtrack are to be commended as well. Well worth its purchase price.