Finished Any Games Lately?

I just finished Monument Valley 2. It’s even better than the first one. Probably the best puzzle game on mobile. As soon as I finish I started looking for DLC. None yet…

With the Monument Valley games, the amount of care that went into the levels is palpable. I’ll probably replay these soon.

RawkGWJ wrote:

I just finished Monument Valley 2. It’s even better than the first one. Probably the best puzzle game on mobile. As soon as I finish I started looking for DLC. None yet…

With the Monument Valley games, the amount of care that went into the levels is palpable. I’ll probably replay these soon.

I enjoyed Monument Valley 1&2. If you are looking for another very good game like it, I recommend Fez if you haven't played that one. It's older than MV and available on most platforms. There was even a reference to it in Monument Valley

Oh man...Fez. that is a game that doesn't immediately come to mind when I think of amazing gaming experiences. But then someone brings it up and god, I had such a great (but overwhelming) time playing that game.

Mass Effect. It was... okay. The combat system does not do it for me, and the less said about the Mako the better. The story didn't really hook me until I was nearing the end. At least it was fun to be rude to the Council.

Will need time for my weapons to cool down before cracking open the (by all accounts vastly improved) sequel.

Agathos wrote:

Mass Effect. It was... okay. The combat system does not do it for me, and the less said about the Mako the better. The story didn't really hook me until I was nearing the end. At least it was fun to be rude to the Council.

Will need time for my weapons to cool down before cracking open the (by all accounts vastly improved) sequel.

It's a rough game. The 2nd and 3rd games are much better, and hold up well. The first one, even in the recent remaster, still is incredibly janky and aimless at some parts.

Agathos wrote:

Mass Effect. It was... okay. The combat system does not do it for me, and the less said about the Mako the better. The story didn't really hook me until I was nearing the end. At least it was fun to be rude to the Council.

Will need time for my weapons to cool down before cracking open the (by all accounts vastly improved) sequel.

Did you play the remastered version or the original (which I couldn't really get into?)

It was this year’s Legendary Edition release.

My adult daughter and I played through a few games this summer: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (999), Virtue’s Last Reward, Zero Time Dilemma, and STEINS;GATE. I then just went on to complete The Sexy Brutale as part of the GWJ Adventure Game Club. I had previously played through the three Zero Escape games years ago, when they came out - I was just driving the controller while she make all of the decisions. I'm grouping all of these together into one post, partially because the ZE games were a repeat for me, but mostly because they share a similar theme: they're all games revolving around time travel / time looping - my favorite type of story!

Needless to say, I loved playing through the Zero Escape games again; I had forgotten quite a few of the details, but I remembered the broad strokes, and it was absolutely delightful re-experiencing these games through my daughter's eyes. There's quite a lot of gut-wrenching decisions to be made - and have to live with - over the course of these games. These are visual novels interspersed with point-and-click escape rooms; the stories being told are absolutely bonkers insane right from minute 1, and require replaying each game multiple times (making different choices each time) in order to get the complete picture and see the true ending. Thankfully, these have a "skip" button that let us speed through all of the dialogue that we had seen before, and automatically stopped whenever there was new dialogue or a decision to make. We 100%ed all three of them, and invested approximately 30 hours into each of these. Content warning: lots of death.

Steins;Gate was new to both of us. We didn't know much about it going into the game, other than that the story was wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey. Like the ZE games, Steins;Gate is also a visual novel, and though it starts off with a surprisingly mundane story, it keeps ramping up; also similarly, it requires multiple playthroughs in order to get the true ending. Unlike the ZE games, Steins;Gate has no other gameplay - it's almost entirely just visual novel decisions to make. This was pretty disappointing for us, as we both really liked the very active escape room mechanics from the ZE games. Thankfully, the story eventually made up for that "deficiency". We ended up getting all of the normal endings on our own, but then consulted a guide in order to get the true ending and the more hidden side-story endings in order to 100% it. This one took us about 60 hours, and it definitely felt like it was dragging on forever for the first ending. Content warnings: some death; some "fan service"; some very uncomfortable transphobia that eventually has a delightfully heartwarming payoff.

As for The Sexy Brutale: it feels very much like the classic LucasArts adventure games Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle. The plot: You have 12 hours (around 10-15 actual minutes?) to traverse a mansion without being seen by anyone, in order to save the lives of each of the guests, acquiring additional powers along the way to help; when the clock runs out, you can reset the day and try again - hopefully with some things unlocked, or more crucial information learned, in order to succeed on subsequent tries. This was a much more straightforward game, with FAR less dialogue than the others I'm posting about here, taking me only about 5.5 hours to complete.

Axiom Verge 2 just this second. Finished in 14 hrs 21 mins total playtime, 89% of the map completed.

A huge jump up in gameplay from the original game. Melee combat suits the game better & traversal is a world of difference, you feel equipped to actually navigate the world in a fun way. Even the normal jump doesn't feel so dated & floaty, like the first game.

The bosses are near enough all passive or if their not, it's extremely easy to beat them. It doesn't make them engaging but they don't get in your way of exploring the next area.

The breach world that your drone frequents was a nice synergistic design choice that flowed well throughout the game. It connects areas together well, has a completely different vibe to it, plus it lends to exclusively utilizing your drone to explore a whole alternative space.

Story wise it's a tricky one to follow, there are a lot of names of different races, terms that if you don't remember what they were after reading an initial tablet about them or really taking in fully what a character has said then it can become a bit of a head spinner. Still though reading about the arms, the theories on different dimensions, wars that have went on etc were all interesting & well written.

I'd recommend any fan of Metroidvania's to give this a try, even if you thought the original was a slog. AV2 is improved across the board in a big way. There are still factors holding it back, like bosses, combat can be a bit one dimensional but the real drive here is exploration, the traversal upgrades make getting around the map a ton of fun.

A very good second effort Mr Happ!

I might have to give it a try. The bosses being on the easy side appeals. There is something about bosses in 2D platformers that I find harder than bosses in a 3D space.

Finished A Plague Tale: Innocence. Look at me, finishing two games in three days! Am I on the verge of completing the Great Work?

I love Amicia and Hugo and the friends they make along the way. I don't so much love some of the stealth sections where it feels like I'm just guessing where to go. The first few hours feature very few verbs and thus only one correct solution to each challenge, but it opens up a little more when Amicia has a deeper bag of tricks. The sling feels great with the PS5's adaptive trigger feedback.

Agathos wrote:

Finished A Plague Tale: Innocence.
...
The sling feels great with the PS5's adaptive trigger feedback.

Interesting. I think I have a couple options for where to play but maybe it should be PS5.

Last night I finished Dragon Age Inquisition + all DLC. 121 hours!

Actually, this is my second playthrough of DA:I, but my first since 2014 (when the game released) and my first of the DLC. You know that question gaming podcasts sometimes get, about a game you don't rate at first but changes your mind later on? I now have my definitive answer.

So why did I play DA:I in 2021? I wanted a meaty RPG to sink into, but something not too fiddly to play on a PS4. I miss the glory days of Bioware. I heard the DLC was worth playing. And the GOTY edition was ridiculously cheap in some PSN sale.

My memories of my original playthrough were that it had some high points like the Winter Palace mission, but was bloated with pointless busywork. The "admin" of running the Inquisition dragged it down and it ended in a pretty unsatisfying way. I'd played DA2 through 3 times, and was very invested in those characters. By comparison this seemed diluted. I didn't much care for how it treated returning characters and the new crew were not as sharp or nuanced as team Kirkwall.

Fast forward to 2021. I have now forgotten just about everything about the DA series, except that templars hate mages and everyone seemed to hate elves (I was an elf rogue back then). I come in with a deliberately blank slate, choosing to be a Qunari warrior lady (based on a local footballer) who is good natured but clumsy and none too bright. In the early going, I have fun trying to shock the NPCs out of their self-seriousness and getting them to educate me.

I take my time exploring what's around me, but don't hesitate to move on once I feel the itch to see something new. This is a huge game, and I can see why I thought it bloated the first time round, but with the benefit of hindsight I treat it more like a buffet where I pick and choose what I fancy in the moment. I'm impressed by how many things I'm offered to do, now that I don't feel pressure to actually do them all. It's truly impressive how much depth there is in the game, across so many systems that support different play styles. At various points I have delved into combat builds, crafting, scholarly deep dives, battle tactics, world exploration, friendship and an awkward romance. It feels like my own private MMO, in a good way. My inquisitor grows into her role over time and by the end of the Trespasser DLC I felt like we'd been on a journey.

By the way the game still looks impressive on my OG PS4, and runs very smoothly. I think it works well to have sprawling but separated biomes that give the impression of a vast world without some of the worst open world cruft (although there's still plenty of that). The DLC is indeed excellent. Even the weaker ones offer something different and at a quality matching or exceeding the base game. Trespasser finally provides the ending the OG game needed and I find myself suddenly interested in DA4!

I played along with the Normandy FM podcasts of the game from last year. This is the first time I've done something like that and it enriched the whole experience for me, since they pick up on many details I missed or just interpreted differently. It made me realise just how much there is in here, and makes me wonder how much I miss when I play other games like this. Not that there have been many games like this for a while, sadly. The Witcher 3 of course is a celebrated example, but it's going for something a bit different. I think DA:I is on the same tier, something I would not have said beforehand. It would be high on my GOTY list if I hadn't played it before!

Every once in a while I want to play some short, linear, brainless, single player FPS game. I've exhausted my backlog of Call of Duty games though, and Activision seems to overvalue the older ones for some reason, so I'm not about to buy another one.

So, I picked Ryse: Son of Rome off the pile. It scratched that particular itch, and I was glad when it was over.

Just finished Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire.

Wow.

When I had first started this game, I had just finished Pillars of Eternity. Really good game. Very enjoyable, a solid experience, I had sunk lots of time into it, but I was ready to move onto something different. Still, I had Pillars of Eternity 2 installed, and out of curiosity I thought "Ok, let me at least check it out, just to see what the intro looks like."

From the moment the game started, and the epic score kicked in, I said to myself "Oh crap. I'm...I'm just going to play the hell out of this aren't I?"

And I did. Oh, how I did. For 93 hours I did.

How to describe Pillars of Eternity 2? If you've played the first one, it's simple. It's as if the developers locked themselves in the office and said, "Let's look at the first game, and just improve every single aspect and feature when we make the sequel." You can see that the original game is where the developers not only built their framework, but also their confidence, and just let loose in the sequel. Everything, and I do mean everything, is just a head and shoulders improvement over the first game. The story, which was good, is now unforgettable. The artwork, the characters, the gameplay design, combat, characters, musical score, sound effects, setting, the choices, the mechanics - all of them speak of lessons learned, risks successfully taken, and even little choices that improve the quality of life of the experience. For example: just the use of hyperlinks to popup boxes whenever a character, piece of lore, deity, foreign phrase, character, and so on, is enough to immerse the individual instead of trying to remember why Bereth and Galawain are fighting to claim the Huana.

For those who haven't played the first game, if I had to sum it up in once sentence, Pillars of Eternity 2 is what would happen if Baldur's Gate 2 had sex with Sid Meier's Pirates! A fantastic Black Isle-style RPG combined with the open world and open sail world of pirate games, and the end product is a vast, living world to explore but is guided by a deeply engaging story where you have to make choices that affect the world, the people you travel with, and the fate of kith throughout Eora. (Kith? Eora? Don't worry there's hyperlinks to explain that).

I can't recommend this series enough. I still believe the Baldur's Gate series is better overall, but after playing Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 I have to question how much my love of the former series is driven more by nostalgia than honesty. It makes me wish Minsc had an eyepatch and that Boo was a parrot instead of a magical space hamster.

PoE2 does have a few flaws. The scaling of the combat can be a roller coaster at times, where some battles (especially for the excellent DLC) being way to difficult to the point where I had to set the difficulty to the lowest level, followed by some battles where I cut through enemies with minimal effort. Ship to ship battles are just ok, and the games ending I found to be a bit sudden. Not bad, just not what I expected (which I guess can be a plus). But overall the quality of this game just resonates in everything from the boldest strokes of game design to the nuances of lore books, artistic detail, and languages of different cultures. As the year draws to a close, I can assure you this will rank up near the top of my best games list for 2021.

I implore you, if you like party based RPGs, give this series a turn. I was shocked and disappointed to learn PoE2 did not sell well. It deserves a much larger audience and you deserve to play it.

Up next...I dunno. I mean I've only been playing this game for weeks now, so I'll probably putz around with a few different titles before something grasps me. Probably some combination of HUMANKIND and Wildermyth. Now if those games combined, I'd play the hell out of that too.

I just finished Axiom Verge 2. An excellent little Metroidvania - great platforming feel, satisfying (and interesting) character upgrades, and very neat map exploration possibilities. I only got about 65% of the items, and about 85% of the map, but I still feel good about my progress through it. The game ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, making me wonder/hope whether it's setting up for some DLC or a sequel. The game is only $20 at full price and weighs in at only 160MB, so it'll probably finish downloading before you've refreshed your beverage of choice.

Played and finished Lake IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/facebook/65/water-wave_1f30a.png) on Xbox Series X, day one. I actually ended up pre-ordering it a few days before release ($20), since it is an indie produced game, the reviews were positive, and it gave off a nice, relaxing vibe (looking at reviews, they really touted that last point, which was a major selling point to me).

Story-wise, you’ve returned to your hometown in the 1987 after 20+ years away, on a two week vacation from work as a software developer (a career I also enjoy). You’re covering your dad’s mail route IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.amazonaws.com/source/skype/289/postbox_1f4ee.png) for two weeks, and will meet all different sort of people in town, new and old. Old friends reappear, while other new faces may spark romance. By the time credits roll, you will have to make a decision to return to your career, or perhaps… something else. IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.amazonaws.com/source/skype/289/revolving-hearts_1f49e.png)

I really, really wanted to love it, but I was quote disappointed. IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/apple/285/disappointed-face_1f61e.png) It felt shallow, especially when compared to games like the first Life is Strange (2015). There were story bits and characters I didn’t much enjoy (I honestly think I was bothered by more people than I was endeared to), and by the finale, I had no desire to stay in town or with anyone I met.

Then there were the technical issues. Any relaxation afforded by the game were (pun intended), washed away by the problems I encountered. There was (for me) no autosaving, which was made worse by the frequent game states that required force quitting and re-opening the game. Add in glitches that happened when I that started my day, that somehow put me into conversations with other characters. I’m honestly surprised that it was allowed to be released in that state. IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/google/298/collision_1f4a5.png)

At this time in my life, where I find it hard to commit time to a game, having a soured experience (even at 5-6 hours total playtime), it really put me off. It definitely reinforced the need of waiting a few days after any big or small release before committing to playing. IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/facebook/304/hourglass-done_231b.png)

I finished The Artful Escape earlier today. It’s excellent!

I would call it a lighthearted walking simulator or visual novel. The story is fun and silly with a great sense of humor. The music and the art is gorgeous!

It took me 8 hours to finish. I am a slow gamer. By that I mean that I will return to some areas unnecessarily just because I like them. I take my time and don’t rush. What I’m saying is that the game is short, but if it was any longer it would have worn on me. I guess you could say it respects your time to some degree.

I played this on Game Pass and it was worth every cent.

RawkGWJ wrote:

I played this on Game Pass and it was worth every cent.

Not sure what to make of this

ComfortZone wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:

I played this on Game Pass and it was worth every cent.

Not sure what to make of this :)

For a very short, very enjoyable game, to play it on game pass was just perfect.

RawkGWJ wrote:

I finished The Artful Escape earlier today. It’s excellent!

I would call it a lighthearted walking simulator or visual novel. The story is fun and silly with a great sense of humor. The music and the art is gorgeous!

It took me 8 hours to finish. I am a slow gamer. By that I mean that I will return to some areas unnecessarily just because I like them. I take my time and don’t rush. What I’m saying is that the game is short, but if it was any longer it would have worn on me. I guess you could say it respects your time to some degree.

I also just finished this and I loved it. I wish I had played it on a TV because it's a game made for a big screen.

The only pebble in the shoe is that the game has some serious performance issues and certain scenarios were really choppy even if I lowered the detail and definition. And it seems to be a common problem people have with the game.

ComfortZone wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:

I played this on Game Pass and it was worth every cent.

Not sure what to make of this :)

"It's worth all the no dollars I paid for it!"

Vrikk wrote:
ComfortZone wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:

I played this on Game Pass and it was worth every cent.

Not sure what to make of this :)

"It's worth all the no dollars I paid for it!"

GAME PASS AIN’T FREE!!!

For my $20.00 that I paid in August and my $20.00 that I will pay in September I’ve enjoyed several wonderful games. Octopath Traveller, Psychonaughts 2, and The Artful Escape are the three that immediately come to mind. I’ve also played several hours of Crown Trick, but I don’t think it’s going to stick to me in the same way as those other games I’d mentioned.

Pink Stripes wrote:

The only pebble in the shoe is that the game has some serious performance issues and certain scenarios were really choppy even if I lowered the detail and definition. And it seems to be a common problem people have with the game.

I played on XB1X on a 4K display with high quality headphones. No technical issues whatsoever. The visual art and music were absolutely gorgeous!!

edit
It just occurred to me that those high quality headphones of which I speak are at least 12 years old. They have been slowly falling apart for the past five years or so but still sound great. I paid $150.00 for them circa 2008. They are made by Turtle Beach.

Finished Carto. Well... not exactly "finished", since I put the game down for good at the end of Chapter 9 (there are 10 chapters). It was a fun and wholesome diversion: a top-down puzzler where you manipulate map squares to progress. By the end, the puzzles had become fiddly enough that I was resorting to a combination of trial-and-error brute force and checking frequently with a guide. Decided I'd had enough, but it was a good and chill time up to that point. Another one "free" on Gamepass.

I finished Psychonauts (the first) this past weekend. I'd always meant to get around to it, loved the idea of it, but found playing it fairly difficult after coming to it years after the fact. I don't feel it has aged particularly well, but the genius of the concepts they were playing with along with writing pulled me through.

Partially I did this because of the sequel coming out, and having immediately jumped into that, am both glad I finished it, and happy that a game that seems to better execute on their original ideas exists now.

I finished The Outer Worlds and DLC as part of the CPRG club. I have mixed feelings overall, but probably more on the positive side. The setting, graphics and characters were all good. I always appreciate when a game creates a distinct alien planet that feels sufficiently, well, alien. No rocky beaches with palm trees under a blue sky like we saw in Mass Effect. They should have reduced the amount of predators and thrown in some token prey animals to really sell it for me though.

The overall plot and side quests were OK.

Where the game falls down is the moment to moment gameplay. Combat felt unremarkable on normal difficulty, but at least it wasn't a drag. The biggest problem was the ridiculous abundance of meaningless loot. Countless types of consumables that I never used. Unique named weapons that were universally worse than the generic weapons I already had. Tons of credits because there was nothing I wanted to buy after the first hour or so of the game. Stuff like that. I spent a lot of time compulsively exploring everywhere and hoovering up vast quantities of junk, but I can't say that aspect was particularly fun.

Finishing the game got me thinking about something though... Maybe someone can answer me. Why is Skyrim so universally loved?

I played it very briefly a couple years ago and remember being turned off right at the opening segment and never went back. In hindsight, it was not a good idea to start it shortly after finishing The Witcher 3. I was probably still burnt out on epic fantasies, and no way Skyrim was going to measure up in terms of characters and plot.

I also think I was ready to write it off based on my response to both Oblivion and Fallout 3; I was impressed with them at first, but that quickly faded to almost disdain as I grew tired of the repetitive dungeons, lackluster plot and characters, bullet sponge level-scaled enemies, the five voice actors they hired to play dozens of NPC's, and so on. By the end of those games, I was almost hate-playing them. The fact that I significantly preferred New Vegas probably prejudiced me against Bethesda. I mean, it says something when New Vegas somehow feels to me like a more serious game with better world-building when it's got stuff like an army of Roman wannabes and ridiculous post-apocalyptic casinos.

On a side note, I did also really like Morrowind, which I chalk up to the weird uniqueness of the setting and plot. Also I was younger and had a lot more patience.

But anyway, how exactly is Skyrim so much better than Oblivion and Fallout 3 and should I try it again? Or is it just not for me?

Yeah, I know I can just play it myself and see... but other, shorter games in the pile are calling.

The fact that you talk about the "end" of Oblivion and Fallout 3 probably means Skyrim isn't for you; no one who enjoys Skyrim thinks the main quest is the important thing, it's the breadth of the world, and the new things that you keep stumbling across 100 hours in. At this point I've put over 300 hours into Skyrim across three platforms (PS3, VR, and PS5), and outside of that initial tutorial section I've repeated almost no quests or storylines. It's not a game you finish, it's a place you go to (especially in VR).

What Evan said. Times 1,000.

gewy wrote:

Finishing the game got me thinking about something though... Maybe someone can answer me. Why is Skyrim so universally loved?

I played it very briefly a couple years ago and remember being turned off right at the opening segment and never went back. In hindsight, it was not a good idea to start it shortly after finishing The Witcher 3. I was probably still burnt out on epic fantasies, and no way Skyrim was going to measure up in terms of characters and plot.

I've had similar thoughts recently too. I bought Skyrim at launch and sunk around 100 hours into it, so obviously I saw something in it. But in hindsight, I'm not even sure if I really enjoyed it? I've been weighing up whether I should jump in again to do the Dragonborn DLC. It feels like something I'd like in theory, but then I boot up the game and just... ugh. Can't be bothered. It's not fun, it's a chore.

As you say, it doesn't measure up to Witcher 3 in terms of characters and plot. Like, it's not even close. The combat and world as a whole is much worse too. It just feels very hard to recommend Skyrim in a world where Witcher 3, Breath of the Wild and Red Dead Redemption 2 exist.

Having said all that, the fact that I'm even putting Skyrim in the same league as those more modern games probably counts for something.

I should clarify here. When I played these games, I knew better than to play them for the plot and characters. I was primarily an explorer and I visited every single inch of their game worlds and probably cleared out at least 95% of the dungeons. For Oblivion, I also had a house full of each type of weapon and armor I had collected on display (admittedly they were just arrayed out on the floor- probably should have found a mod for something better). I did find some satisfaction in this for a while but nothing beat the first few hours when everything was new and fresh. With Fallout 3 in particular, it was all downhill after the excitement of seeing Megaton. Nothing in the rest of the game came close to that. Maybe I should have just quit once I started getting bored.

I guess my ultimate question is this-

For everyone who loved Skyrim, did you also love Oblivion or Fallout 3? And if not, how is Skyrim the better game?