Finished Any Games Lately?

Prozac wrote:

Just knocked over L.A. Noire. After the Homicide desk it seemed to drag a little and I had to force my way through the final third, but ultimately I enjoyed the experience.

I stalled out at the start of Arson - I liked the overall story, but it had gotten a bit samey by that point (~20 hours in).

I actually found the arson cases the most interesting of the lot, and that kept me going to the end despite the numerous flaws (the tosspot lead character being only one of them, but probably the biggest).

Having said that, I have absolutely no desire to replay it.

Yeah, I don't see myself going back to it. I definately found Jack Kelso much more relatable and it was switching to him that made me push through to the end.

davet010 wrote:

I actually found the arson cases the most interesting of the lot, and that kept me going to the end despite the numerous flaws (the tosspot lead character being only one of them, but probably the biggest).

Having said that, I have absolutely no desire to replay it.

In that case I really should go back to it and finish it off, but there are so many shiny new things to play...

I finished Spec Ops: The Line last night after about 3 play sessions. As a third-person shooter, it was decidedly average. But as some outlets have been talking about, this is a very interesting case study for meaningful, emotional stories in FPS games. I was genuinely shocked and moved a few times. If you have any interest in the genre and storytelling in games and can handle what becomes a very dark and often graphic narrative, I highly recommend at least renting it or buying it on PC when it goes on sale. I'm going to listen to GameSpot's spoilercast with one of the designers to hopfully get some more insight. I'm glad I didn't end up skipping this, I was very surprised.

Also, people sometimes make fun of Nolan North because he's in well...everything but if he hasn't already cemented his position as one of the best and most talented voice actors in the history of video games, he definitely does with this one. Incredible.

Finished Bulletstorm and Walking Dead Ep. 2 over the past week.

Enjoyed both immensely.

I find myself quite bummed that Bulletstorm will not have a sequel because it never found an audience. It was the absolute anti-CoD, modern military shooter and there's just not enough of these out there these days. The bright colors, the scored arcade kill system, the humor. Man, I loved this game.

Walking Dead well, as I said in the Catch All, it’s fast-tracking to GOTY status for me thus far.

A trio of snack-sized games:

Mirror's Edge was flawed but very fun. I think its faults are well-known: combat is unavoidable near the end and happens far too often, etc. etc. Still, for the feel they captured and the exhilarating chase scenes and well-stylized art, I enjoyed the heck out of this one. Just the right length, too, at 5 and a half hours.

Botanicula was just precious. Yeah, it's a bit of a hunt-and-peck game, but the art style and musical ideas are so well done and so cute that it's still fun to play through with a big grin on your face the whole time. I thought that Ilomilo had a very cloying, almost insipidly sweet art style and music, but Botanicula seemed to strike that right balance between cute and grown-up that Ilomilo strove for and failed.

Quantum Conundrum was interesting. I think I probably liked it more than most people. Yes, it is platforming-heavy, and that's always tricky in first-person games (though no one ever seemed to complain about it in Metroid Prime...). It's definitely more difficult and active than Portal, which I consider a good thing. The most difficult levels were IMO the beginning of the second area, where you first experience slow-time and had to figure out some of the principles involved in time manipulation. The later levels, though somewhat tricky in execution, did not seem to require as much mental acuity. Also, couch-surfing is totally awesome.

I get that some people could find the somewhat kid-centered nature of the jokes a bit off-putting, but it didn't bother me. They went for a particular style and it worked for them. The music, on the other hand, can take a long walk off a short pier. Universally terrible soundtrack and one that played pretty much ad nauseum over only a handful of cuts. Ugh.

Just finished Botanicula. What a weird and crazy game. It was just warped. Fun, but warped. Nice soundtrack and I actually liked the story. Can't say I'll be likely to go back and play it any time soon though.

I finished Penny Arcade - Episode 3. All in all I think I really enjoyed it. The combat got quite difficult towards the end which kept it from getting too repetitive. Some of the writing/segments were really funny. A 6 hour JRPG is always appreciated as well.

Just finished Bastion. Overall a really good game with a disctinct art style, voice, and a unique approach to storytelling. I think it was a bit overrated when called Game of the Year, but highly original, enjoyable, and definitely time well spent.

I finished Bonanicula, which I picked up on the Steam Sale. Surprisingly, this is the first Amanita game I've finished. Also, the audio was great. More than once, my wife overheard me and said "What are you playing?"

I also just finished Botanicula. It was great. Not quite as affecting as Machinarium, but I loved it. So charming.

Hyetal wrote:

Not quite as affecting as Machinarium, but I loved it.

I agree with you. The robot boy/girl thing was great. The mechanics were much improved in Botanicula, at least.

Put down Warhammer 40000: Space Marine yesterday. The fun of Exterminatus multiplayer is making up for the poor single player finale.

SixteenBlue wrote:

I finished Penny Arcade - Episode 3. All in all I think I really enjoyed it. The combat got quite difficult towards the end which kept it from getting too repetitive. Some of the writing/segments were really funny. A 6 hour JRPG is always appreciated as well.

I too just finished On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 3, and MAN, that was a damned fine game. The story continues the insanity from the first two episodes, and amps it up a few notches. It very much feels like reading an interactive Penny Arcade graphic novel -- in a VERY good way (and no, I don't consider myself a PA fanboy)... I definitely had a few honest laugh-out-loud moments. I also really loved the migration into Zeboyd Games' retro 8-bit RPG engine, and the story even riffed off that directly a few times, in a very self-aware sort of way.

Finally saw the credits roll on Deus Ex: Human Revolution! Had a real great time with it, even though I didn't get the acheivement for not setting off alarms. I was deliberately playing overly stealthy so I could get that. I did get a little more lax in that rule later on in the game since it was taking forever to get through certain areas, but oh well. Still a fairly solid game

Chrono Trigger DS! This was a fun nostalgia trip. The new dungeons really didn't add all that much for me, but the core game holds up really well! The pacing on this game is phenomenal.

Uncharted 1 is down. Those firefights in the last few levels really tarnished the good name it had going for itself. Especially that last level... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it

trueheart78 wrote:

Uncharted 1 is down. Those firefights in the last few levels really tarnished the good name it had going for itself. Especially that last level... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it :)

The later Uncharted games are a bit less frustrating than the first. Personally, I think the Vita game is the best because of the Chase character. If you do play any of the other ones, take your time with it. It's definitely easy to get Uncharted fatigue. I'd play one a year, max.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

Uncharted 1 is down. Those firefights in the last few levels really tarnished the good name it had going for itself. Especially that last level... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it :)

The later Uncharted games are a bit less frustrating than the first. Personally, I think the Vita game is the best because of the Chase character. If you do play any of the other ones, take your time with it. It's definitely easy to get Uncharted fatigue. I'd play one a year, max.

I played all three of them back to back when I got my PS3 this year... You aren't kidding about Uncharted fatigue. I was so tired of bullet spong-y firefights that I was tempted to finish 3 on easy. I got through though.

JillSammich wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

Uncharted 1 is down. Those firefights in the last few levels really tarnished the good name it had going for itself. Especially that last level... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it :)

The later Uncharted games are a bit less frustrating than the first. Personally, I think the Vita game is the best because of the Chase character. If you do play any of the other ones, take your time with it. It's definitely easy to get Uncharted fatigue. I'd play one a year, max.

I played all three of them back to back when I got my PS3 this year... You aren't kidding about Uncharted fatigue. I was so tired of bullet spong-y firefights that I was tempted to finish 3 on easy. I got through though.

I really felt 3 was a step backwards from 2 and that was after 3 started so strong. It was the later chapters with the extended gunplay that really turned me off. I found that luck>skill most of the time.

jonfentyler wrote:

I really felt 3 was a step backwards from 2 and that was after 3 started so strong. It was the later chapters with the extended gunplay that really turned me off. I found that luck>skill most of the time.

I think the parts I got the most frustrated at were

Spoiler:

the desert city where there were multiple RPG dudes and the final city with all of those damn hallucination baddies.

JillSammich wrote:
jonfentyler wrote:

I really felt 3 was a step backwards from 2 and that was after 3 started so strong. It was the later chapters with the extended gunplay that really turned me off. I found that luck>skill most of the time.

I think the parts I got the most frustrated at were

Spoiler:

the desert city where there were multiple RPG dudes and the final city with all of those damn hallucination baddies.

Yepp, I also hated

Spoiler:

the shipyard. I thought I would clear an area and then end up dead after taking a shotgun blast in the back.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

Uncharted 1 is down. Those firefights in the last few levels really tarnished the good name it had going for itself. Especially that last level... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it :)

The later Uncharted games are a bit less frustrating than the first. Personally, I think the Vita game is the best because of the Chase character. If you do play any of the other ones, take your time with it. It's definitely easy to get Uncharted fatigue. I'd play one a year, max.

Well, I'd consider one a year if a friend hadn't just lent me the whole trilogy. I really think he'd like them back before 2014.

I played through 1 in one day, I'll see about putting a game for padding in between the next two titles.

trueheart78 wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

Uncharted 1 is down. Those firefights in the last few levels really tarnished the good name it had going for itself. Especially that last level... Otherwise, I rather enjoyed it :)

The later Uncharted games are a bit less frustrating than the first. Personally, I think the Vita game is the best because of the Chase character. If you do play any of the other ones, take your time with it. It's definitely easy to get Uncharted fatigue. I'd play one a year, max.

Well, I'd consider one a year if a friend hadn't just lent me the whole trilogy. I really think he'd like them back before 2014.

I played through 1 in one day, I'll see about putting a game for padding in between the next two titles.

Don't let our bickering dissuade you from playing it. I couldn't put 2 down once I started it. I played through 2 over a couple of days, stopping only to spend time with my mother-in-law who was visiting us at the time. She didn't understand the importance of Nathan Drake.

jonfentyler wrote:
JillSammich wrote:
jonfentyler wrote:

I really felt 3 was a step backwards from 2 and that was after 3 started so strong. It was the later chapters with the extended gunplay that really turned me off. I found that luck>skill most of the time.

I think the parts I got the most frustrated at were

Spoiler:

the desert city where there were multiple RPG dudes and the final city with all of those damn hallucination baddies.

Yepp, I also hated

Spoiler:

the shipyard. I thought I would clear an area and then end up dead after taking a shotgun blast in the back.

There was actually quite a few parts I didn't like, and most of them were combat-related just like you guys are saying. The plot itself seemed a little off to me, too. Like there was supposed to be more detail somewhere in there, but it got cut in post-production or something.

Spoiler:

The whole Sully getting shot but then having it be a hallucination? It just felt like weak writing to me. Something strange happens? IT'S THE CRAZY LSD WATER! I felt the same way when the grey dudes showed up in Uncharted 1.

But anyway...back to talking about finishing games. Sorry for the derail.

trueheart78 wrote:

I played through 1 in one day, I'll see about putting a game for padding in between the next two titles.

Yeah you can probably jump into Uncharted 2 without fatigue. But 3 isn't quite as good, and I'd take a little palette cleanser between 2 and 3 if I was you.

Just make sure you don't play something with great melee combat like Batman:AA. Because then the melee combat in U3 will really piss you off with how half-ass it is.

While the melee combat in U3 was not as good as Batman (and, frankly, what is?), I thought it was quite good. I would rather be beating up people than putting 20 bullets into their face.

Just wrapped up Dead Island. I'll start by saying I bought it for $10 during a Newegg sale a few months back and I'd say it's worth $10 (25 hours in game with minimal side quests completed). It started strong - first 2 acts - then it slowed down in the second half, to the point where I stopped doing side quests, determined to finish the main quest line.

The inventory glitches were infuriating; picking up items and then have them equipped in hand was an annoyance to say the least, especially when it came to alcohol. Inventory issue aside, the melee combat itself was satisfying. I didn't do much weapon modding, other than the occasional molotov cocktail, mostly because I stopped looking for the parts. Also, the narrative could have used more work. I got the feeling that the writers were going for a B-movie style, but I thought L4D captured that better.

It should be noted that I played solo and I could see where the game was clearly meant to be played co-operatively in certain situations, i.e. the not-so-solo-friendly placement of mini-bosses throughout the game and the cut scenes with all 4 co-op characters in the scene (wtf!?).

Edit: I also finished Machinarium tonight. Around 5 hours for completion for me, but having played very few adventure games in the past, I needed lots of help on this one. I enjoyed nearly every minute with Machinarium, to the point I was sad it was over. The story was engaging and the characters adorable. I like to think it's games like Machinarium that lend credibility to the 'games as art' argument.

Anachronox early, early this AM. The game was well-written and surprisingly well acted given its age. A classic experience that I'm sad I overlooked back in the day. Well worth picking up on GoG.com!