You don't actually have to do the harder version of those old missions to get the real ending. If i recall you have to do a few smaller side ops that are highlighted yellow in the mission list, and once you do the final mission unlocks. The harder version of old missions is only there for the challenge.
mrtomaytohead wrote:I remember in 2011 I finished up a NES game I had given multiple legitimate runs at over the years from attempting at release on my friends cart back in the day, emulation in college, and finally buying a used copy and finishing it with 100%. Something like 23 years from first loading it up to completion.
Guardian Legend, right? I remember ;)
Good memory. Can't believe I didn't type what game it was.
Rolled credits on Dragon Quest 8. There's post-game stuff to be done, but taking a break for a while before I go back to it.
Played it on my Ayn Odin, emulating the PS2 version at a 2x upscale. Such a gorgeous game with those jaggies smoothed away some. And like a lot of longer JRPGs, really benefits from portability so I could grind in bed or on work breaks.
I just finished Cocoon and really enjoyed it. It's a clever puzzle game based on worlds within worlds.
I finished Doom 3 this weekend.
I'm not sure what hit me with the urge to play it. I played it pretty close to release in 2004 or so, but never finished it. I hadn't thought about it much since then. But I saw it on sale recently, grabbed it on Steam on a whim, and actually managed to complete the damn thing.
It's a really odd game. The shooting is mediocre at best. The shotgun is a massive disappointment. Even the BFG is underwhelming. Rooms are small, and the danger comes from getting stunlocked by enemies while you're stuck against some random bit of geometry in the cramped levels. So as a Doom game/arena shooter, it disappoints.
As a horror game, though, it's pretty good. The lighting is still very atmospheric. As you work your way through the UAC facility, getting closer to the source of the demon invasion, the horror ratchets up more and more. The demons are scary, and the various audio logs and environmental storytelling make it clear just how messed up this place is, both before and after the invasion started. The lore isn't bad, I guess is what I'm saying.
There are a few perfunctory boss fights, none of which stand out. But overall i'm glad I finally finished it. If this hadn't been called Doom 3, it probably would be remembered as a decent horror FPS from the early 2000's. As it is now, it's just the black sheep of the franchise.
Cocoon and Ghostwire: Tokyo. I didn't know much about Ghostwire but turned out to be a great game!
So, having left it on release I picked up Cyberpunk 2077 (2.0) a few weeks back and I’ve just completed my first play-through.
TLDR is that it’s a superb open world RPG. It’s not quite Witcher 3 levels of brilliance, but I’m very glad (from what I’ve seen, read and heard) I chose it over Starfield for my post Baldur’s Gate 3 game.
I can’t compare to the game on release, so I can only talk about 2.0 and I haven’t got Phantom Liberty either, but as a ‘base game’ this is a cut above - it’s better by a distance than anything either Bethesda or Ubisoft have ever done for example.
Night City might not be quite as charming as it could be, but it took me a while to understand that’s kinda the point - it’s not the flashy surface that counts, it’s what it hides that’s important and the game delivers that in spades. It’s a remarkable environment to explore, and it took me a while to realise that in-game I was subconsciously deciding to drive or walk everywhere rather than just the (extremely extensive) fast travel warp system - unless it was for something on the other side of the very large map - just so that I could experience it all. It just works - the people, the traffic, the different areas all seamlessly integrated into each other. Yes, it took me a while to see it (I’ll come to that in a bit) but once the game opens up then you really see it in all its glory and man, it’s one of the best gaming environments I’ve ever played in.
The gameplay was fine for me -
Mouse & keyboard - although even playing on ‘hard’ difficulty I don’t think I ever used the more advanced moves like dodging, but apart from the final boss fight I never really thought about having to use them.
You’re given the choice of 5 attributes you can improve to become what you want be - I ended up being a long range gunner/netrunner - but other options ranging from heavy gun toting fire platform to stealthy ninja are all viable. Plus you can change this on the fly. I’m not sure the skill progression system quite worked for me - you really have to lean in to one play style to get the most out of it I think - as even as I finished I think the furthest I’d got the netrunner skill tree was half way, and I was hacking everything long before the end - but it’s there but it’s worth playing attention to.
All the quests were good - very good even - but nothing that quite matched that visceral impact of The Bloody Baron for example. However they were mostly all engaging and impactful - it really did feel like you were having an impact on the world.
The major NPCs are all well fleshed out for the most part and all of their quests well thought through, with the exception of Keanu Reeves. You aren’t playing a character there, you’re just playing with Keanu Reeves. It doesn’t matter because he fits the game like a glove, but yeah - he’s not doing a lot of acting, let’s put it that way. I don’t really know why they bothered to call him Johnny Silverhand if I’m honest, but there we go.
Where it loses a few points for me was the slight odd way the game starts with the prologue section not really being clear about what it is - the opening section with Jackie and the Heist doesn’t really let you see the whole game, but neither does it really make it clear it’s ‘just’ a prologue. It took me quite a while to figured that out and, at the start I’m not sure it shows the game in its best light. It’s a minor quibble to be sure but it was there.
The second - and again, it’s a personal thing - is the hyper-sexualisation of absolutely everything going on on screen in the back ground. The ads, the posters, the people, the sex clubs on every street corner. Yes, I know it fits the game setting, and background to everything, but honestly it just all feels very puerile long before the game finishes. It wasn’t a game I could play with the office door open and the speakers active, lets put it that way. Again, it’s a person thing and it might be I just didn’t spend enough time in areas where it wasn’t so prevalent, but long before the end I was thoroughly fed up of it.
I’m really looking forward to playing Phantom Liberty with a new V though. Once I’ve palette cleansed a little with something else first!
Just got platinum on God of War: Ragnarok. They did a good job delivering more of the same gameplay. Exploring, fighting and gathering collectables are all just as well-tuned as in the previous game. But man, the writing is a mess. There's a good story buried in there trying to get out, and when it worked it worked well, but it was also a baffling mess of confused character motivations and half-baked concepts. I guess the writing team were the ones who drew the short straw during crunch time.
Michigan Report From Hell. So this is kind of a survival horror similar to Resident Evil. However, you play as a cameraman and only control the camera. Your job is basically to keep the reporters alive buy most will die. A fog rolls in and the city becomes mostly empty because a bunch of monsters show up to eat people. The dialogue is terrible. The voice acting is terrible. The story makes no sense. The ending answers nothing and is stupid.
Might be one of those it is so bad it is good games. Also unless you are pirate forget about playing it. The game is going for $500 plus. However, this would be a good game to watch on youtube, its only about 4 hours long.
Took a little minivacation from Starfield and finished another game of Civilization: Beyond Earth.
Such an underrated game. It has so many good parts! It's not that bad compared to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Such a frustrating game. It didn't deserve the thrashing it had on release, but you can see if they tweaked this, changed how they approach that, it could have been a worthy successor.
It's pretty good, but that's the blessing and curse of this game. It's just good.
Ok back to Starfield.
Return of the Obra Dinn, a fantastic game and I am proud for making it as far as I did--but the final selection of characters and fates had me flummoxed, until the internet helped.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
I have talked about this game in excruciating detail in its thread, so I won't rehash here, beyond saying that all the reviews calling it a 7.8/10 game are dead-on.
Return of the Obra Dinn, a fantastic game and I am proud for making it as far as I did--but the final selection of characters and fates had me flummoxed, until the internet helped.
Yay!
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
I have talked about this game in excruciating detail in its thread, so I won't rehash here, beyond saying that all the reviews calling it a 7.8/10 game are dead-on.
So...recommended?
Prederick wrote:Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
I have talked about this game in excruciating detail in its thread, so I won't rehash here, beyond saying that all the reviews calling it a 7.8/10 game are dead-on.So...recommended?
Yes. With reservations.
Basically, the game is best enjoyed with ToyBox.
Done with Starfield, around 70 hours. Interestingly, my time in Skyrim (base game) was 73 hours, so I think there’s something in Bethesda games where I get to maybe 60 hours and then get ready to wrap up a few things, finish the main story, and then move on.
It was fine. I think all the 8/10 reviews were probably right – there were hundreds of planets to explore but little reason to explore most of them, which made the main reason the big open-world games great (the exploration) to be kind of weak here. And since you aren’t walking from place to place, there just seems to be less dynamism in the moment to moment game play (think dragons coming down on you) just made it feel more sterile. And the complaint at the volume of loading screens if fair as well. If they had done a couple of dozen heavily crafted planets instead of hundreds of generic ones, it probably would have made for a more memorable experience.
I got all but like 4 achievements, and did a bit of planet hopping and Elemental Pulling to grind out a couple of the last ones. I probably could have done the rest as well, but that would have just been more grinding of levels and visiting systems, and I really wanted to go do other things now.
It’ll be on the GOTY list, but it won’t be at the top. It had plenty of polish, but probably needed more rethink to be up with some of Bethesda's other greats.
Not sure you ever complete a BGS game but I got the MQ done on Starfield as well today, saw the credits, but was moved automatically into NG+ which was a surprise.
Think I'm in a different dimension as I'm no longer married to Sarah and have no gear, but do have a starborn ship
I would normally crack on with side quests and random exploring but on this occasion I bought Baldur's Gate 3 and have started that. Probably says that Starfield wasn't all that I suppose.
I finished a quick playthrough the 2.0 version of Suzerain. It's been a few years since I played the original version and I made different decisions this time around, so it's hard to be sure exactly how much has changed, but my impression is that they've added a lot. (I'm pretty sure the pandemic situation and vaccine mandate options were recent additions.)
The first time through I tried to play as a moderate centrist, balancing free market reforms while keeping state services well funded, and that ended in disaster. This time I decided to go as a hard-line neo-liberal and make as many dirty dealings as I could behind the scenes to keep everyone on board. Surprisingly enough things were going pretty well until the very end of my term when it all blew up in my face.
It was already a great game and the additions only make it better. Definitely worth revisiting if you enjoyed it when it first came out.
I finished a quick playthrough the 2.0 version of Suzerain...
Thanks! I'd never even heard of this. After a quick read-up on it, it sounds like it would drive me to distraction (just like real life) if I were to play it, but it's fascinating nonetheless. There are some games I enjoy playing, and there are some games where I just enjoy just hearing other people's experiences.
It definitely can be a stressful game. It genuinely leaves me feeling super bummed out when I get a bad ending.
I finished Steelrising, a great little souls-like from the developers of Greedfall. I built my character to dodge and parry like a little demon, so it really scratched the Bloodborne itch. It could have benefited from more enemy variety, and the bosses are pretty trivial given the genre. The levels were varied and well-crafted, and there’s enough build variety to support a few playthroughs, which is good given there are at least three endings I’m aware of.
Took me around 30 hours or so to finish, so certainly shorter than your Dark Souls and Elden Rings of the world. I paid about $20, for it, and it was well worth it.
I just finished Murder By Numbers, a visual novel about an amateur detective and her robot buddy. It's main point of interest is that clues are gathered via the solving of picross puzzles (justified as being part of the aforementioned robot buddy's visual processing). Lots of picross puzzles.
It was an entertaining enough experience, given that I had little time for gaming in the last month, so I could play in bite-size chunks—which was kind of necessary, given that while I like picross puzzles well enough, there's a limit to just how much picross my brain can tolerate before I start going mentally numb.
I found Murder By Numbers frustrating. Either I want to play a visual novel, in which case all the picross gets in the way, or I want to play Picross, in which case all the visual novel gets in the way.
Counterpoint: I loved MBN. A narrative story to justify solving nonograms? Yes please! I thought the back-and-forth was fun to keep things constantly fresh. I'm sorry it frustrated you Jonman, but I totally understand why this format didn't work for you.
Counterpoint: I loved MBN. A narrative story to justify solving nonograms? Yes please! I thought the back-and-forth was fun to keep things constantly fresh. I'm sorry it frustrated you Jonman, but I totally understand why this format didn't work for you.
Visual novels are a hard sell for me, I come to games for challenge, expoloration and mastery, not narrative.
I love me a picross though (ticks the challenge and mastery boxes), so I'm not surprised I found the back-and-forth between them frustrating either!
I think only having the odd half-hour at the end of the day to actually play really helped in that regard. I was mostly just killing time playing Picross while being drip-fed story in the background. It's really not a game to spend a full evening on.
Look at you, Ravanon, playing games while drawing for a month!
I did not play at all in October, except for this past weekend. I wanted something spooky, so I left Ghost of Tsushima on pause (it's actually been on pause since late September) and played Ghosts'n'Goblins: Resurrection, which was on sale and which I had been wanting to play since it was announced a couple of years ago.
Now, I played the original, both on the arcade and the Super Nintendo, and while I loved it, it was, as we all know, excruciatingly difficult. I was only ever able to finish it by save-scumming my way through the emulated version because not only is Ghosts'n'Goblins a notoriously difficult game in particular, I happen to be very bad at videogames in general. But I remember loving the creatures, the backgrounds, and the music in the original, and GnG: Resurrection looked sooooo pretty... and it came with FOUR difficulty levels!
"I'm sure," I told myself, "I can play it on easy, enjoy the art, and have a good time."
How naive.
I shamelessly selected the easiest difficulty setting (named "Page," a humiliating downgrade from "Legends," "Knight," and even "Squire"), and started to play. And sure, I'll believe Capcom when they say the game is easier on "Page" than on the other difficulty settings, but sweet lord is it still punishingly, absurdly, overwhelmingly difficult. At least for me.
I saw the whole game through (once --there's no way I'm suffering through it again to see the "true ending"), even though it became a pretty-much-joyless experience towards the end and I was close to quitting several times. Mercifully, it's a rather short game, and while I can't say I enjoyed playing it, it was pretty, the creatures were cool, the backgrounds looked great, and the music was awesome. So, all in all, I guess it was not a waste of time, but boy was it frustrating.
I'll give it 3 meltdowns out of 5 and recommend you stay away from it unless you like games that make your blood boil and have you swearing out loud in fits of unbridled rage.
I found Murder By Numbers frustrating. Either I want to play a visual novel, in which case all the picross gets in the way, or I want to play Picross, in which case all the visual novel gets in the way.
A propos of very little, this is pretty much how I feel about opera. I love music - I have a degree in it, and have been playing cello for 50 years - and I love plays, so you'd think I love the combination, but instead I wish they'd either stop singing and tell the story or jettison the story and just put on a concert.
Ironically, due to the vagaries of my double major, I wound up taking the same course on opera twice in college - I needed one more course in music history to get the music degree, and the only thing left second senior year (there's little overlap between music & physics*, so it took five years all told) was the course on opera that I'd audited as a freshman, the main takeaway from which I'd previously gotten was that I didn't like opera.
*other than the one course in acoustics listed all five years in the course catalog year with the description "Not offered this year".
Murder by Numbers:
Loved it - writing was engaging/entertaining, really enjoyed the characters, and never found myself fatiguing at the sheer quantity of puzzles (completed all but the S tier Scout puzzles on the Shoe/Bar case cus I missed an investigation that would have unlocked them). I never imagined when I grabbed this as an Epic freebie that I'd get nearly 80 hours out of it.
Last night I finished Call of Juarez: Gunslinger
Took about 5 hours, which is just right. You chase high scores by comboing quick kills together. Various skill shots are worth more, of course, and there are skills you can unlock for revolvers, shotguns, and rifles to match your playstyle better. Your score is also your XP for unlocking those skills, so the better you do, the faster you'll unlock even more skills.
The story is unapologetically goofy, covering just about every Wild West trope you can think of. It's a typical revenge story spread out over decades, where the protagonist just happens to come across every famous outlaw you've ever heard of. I saw the twist in the framing story coming from a mile away, so don't expect anything subtle or particularly original, but it gives an excuse for a wide variety of levels and settings.
I.. don't recall how I even acquired this game. It's not something I would have paid for. I probably got it free at some point. But it's perfect as a palatte cleanser between larger, more intense games. Recommended.
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