Release Season is Coming - Pile of Shame August 2019

Summer is coming to a close and the temperatures are heating up. What better way to beat the heat than to stay inside and play videogames (assuming you have air conditioning).

Madden or something marks six more weeks of game releases and the impending holiday season, or something like that.

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

NieR: Auotmata


IMAGE(https://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/NieR-Automata-key-art-1920x1080.jpg)
"The distant future…

Invaders from another world attack without warning, unleashing a new type of threat: weapons known as “machine lifeforms.” In the face of this insurmountable threat, mankind is driven from Earth and takes refuge on the Moon.

The Council of Humanity organizes a resistance of android soldiers in an effort to take back their planet. To break the deadlock, the Resistance deploys a new unit of android infantry: YoRHa .

In the forsaken wasteland below, the war between the machines and the androids rages on. A war that is soon to unveil the long-forgotten truth of this world..." (Official Site)

Multi-Platform
A Bird Story - bobbywatson
Celeste - LastSurprise
Flower - LastSurprise
Golf Peaks - LastSurprise
Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms - Eleima
Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds - Eleima
Hidden Folks - AUs_TBirD
I am Setsuna - brokenclavicle
Journey - AUs_TBirD
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel - brokenclavicle
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX - Forlorn Hope
Mega Man 11 - brokenclavicle
Nier: Automata - bobbywatson, brokenclavicle, Hemi
Old Man's Journey - AUs_TBirD
Psychonauts - AUs_TBirD
Rebel Galaxy - Stele
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - AUs_TBirD

PC

PS4

Xbox One

NES
TMNT Tournament Fighters - AUs_TBirD

Put me down for The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (3DS/Multi).

I’m going to carry over Flower (multi) and Golf Peaks (Android / iOS).

And also declare, and complete, Celeste (multi)!

I will declare the following:

  • Nier: Automata (Multi/PS4)
  • A Bird Story (Multi/PC)

I started playing Etrian Odyssey 1 Untold on my 3DS, but there's no way I'm finishing that before 2021.

Started and finished Old Man's Journey on the 1st.
It's a light puzzle game with a (afaik) unique terrain manipulation gimmick and an absolutely gorgeous art style I fell in love with. The story is bittersweet and at around 90 minutes, the experience didn't overstay its welcome. Definitely recommended!

Also declaring:
Journey (PS3/multi) - step 2 in my quest to finish every game in my collection with the word Journey in the title.
Psychonauts (PS4/multi) - never got past the first ...uh...brain dive. It seems to have some odd input lag on the PS4, but gonna try anyway.

I’m going to declare Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds (multi) and Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms (multi).

Also, I do not have air conditioning.

Oh, boy! Just this and one more month before the end End of the Year Pile thread is upon us all!

My year has been decent here and abyssal there, so here go my picks:

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel (Multi) I am almost done with this, but have been taking it reeeeal slow in the last couple of chapters. They are rather long and full of things to do, though, so I don't feel so bad.
Nier: Automata (Multi) This should see a couple of endings done before the month is through.
Mega Man 11 (Multi) I'm already halfway through the game. Might as well keep pushing. Also, I hate Bounceman's stage; it's annoying.

Finished all non-DLC maps of Hidden Folks (PC/multi - undeclared) today.
It certainly has charm and an understated sense of humor. Finding little pop culture nods was also fun. My 2 year old enjoyed looking at all the "monkeys!" (a descriptor which, for him, included actual monkeys as well as all the people) for short periods of time.
By the end of it, I was beginning to tire of it, and some of the mechanics were a bit obtuse (I did not recognize the huge round buttons on the last factory level as such). Didn't buy the Beach DLC as the base game was enough for me. Recommended for occasional play, especially with little kids.

Mega Man 11 is down. Just managed to power through it. The Yellow Devil - a staple of the series - had me positively puzzled until I remembered to experiment a little with the double gear system and some of the boss weapons and I found the trick. I liked the game in general and hope that there's a 12th installment, but I won't lose sleep over any of it. It just makes me sad again about Mega Man Legends 3...

I'll throw my hat in with the Neir folks...

Only about the 4th time I've started it.

Nier: Automata is done! (Well, I got one of the two main endings, so I'm considering it done). I may play some more and see if I can get the Platinum trophy.

Golf Peaks is done! And just like that, I'm under 100 in my backlog. Let's hope I can keep it that way.

Nier: Automata is done. Got all 5 of the main endings and a smattering of the others. Loved it. I strongly recommend this game.

Oh, I finished Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds days ago, but I’m completing all the different routes. I’ll move on to Edo Blossoms soon enough.

Adding one more pick since I seem close enough to the end:

I Am Setsuna (multi)

I forgot to post. I carried over Rebel Galaxy (PS4, multi) from July. Finished it back on Aug 3.

Since then I've been locked into Fire Emblem so the pile will wait until at least next month.

And I Am Setsuna is done. I loved how it played and enjoyed the story, which was shown in a simple manner that held quite a bit of depth. It's a very melancholy game, for sure, and I can see how a lot of people didn't like it because it is pretty bleak and takes place in mostly snowy regions, but I can see why this is. This was very enjoyable, and the ending is an emotional one, for sure.

Two completions:

TMNT Tournament Fighters (NES and technically multi, but the 16 bit versions are quite different) - can finally mark this one as finished. It's one of the best fighting games on the NES by virtue of there not being many on the system. It's not that great though. My main issue is that the AI is either prescient or imbecilic, and which it will be seems to be set at the beginning of each round. The first fight against Leonardo is always one of the toughest with prescient AI that makes landing a special move nearly impossible. On the other hand, in fights against other opponents it takes crazy luck to not connect one. Many encounters seem to boil down to finding the one or two combinations of moves that will hit every time and just repeating those.
On top of this, the controls are pretty stiff. I got used to them, but feel no need to put up with them any longer. I also got an actual case of "Nintendo Thumb".

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (PC/multi) - So very good. The voices (even if some of them aren't entirely correct), music and atmosphere are just perfect to evoke all the nostalgia feels! The gameplay is pretty tight, and the final stage is - and this is a word I rarely use - epic. This is basically Fan Service - The Game, and I love it!

Hemidal wrote:

New thread over here...

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

Thanks, Hemi!