Oh ;(
So the game just opens up and you wander around? One of the things about Mass Effect I like is that it's highly structured. I think I am getting too old for the RPGs ;/
Printable View
Oh ;(
So the game just opens up and you wander around? One of the things about Mass Effect I like is that it's highly structured. I think I am getting too old for the RPGs ;/
No One, since Silent Hill 2 HD is buggy as hell, should I stick with the old Xbox version or is the upgrades worth the annoyance?
15. Armored Core V
http://users.zoominternet.net/~tain/...red_core_v.png
Finished the story missions. The combat options in this game are great. The wall jumping, the radars and scanning for weaknesses, conserving energy in scan mode, the dense stages with plenty of cover to hide behind, and the explosive stage hazards all set a better foundation than the one I saw in For Answer. It's almost a hands-down better game based on that alone, but the campaign is a little dry; it lacks the spectacular, massive bosses that For Answer had. Multiplayer being a psuedo MMO game is an excellent idea, but I'm not sure the NA 360 version has a playerbase big enough for it to be working as intended. Still pretty fun, but expect to fight a lot of complicated turret layouts more than actual humans. And, of course, the customization is great. Overwhelming amount of parts to toy with. Great game, though you might want to be a little careful if you don't plan on taking it online.
Yeah, it opens up like Skyrim. It just doesn't give you the freedom of exploration like Skyrim (as in, you can't just trek up the mountains you see in the distance).Quote:
Originally Posted by Joust Williams
Konami says they're working on it, so it's possible some of the annoyances will be ironed out. It sounds like the 360 version is a lot less problematic than what the poor PS3 folk ended up with (and that was the lead platform!), but it's still pretty bad. As it is now, I can't recommend it. At least not at the current price. If all you're really after is an HD version of SH2, I'd actually recommend grabbing the PC port from years ago instead.Quote:
Originally Posted by GohanX
They won't. Come on, the game was in development for X months. If they gave a shit, it wouldn't have been released like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by No One
I think they're patching the weird framerate stuttering issues but the crappy textures, lighting, lack of noise filter and sub par fog effects are there 4 lyf.
Stop wanting to buy it, they fucked up. It was obvious months ago from impressions and it's only been confirmed by the people stubborn enough to still get it. Don't give them money for it, wait for it used if anything.
That's why I wrote that they say they're working on it, and urged him not to bother unless he absolutely has to have it (and even then to wait for a price cut). I'd say it was pretty clear they didn't give a shit when they farmed the ports out to some nobody developer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diff-chan
12.) Silent Hill 3 HD (360)
Just an abysmal port. The good news is that because very little of the game actually takes place in the town, the terrible fog effects aren't as apparent. However, it's still got a bunch of other issues. Sound bugs and stuttering music loops abound. None of the voice acting even comes close to actually syncing with the lip movements. It periodically locks up when entering doors. The frame rate takes a dive when there's too much on screen. Little details in the environments are occasionally missing.
Basically, the kind of half-assed effort you usually see when a console game is ported to PC. Biggest disappointment of the year for me so far.
It did remind me what an incredible-looking game this was for PS2, though. With the increased resolution, it's easily on par with some of the early games we saw during the current gen.
24. Uncharted: Golden Abyss
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...oldenAbyss.png
Beaten on Hard. I really enjoyed it. It seems to be getting a lot of flack for several things I find pretty minimal. It looks fantastic though and is more Indiana Jones than Last Action Hero, which is what I'd like Uncharted to be more about anyways (unraveling the mysteries of the past, not always explosions like in 3). Pretty much got used to the controls as most should by the third or fourth chapter. You aim with the right stick and fine-tune with the gyroscope. Makes sense, it's actually more precise than using a DualShock, the only hurdle is growing accustom to coddling the Vita the right way, which is the same as when you first use sticks for the first time anyways. Pretty fun, kind of long though, (35 chapters compared to the 20-some in console iterations).
25. The House of the Dead III
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...theDeadIII.png
Just as hilariously bad as I remember it. Played twice with friends. Each took our turns in multi, or playing Chow Yun Fat style with two Move, I mean, shotguns, hand in hand.
26. Syndicate
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...6Syndicate.png
Well clearly it is no secret the game has little reference to the original title, save perhaps its intentions in 4-player multiplayer (which is also a shame because co-op is locked to an array of AI members for four players, so it isn't scaled if you are less). Pretty fantastic presentation, some weird inconsistencies/pointless things like augmented reality to notify Kilo the couch is a couch or the fridge is a fridge. Loading bars for them are surely to add a sense of immersion, but it's just clutter info to sustain the notion of being in the future. Guns handled very well, recoil, feel, audio are all pretty spot-on (amazing even). Breaching is a nice wink to Gears' active reloading and despite doing it 1000 times, it was fun.
27. Journey
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../27Journey.png
Pretty fucking magical.
28. SSX
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...occa/28SSX.png
A great return to form, required elements to pacify the purists are there (classic controls, zany characters, typical Run DMC's "It's Tricky" audio sample to transcend the magic that was Tricky). Kind of didn't like the aspect of cramming a 'serious' story into a nonsensical, barrier breaking snowboard game, especially if it regards Griff, the only character I never used in 3. Deadly Descents were fun, if not completely non-gameplay related elements which seemed pretty simple to vary (fog/frost/tunnel vision the screen) with a progress bar in the HUD the player can twitch up or down as a race down the mountain. The third person frontal view in avalanches was weird. The last Descent was a ridiculous ploy to push the player to pause their campaign run and play online, stick to Rider.net to gain enough experience and cash to upgrade their gear to even stand a chance. Rider.net is actually really fun and it would have been my pure obsession were there not a million games still coming out (April will be the quietest month for me since October). Overall, love it.
29. Wipeout 2048
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ipeout2048.png
Beaten with 60 to 70% of the Elite passes. I'll come back to it soon enough. One proper as heck Wipeout title. Pretty short soundtrack compared to Wipeout HD, IIRC, but I could be wrong. Great tracks, nice way to include Skill Cuts (or Shortcuts) to push the replayability of them, unlike in Pulse or Pure where things stagnated over time. Framerate isn't what HD is but then again its a smooth rate if you aren't in Combat. It actually runs great and has the best uses of a few spotlighted Vita features like the rear pad being completely superflous and raising the gridboard for your campaign. Multi-touch leads to running your fingers over several points and sliding them around. It's just cool. Many small touches about the game will surely go unnoticed but are very slick. Different corporations yield different audible AI in each ship. Lightly suggested history of the progression of corporations in excelling in anti-gravity ships. Piranha ships still being complete beasts. Prototype ships. Would love to come back to it. The friend leaderboards are great and Mzo and I pretty much compete against each other all the time. Somehow I am 8th worldwide in one run. Delicious.
30. Find Mii II: Secret Quest
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ecretQuest.png
Beaten 7 times if you consider the original Find Mii II quest. Pretty much plays itself and whatever it counts as a title. More a mini-game or app at this point, but if you do think ahead (so, skip characters, buy orange and light blue Miis and whale 200 damage on a final boss) things are interesting to a very simplistic degree. Got the demon lord helmet and don't find much else to do with it. Meh.
31. Ninja Gaiden 3
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...aGaidenIII.png
Beaten on Normal. Being an NG fan and playing this isn't the travesty its made out to be. I wouldn't give it a 3 or anything like IGN did. It does simplify things, but then again, a few things seem to be directly from fan commentary. It's too hard, so they made it a little more accessible. "No one" uses anything but the katana (which isn't true, I mixed it up a lot) so they kept it simple to the katana (which is likely to make their job easier to not need to create several QTE animations for each weapons. Story is an admirable attempt to give a 'personal' touch to Ryu, but it's an action game, so I don't understand how fans can completely obliterate it if story was never truly a focal point to begin with. It's super cheese and you can see some things coming from a mile away, but its fun, like any 80's, I guess. As you progress, the game does get a little harder and the set pieces for boss fights and enemies do become more enjoyable. It has ridiculous presentation and it does many things really, really well, like the kunai climb for singular wall climbs where the bird flip is not possible. Seriously, they do many things here really well and they drop the ball on a few aspects that ill surely enrage fans. Going back to Sigma (Plus) right after doesn't make it seem that bad. And if it isn't obvious, it should be, clearly there will be a Ninja Gaiden Sigma 3 by re-introducing already created content, with trials as well as other features, which will likely be taken as an 'improvement' based on user feedback when it was intended that way from the beginning (see: ultimate edition pack with DLC that is not really DLC).
I think that a lot of the complaints about Ninja Gaiden 3 voiced up to the game's release were off the mark. Normal mode being easy never struck me as a big deal since the series usually has well designed difficulty levels and we knew 3 would start with Hard mode unlocked. The QTEs (both the mid-fight prompts and the ones between battles) are largely brief and unoffensive. The story was never going to matter very much. Hell, I even think the lack of healing items works better for the series overall.
Still, Ninja Gaiden 3 is the first game in ages that I've returned. I played about halfway through Hard mode, and I could never have guessed how little variety the game would have. Most of my time with the game was staying in the air to avoid getting thrown, as the throws were pretty much the only threat I faced. Staying in the air and Izuna dropping seems to be the way to go for every humanoid enemy in the game, and there are an awful lot of those. And the waves of similar enemies just never ended! It wasn't even that you'd be fighting a boatload of them at once, but instead you'd fight like 25 of them in groups of 3 at a time! I don't think it's a 3/10, sure, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it.
Wound up getting Armored Core V for it, which Destructoid wound up giving 3/10, lol.
I always try to save them for the big fight but then I'm not sure if a game will surprise me with another boss and then I end up never using them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tain
beat Resident Evil Operation Racoon City and a few characters in SF vs Tekken
16. Ninja Ryukenden III
http://users.zoominternet.net/~tain/...kenden_iii.png
Yeah, should have played the US release this time. I had heard that this was a step down, difficulty-wise, but I was kinda shocked at how big of a drop it is from even the second game. You get so much ninpo, you get this crazy sword hitbox powerup, you can hang from the bottoms of moving platforms, there are a good number of repeated 1ups, and probably most importantly, the enemies spawn way less aggressively. I'm pretty sure I only ran into two screens that gave me trouble. The visuals and music might be the best in the trilogy, though. Way less sloppy, tech-wise, than the first game, and there are a lot of cool effects that I don't remember being matched in the second.
They went to far making the US version hard.
English teacher.
Incorrect, financial advisor.
3. Saints Row The Third - this game's missions are the best I've seen in an open world game. They are really fun with lots of variety in a ton of settings. I never really got bored. Every time the game fell back on something from a recent mission it changed the setting or threw in some twists to make it feel new.
But the open-world stuff is a definite step back from Saints Row 2. The city is boring, there aren't a lot of stores, clothing options are sparse, and the side quests lack the variety of SR2. Mayhem and Insurance Fraud are as fun as ever but I've been playing that stuff since the original. And Snatch/Escort are still horrible. Volition/THQ hyped this as the ultimate in out-of-control open world games but it's really not.
They literally don't give you enough time to finish the last stage. They bumped up the difficulty but didn't actually check to see if it made sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tain
Limiting the continues was the worst thing about it. Who the fuck thinks limited continues in a Ninja Gaiden game is a good idea?
I don't think I've gotten past level 3 or 4 of the US release, ever. I've been meaning to play through the Japanese version with English text sometime. I played the first couple of levels and it was a cakewalk.
Pretty much agree on these points. I'm playing Sigma again and I find that many of the complaints are things which were kind of already in the series to begin with or things they improved on (like regenerative health, which is actually a smarter underpinning then say, finding healing items, since it doesn't offrail the player from the action). I'm playing Sigma on Normal and even there I find a lot of the enemies can be Izuna Dropped as an almost always certain edge. More AI dodging in the original, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tain
Really want to pick up ACV, too. Then again, I've wanted to buy every From Software game immediately since Otogi. Sure you understand. Post some thoughts when you're fulfilled with it!
Who can't afford to buy himself an iPad?Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
Those who can't do advise?
32. Tales of Graces f
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...sofGracesf.png
I think I kind of hate these games now. I love the combat, because it is easily the best portion of this game, but the setting, the "story" (what little I've come to expect from these titles) and the characters are really fricking eye roll inducing. Combat is fast, fun and combo-centric. Characters use CC, which is big words for stamina bar, similar to the imported Tales of Destiny Re for PS2. Each attack in your repertoire costs a certain amount of points, which is deducted from your total CC when performed. Defending, staying idle or running (so basically not attacking or pulling up the menu) replenishes your CC bar. It's probably the best system in the series, but its the only really fun point of this game.
The problem I find, beyond the art style which doesn't really appeal to me at all anymore (sorry waifu Finch) is that the stories in these games always base off things I don't care about, like friendship, or the fact that your party is essentially the Japanese equivalent of the Planeteers and have to coerce some spiritual being that life on Earth is worth preserving/that humanity makes mistakes/that destroying the world to rid it of pain/to create we must destroy, is wrong. It's just really formulaic and boring by now. I feel like a game with much lower tones, something more grounded and believable can go much further than effeminate dudes in angel wings. I am probably painting a huge bulls-eye on my back for having liked these games so much before, but its a mix of how the game looks, how the characters are super stale and how the story was so boring it was the first time in a game where I skipped whole cutscenes and stuck to wits to find the next area and retained about as much of the story as someone who watched them did.
Perhaps that's why I enjoyed the import titles so much...because I could only read roughly 50 to 60% of what was going on. On the bright side though, the combat was pretty expansive, with a system of equipping titles which don stats until you master them and own the stats permanently, which pushes you to collect and master more titles. It's actually a really well thought out data game, which is easy to make and pushes the player's playthroughs ten fold by running around trying to get more lines of text. That, is sweet and also completely optional for the secondary layer of titles (and there are something like 100+ for each character). Were the game a bit more bearable, I would have definitely tried to collect them all, since the gameplay is actually fun, just not really anything else about it. I beat the main Tales of Graces game, but after watching what the final boss was in the Lineage & Legacies epilogue right after, I knew there was no way I could play it.
He can advise them not to buy iPads if they don't have money. Pretty sound advice to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Resident Evil 0 (Gamecube) -- This game gets a bad rap by most RE fans for some reason. I thought it was much better than its reputation. Amazing graphics, two cool characters in Rebecca and Billy. Some of the environments are drug out a little long (church upstairs), and the mansion setting here was a little too derivative of RE 1, but overall, it was a great RE game. Definitely recommend it for anyone who hasn't played through.
I keep meaning to but never get around to it. I should bump it up on my list.
Can I afford it? Sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Can I justify paying full price for a new one? Nope.
Well, shit. I can relate to that.
17. Kid Icarus: Uprising
http://users.zoominternet.net/~tain/...s_uprising.png
Not a bad game. A weird third person shooter, more or less. There are some neat movement ideas in there once you get the hang of the very awkward controls. I'd much rather have real difficulty settings than the lame dynamic system in place right now, though, as it annoyingly drops the difficulty every time you die and the items/rewards really don't matter much. I liked some of the goofy conversations.
You can quit if you lose and try it again at the difficulty you selected. I like it. You can crank it all the fuck up if you want to, but keep it low if you're just not feeling it, AND if you crank it the fuck up and then stop feeling it when you die, you can accept the lower level of difficulty. And you get shit loads more hearts for the higher difficulty. That's the real prize.
I don't understand what you're complaining about.
I bet you played through the whole thing on whatever it told you to try and occasionally bumped it up and then got your ass beat!
7. Full House Poker (XBLA)
Had been chipping away at this one while listening to the podcasts, it was a decent poker game but it sure was awfully buggy at points. I enjoyed the Texas Heat sessions when I was able to get into them, I'll probably go back every now and again since it's still running the events.
I died a few times on the suggested difficulty, actually!Quote:
Originally Posted by Finch
But I like dying in the land sections, and I don't really like the flying sections, so having to restart a stage to maintain difficulty is a bad thing for me.
most rpgs out of japan are derivative. I don't even know if there is a successfully charming and cute JRPG in this generation that is authentic and not some phone in paint by numbers horseshit.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocca
One of the reasons I liked NEIR was because it was a JRPG and it was a somewhat new story. It didnt do a fucking thing new gameplay wise, but the presentation was not "more of the same"
most FPS out of the US are derivative. I don't even know if there is a successfully grim and gritty FPS in this generation that is authentic and not some
phone in paint by numbers horseshit.
One of the reasons I liked Call of Juarez was because it was a FPS and it was a somewhat new story. It didnt do a fucking thing new gameplay wise, but the presentation was not "more of the same"
The Darknessss
BioShock. Otherwise, I largely agree with both of you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Some Stupid Japanese Name
BioShock was derivative too, if you take the previous Shock games into account. It wasn't doing anything particularly innovative.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Everything is derivative.
Yeah, that is fairly accurate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Some Stupid Japanese Name
I like System Shock as much as the next guy (actually I don't), but Bioshock's presentation was not like System Shock. Come on.Quote:
Originally Posted by No One
There are paint by number FPS games - Wolfenstein, Quake 4, Call of Duty >4, Battlefield 3 SP, Medal of Honor, Crysis 2, Halo Reach, Vegas 2, etc. But plenty of games had inspired elements - Portal & the sequel, Left 4 Dead, Borderlands, Far Cry 2, Crysis, Bulletstorm, etc.
I wouldn't really call Portal a FPS. Sure, it is first person. And you have a gun that shoots things. But the main game mechanic that makes the game unique and fun is very different from most FPS.
If all an FPS can be is this narrow band of mechanics, then obviously no FPS can innovate - because once it does, it's no longer a FPS.
It's an FPP.
Resident Evil 3 Nemesis (Gamecube) -- Now this game, it deserves all the shit it gets. They rehashed a lot of enemies, environments and music from the other RE games. Carlos is probably the worst RE hero next to Steve "DiCaprio" from Code Veronica. The game was pretty much a drag to play through except for the cool hospital area. The story is basically a precursor to Operation Raccoon City lol
Nemesis was more annoying than scary as a bad guy due to how cheap he is to fight and how often he appears. I don't like that Nemesis is the only boss in the game aside from the Vagina Worm, who also appears in Code Veronica.
Basically, I can see why Code Veronica was the "lead project" when it and RE 3 were in development at the same time. I guess RE 3 was just made to fulfill the contractual obligation with Sony to complete a "RE trilogy" on their system. It totally feels like a filler RE title.
P.S. The "water sample" puzzle is the worst puzzle in RE history.
#4: Mortal Kombat - story mode. So, so cheesy, but kind of fun.
Best story mode ever.
Mass Effect 2.
First game ive beat in probably a year? I played through all the dlc and main game as a paragon vanguard femshep. The only person i got down with was kelly. So that sucked. I wish the game was less recruitment and more story. I did cheat a bit to make sure everyone lived.
So much better than the first one in all areas except story.
Cant wait for Mass Effect 3 Game of the Year edition to hit $19.99.
It really is a masterpiece. Citizen Kano imo.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpy
08) Xanadu Next (PC) Total Time 23:31:39
Unlike Ys: The Oath in Felghana which showed up a few months before it, Xanadu Next has all the characters done in polygons (like Ys 7) and is more of a dungeon crawler. Besides leveling up with EXP, there's a skill gain system. Using a weapon raises its proficiency level, and going up to 100% means learning the skill, with a "SKILL GET!" message. Sometimes I use a weapon until reaching 100% just to learn the skill, and then ditch it for a more damaging one- taking the new one up to 200%. Skills include knockdown blows, sweep slashes, stat bonuses, etc. The armorer adds to his selection of weapons throughout the game. After a level up, you get 6 points to raise your attributes with. Every weapon or piece of armor has minimum stat requirements for use.
XN offers a choice of various Guardians to switch between, a bit like Skyrim's Temple of the Divines- but a Guardian's card must be found first before they can be summoned. Instead of using a jump button, you just run toward an edge and automatically jump. There are a few box puzzles scattered throughout the game which serve as sort of a break from the combat and often reward you with some useful item. Dungeons have many doors which will need keys to unlock, but the town's shop always has some. Watch out though- supply & demand is a bitch. Buy a shitload of keys and the price will jack up worse than gas (they start out at around 20 gold, but later on the price got up to 104 G).
The one thing I missed was a difficulty level selection. I wouldn't have minded being able to tackle a Hard or Nightmare mode later on. JDK keeps up their usual quality on the soundtrack, and the ending is a good one. Hopefully XSeed will localize this one for Steam sometime. I used the Figli di Gaucci English translation patch, which is pretty good overall but has a couple typos. XN originally offered only mouse control, but gamepad support is in the most current patch.
The Legendary Starfy (DS)
More Starfy games need to make it over. This game is fun, has lots of extra content, is brimming with character, and is downright adorable. Yes, I just said it's adorable. Go ahead and make something of it.
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors (DS)
Got the coffin, safe, and true endings. If memory serves correctly, I haven't immediately dived into a second playthrough of a game since Jade Empire. This one is something special. I'm glad to see it's getting a sequel later this year. It woud have been funny if there had been a throwaway ending in which it is revealed that Herman Cain was behind the whole thing.
Alphadia (iOS)
I like that the App Store is getting love from the indie/low-budget JRPG scene. The best part is that some of the writing is better than what I'm accustomed to on consoles (which, granted, is not setting the bar so very high, but noteworthy nonetheless). This one tells an interesting story. There's one big downside--the game has an auto-battle feature. With the exception of the final battle, you can use it the entire game and never come close to dying. So basically, it's a PRTW sort of affair.
360
Mass Effect 2
WII
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Deadly Creatures
3DS
Pushmo
Mutant Mudds
DS
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Again
The Legendary Starfy
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
iOS
Alphadia
PSV
Touch My Katamari
GBA
WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgames!
GB/GBC
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
GEN
Phantasy Star II
999 is so good. Sequel is already out in JP, and getting localized this year by Aksys for both 3DS and Vita. Hopefully hard copy.
3. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita
I really liked this. Way better than the first two PS3 games anyway. The treasure collecting focus won me over. I even chuckled at some of the Drake & Sully banter. (Hate the girl, though.)
I didn't even mind the touch screen garbage until the very end. May do a Crushing playthrough at some point.
Necro and I beat Kand and Lynch 2. It is a pile of trash. The end was worse than the old NES era of 'CONGRATULATIONS".
I hope the entire development team never makes another game.
At least until a good Hitman game.
4. Jurassic Park: The Game (PC)
This is my favorite of the Telltale games I have played, but it is still flawed. It's basically a ~4 hour QTE fest with some more traditional adventure game puzzles thrown in. One rather obnoxious feature is that some of the QTEs were not consistent. For example, if multiple buttons came up at the same time, sometimes it was a choice, but sometimes they were all required. This cost me multiple achievements, which often require perfection. I'm not sure I'll go back and replay sections just to clean that up. I enjoyed the story, but the lowest common denominator graphics really hurt when there's a Wii version. I like that Telltale can actually be serious, which gives me hope for the Law & Order game. Sam & Max does nothing for me, and even Back to the Future seemed more corny than any of the films. And dinosaurs make everything better.
7/10
2012 Totals:
1 3DS, 1 iOS, 1 PC, 1 PS3
1 - 7, 1 - 8, 2 - 9s
8. Super Street Fighter IV (360) 820/1160
Finally got the All Clear and Rival Schooled achievements so arcade has been cleared with everyone. Got my T. Hawk up around 2000 pp and ill still throw down for matches whenever but for now I'm shelving it at this point. I wish I could get the Tenpeat achievement, but I've had 9 wins in a row 3 different times and that 10th win always eludes me, so whatever. I'll consider the game finished at this point.
9. Beautiful Katamari (360) 250/1000
I did not like this game very much at all. It controls like sloppy garbage, looks retarded, and I cannot please the King even when the number one thing he asks for is the number one thing I get, every time. Also, had I known how short it was, I would have just beat it last year when I bought it. Glad this one is out of the way, I doubt I'll be going back anytime soon (well, I'll go back for one or two more games probably, I'm 1% away from the 80% Collection achievement). This game made me yell curse words more than any game I've played in a long time.
10. Street Fighter X Tekken (360) 530/1000
Finished all the arcade stuff and achievements, everything else will be easily had just by continuing to play online with friends and doing supers, ex, cross assaults and shit. Fun game, I will definitely continue to keep it around for games with TNLers because thats been some serious good times, although the normal online is just not that appealing to me in this game. Having 4 characters per battle means that even with solid connections there seems to be some questionable time lapses in online matches. I can't see myself getting any more serious with this game, it doesn't seem to take itself very seriously so it'll stay as one of the fun backup games. The colors they released are pretty fun too.
5. Journey
This game is art because lighting effects. It is also art because the music does stuff when you do stuff and no lifebars. Also, there are not many enemies. It is rare that a game meets all of these art criteria, but then Journey is a rare game. Ico is lighting effects and no lifebars and few enemies, but the music does not do stuff when you do stuff. Rez is lighting effects and the music does stuff, but it is yes lifebars and has a lot of enemies. If you consider these flaws, you will see that Journey is simply an arter game than Rez or Ico.
But just how art is Journey?
Well, let's see. The music is all kinds of dynamic. When you slog, the music slogs. When you bring your slog to a trudge, the music follows suit. Later levels allow you to break into a plod. The tension of the music here is almost too art to bear. Towards the end, the game flirts with letting you schlepp, but ultimately ends before granting you that opportunity. I have to believe that schlepping was cut due to time or budget constraints. Hopefully it makes the sequel.
As I said before, Journey is all kinds of lighting effects. Edges of things are blurry when the sun is behind them. 'Nuff said here.
In the vein of other arts games like Flower and Noby Noby Boy, Journey has almost no obstacles or enemies whatsoever. I'd say it has about five total enemies if you count the urge to shut the game off and Google pictures of Krysten Ritter as two. Since this game is no lifebars, the penalty for coming into contact with an enemy is that you are immobilized for about twelve seconds. This is to make the player feel the frustration of trying to climb the mountain or of having your sixth straight film school application rejected.
Why are you still reading this review!? If you like art, go pay fifteen US dollars for Journey right now! It's basically a Citizen Kane hotpocket filled with six Casablancas. I especially recommend it for people like me who enjoyed Shadow of the Colossus except for the bosses that kept getting in the way of holding up on the left analogue stick for minutes on end.
5/5 Goty.
Schlepping was actually left out due to it being too empowering, which is something the developers wanted to avoid at all costs. It also, according to Jenova Chen, was not "useful in real life".
dude has never schlepped.
So it's technically great but boring as shit.Quote:
Originally Posted by A Robot Bit Me
Then, technically, it's not that great, is it.
Technically.Quote:
Originally Posted by Compass
Citizen Kane was the only movie I was forced to watch as part of class in high school that I not only stayed awake during the whole time but also enjoyed.
11. Deathsmiles (iOS)
Beat arcade mode with Windia, 40,800,121. I don't think I died the whole time, but I got hit by a couple of random things that set off a bomb. Great game, I'll keep coming back to this one. Haven't tried smartphone mode yet, but I didn't read great things about it.
Panzer Dragoon Saga
This was the first time I've played it since release. The years have not been kind to it, but not in the sense I expected. The graphics that blew my mind have indeed aged very poorly, but I suspect that was true even a year or two after it came out and was not helped by the fact I played it on an HDTV. However, the art design itself is still fantastic and creates a really cool atmosphere.
No, what really struck me was the characters and plot which I remembered as being some of the best to ever appear in a JRPG, and blew Square's stuff out of the water. Not so much: Azel is a stereotypical anime character, and if you gave Edge amnesia, he'd be the dude from any other 32 bit RPG. More than this, the enemy variety is way too low and the game is much, much too easy. And even with the short time it takes to play through (You can easily finish it in a weekend, which I truly appreciate) there feels like there's some padding. In some ways, the game feels like it was rushed out.
Still, as I mentioned, the ambiance is killer, and I will definitely play through it again.The game truly is one of a kind, and I love it. But I think it's also a game you had to be there for .
I played it for the first time a year or so ago, and I think you are spot on. One thing I would add is the combat, for the most part it is great. The random encounter rate is a bit too high for my tastes, but understandable considering how short the game is.
I do wish more companies would make small, good RPGs that can be completed in 10-15 hours. I love the genre, but don't have time to play anything for 70 hours.
We'll have to discuss this en route to Greenville. I played it at launch and have not played it since, so I am the polar opposite of you two.
I only played it in late '98, but I buy what Vasteel's saying. The game is mad easy by genre standards and I do remember some pretty repeated enemies.
Still really liked it at the time.
The game is super easy and looks like shit, but I remember it having a pretty good story and being generally pretty unique in a lot of ways. That helps a ton imo. It really, really looks like shit though, even on the day it came out.
It was waaaaaay too ambitious for the hardware, although I do remember thinking the on-foot town bits looked pretty nice by any objective standard back then. I can't think of many games in which the art design and soundtrack gelled as well as in PDS/Azel. I haven't played it since it was new and can't remember much of the plot, but I can still vividly recall some of the music and settings.
33. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...inFelghana.png
Beaten on Normal. Fun game, fourth time running through an iteration of Ys III: Wanderers from Ys and liked it. I have a dumbass friend who complained about the boss fights being terrible, but if you aren't new to patterns in boss fights they aren't the end of the world. The hardest one, depending on leveling is Chester towards the end. Aside that, it's the staple classic things I love of Ys that persist here (small, slowly progressive rise in elemental based equipment, top-down action and Falcom JDK Band music.
34. Ninja Gaiden Plus
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...nSigmaPlus.png
I forgot how much I disliked the industrial settings of the game in the first half, but how you visit more varying areas after Tairon (lava pits, ice caverns, underground aqueducts, etc). I beat the original Ninja Gaiden on Master Ninja, which took me...something pathetic like close to a year, but it was a fun bout. Wasn't really in the mood to prove myself or try to see if I could still get'er done, mostly because I don't care about trophies anyways and they all boiled down to (Do these things 1000 times). What if I'm just better with a Kitetsu or True Dragon Sword? I shouldn't have to use the other weapons so forcefully. Of course, if they made the trophies less ridiculous like performing 100 kills with each, that would give a great incentive to get a run of all your tools in one playthrough, if possible. Fun game and I'm glad I bought it..for...the fourth time...but I think I'm done. Hopefully they are smart and release a Sigma 2 for Vita as a cash cow to fund their next game at some point (see: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 3).
35. Super Stardust Delta
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...rdustDelta.png
Beat all modes and loved it. Not much to say here. Although it makes me wish Geometry Wars 2 were portable in some form (Vita form).
36. Lost Odyssey
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ostOdyssey.png
94 hours of pain, 94 Levels. Kaim, Seth, Ming, Sarah and Jansen. I remember why I stopped playing this now. It does many things really well (camera work, character development, music, idle stances during random battles are always cool, Kaim's single unshakeable strand of hair) and other things like jittery frame rates, forcefully classic "difficult" setups and random encounters pretty much ruined the experience. It's a shame, too.
Part of me thinks I just played it for Takehiko Inoue's art. Damn it. I guess I'll just read Vagabond again.
2. Midnight Club Los Angeles (Complete Edition) - 360 - very mixed feelings on this one. The open world setting and car selection was fine. The driving felt pretty good and it seems like all the ingredients are here for a very good racing game. But the super rubber-band AI, awful car balancing, and the sometimes poor checkpoint/navigation indicators made it an often frustrating experience. There were a few times I wanted to throw a controller and plenty of cursing.
The car balancing/cars the AI shows up with to races was my single biggest complaint. For example, you show up in a decent Mitsubishi Evo yet the AI has Exotics that are way faster (even in races not labeled as "hard" difficulty). So either you can get extra frustrated or you are better off racing way slower cars for the majority of the game to avoid that problem. Or you grab one of the few motorcycles since they can destroy most of the cars in any race.
Bulletstorm - There's a moment 2/3rds through the game where I was 'Wow, how are they going to top that?' They don't. There's a lame plot twist and the game basically limps along to the end with a completely idiotic confrontation with the main badguy WHO THE HERO DOES NOT KILL. He has so many chances while I don't have control of the character. He even lets himself get bounced around by an electro-whip WHEN HE HAS HIS OWN WHIP. Game endings should make the player feel like he accomplished something. He should feel 'Fuck yeah!' like the end of the original Halo. This game ends with a sad little fart.
#3 Ninja Gaiden 2. I loved Ninja Gaiden Black. One of my all time favorite games. Beat it on Master Ninja multiple times and was even top 20 in the Mission Mode world wide. This pales in comparison. It barely has direction and the combat is not as tight as its predecessor. Even if the harder difficulties provide a different experience (different enemies, patterns, and challenges), like Black's did, I feel no need to go through the game again. You could tell that Itagaki was phoning this one in before he quit/got fired. Not a bad game, but no where near as good as Black. Sort of makes me wonder what he's going to do with The Devil's Third. If it's anything like this, I might have to pass.
Could you elaborate on how the combat is "not as tight" as its predecessor?
I played through Ninja Gaiden Black on Hard last year and I'm playing NG2 on Mentor right now, and I definitely do not agree.
NG2's graphics are definitely lacking but I found no real fault with the combat.
Speaking of, I need to finish off NG3 on hard to see about mentor mode. I have this nagging suspicion I might've misjudged it a bit by relying too much on preconceptions from the previous games and being too caught up on what they did wrong, since it is a very different style than the first two games.
I went straight from Black to NG2, and 2 is definitely a bit less methodical and satisfying. It still gets a lot right but it's a little more "mash until you win" and a bit less "dodge perfectly then STRIKE" than black was.
NG2 is all about the charge move, and giving yourself space for the charge move. I was rarely doing any real slashing.
I've been doing a chunk of charging in Mentor, but way more slashing. I don't feel like I did any more charging in Warrior than I did in the original's Normal, though.
I'd buy NG2's Acolyte and Warrior modes demanding less than the original's Normal (not really sure either way), but Mentor is asking way more of me than original's Hard, and it's really making the game's combat (including the new shit) shine. Faster, rougher, more enemy types with more enemy attack variety (from what I remember), and with the limb stuff to keep in mind.
Mostly this:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tain
In NG2, I feel there is a certain randomness to the doge and counter moves. They don't feel as precise they did in Black. I always felt in control in Black, and even with the bad camera, when I died, I always felt that I did something wrong. Analyzing what had just happened, I would be able to determine what the mistake was. Not so in NG2. To AaronChance's point:Quote:
Originally Posted by FirstBlood
Many of the bosses, but not all (for example Elizebet and the armadillo), were ultimate technique spamming fests. The spaces in NG2 are much wider allowing for killing two enemies, running away, jump, land into immediate ultimate technique, rinse and repeat. Though this was also possible (and necessary for karma runs) in Black, the confined areas made it a bit more challenging to do; encounters with normal enemies felt more engaging. In NG2 I feel like I'm playing in survival mode, where the mantra seems to be: more == better. The oblitiratoin techniques, while looking very cool, some how detracted from the combat. I also noticed that you could far too easily use the wind element ninpo to sever limbs on enemies and then chain obliteration techniques into one another. I found this to be somewhat broken. I and the camera is worse in this game.Quote:
Originally Posted by AaronChance
Not directly tied to game play:
- The disjointed levels (first you're in Japan, all of a sudden NYC, Venice, Russia, South America, Japan). Although many might like the variety this provides, I felt it just took away from the atmosphere. In Black, everything takes place in either Hayabusa village or the Vigor Empire and the story provides a connection between the two. The Vigor Empire had distinct sections to it so that it didn't feel repeated, and all sections where interconnected
- An incredibly bad story (Black's wasn't very good, but at least it was cohesive and consistent).
- I thought Genshin was a completely lost opportunity. Having an enemy that is supposed to be Ryu's equal could have been bad ass. Instead the strategy when fighting Genshin (the FOUR times you meet him) is the same. In constrast, Doku's encounters (you only fight him twice) were very different.
- A totally useless female character. Rachel was also bad, but at least she had some sort of motivation in Alma. Sonia, on the other hand, adds nothing to the plot
- Mission Mode/costumes are paid DLC, a complete 180 from the Hurricane Packs for the original Ninja Gaiden on Xbox
Again, I don't think it's a bad game. I just had very high expectations, and it did not deliver.
I'm just not seeing a lot of the stuff you're saying about the combat when it comes to Mentor. Bosses often dodge UTs (or they just aren't worth the damage in fights without many side enemies), the enemies can be aggressive enough that just luring them around doesn't do a lot of good (though I agree that the spaces are more open and it is a bad thing, as the game doesn't lock you into a given area nearly often enough allowing you to repeatedly trek back to the save point), and the obliteration techniques, while sometimes repeatable (mostly on humanoids), ultimately widen the range of enemy behavior in a good way.
Wouldn't surprise me if Warrior had those problems, but I actually think I'm enjoying this playthrough more than either of my NGB playthroughs. I guess I'll have to wait to check out NGB on Very Hard!
20. BIG BANG BEAT REVOLVE (PC)
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...y76o1_1280.png
An update of the doujin 2D fighter from a few years back that is based upon a hentai game by Alice Soft, features a varied playing cast but unfortunate that the dev team didn't update the sprites to be higher resolution unlike its competitors like Ougon Musoukyoku, cleared with Kunagi Tenrou and playing online
21. BATMAN RETURNS (Lynx)
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...y76o1_1280.png
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2...py76o1_500.png
This is the real reason why I haven't finished any games in the last month or so, this horribly designed piece of crap has been eating my time as I have tried to clear the game and eventually killed my Lynx II screen as I turned the machine off after the staff roll, let's start with what's really wrong, the enemy and stage designs are either incredibly poorly tested or Atari intentionally made the stages so unfair that it would force players to keep playing the 4 stages over and over but they probably didn't take into account how frustrating the game is.....on stages 1 & 3, you can get knocked down over and over as there is no invincibility after getting hit and there are a number of foreground objects that hide explosives left behind by dead enemies, on stages 2 & 4, off screen enemies can easily hit you into a pit of death and then it's back to the beginning for you since you only have 1 life....great design! For a game that was highly lauded in the US gaming mags back in the day, I have to wonder who has really cleared it....for those who want an entirely unfair challenge, here you go! I have to thank the Japanese guy who made a complete FAQ for the game and inspired me to persevere through it...
9) The Pinball Arcade. Technically you can't "beat" pinball, but I've posted scores I'm happy with on all four tables. Until I decide I'm not happy with them, and beat them more.
James
Complete Wizard on all four tables IMHOQuote:
Originally Posted by James
Wow. I am impressed. I never had the patience to put up with that one anywhere near long enough to beat it. And that was back when it was free when you bought a Lynx II system in 199X.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shou
It was an absolute struggle even after I realized that it was best to just run away from all of the enemies as much as possible. The earlier stages have HP refills fairly often but once you get to Level 3, it gets extremely difficult as you need to tough it out until halfway through the level before you can get HP back and then the final bosses are a bunch of penguins that shoot an ungodly amount of missiles at you that can knock you down over and over. The final level has falling platforms which means if you don't know the exact way through the level, you absolutely will die from falling into a pit. I really wonder if my Lynx II died because I've taken it to like 3 different countries in my quest to beat this POS and had it plugged it non-stop for awhile. I must have been the only one in the world playing a Lynx on a plane. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
#21 - The Blackwell Legacy (PC)
#22 - Blackwell Unbound (PC)
#23 - Blackwell Convergence (PC)
#24 - Blackwell Deception (PC)
Just played through all of these, one a day. The first three took about two hours to complete but the last around four. They're all pretty well written and look alright. The majority of the puzzles and solutions come from dialogue, doing searches on your computer (or phone book in the flashback one), and just really bugging the shit out of people over and over again. I enjoyed them way more than any Telltale game ever.
It's interesting how the designer Dave Gilbert dude didn't understand how much people playing his game enjoyed the combining notebook clues aspect, to the point where it wasn't even a feature of the third game. That is so weird because it's really the best part and completely underutilized. How do you miss that?
I love how they all have full commentary options, even if I haven't listened to them all yet. I like how he mentions how much of a negative cliché it is to hire your friends as a voice actor, but how his bff Goldfarb is actually a really good voice actor! Protip: he is not. I'd even say the voice acting was one of the weakest aspect of the series down to even the quality of the recordings. I also didn't like how the big talking faces weren't animated in the fourth game.
Also, Rosangela is a really, really stupid name. But the little awkward smile she throws in sometimes after a sentence in the first game really is just so great, too bad they didn't get it right after that.
Oh, and I'm grateful that the game has achievements but the Steam achievement integration is still broken after forever so fuck them for that.
#25 - Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS)
Made it through all 25 missions. I started off pretty lukewarm to the whole experience but it slowly and gradually won me over. The story and dialogue are so surprisingly great and charming that it just won't let you focus on hating the awkward controls as much as you want to. Then you kind of get used to it and let it go. Sakurai just really knocked it out of the park with this one in terms of making a fantastic game with just so much replayability and character that it's silly. I can see myself getting lost in the single player/multi player weapons grind for months.
#10.
Attachment 65477
Fuck the haters; this game is great. The cryptic stuff was a problem... 20 years ago, but today it's a breeze to figure out where to go. The last boss sucked, but the game was great overall. I'd LOVE for the series to revisit this style. Hell, remake this one in HD 2D graphics and I'll bite.
Now to find the other NES Castlevania games! I want to beat them all on real hardware too.
Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS)
It took long enough, but this is that must-have game that justifies the purchase of a 3DS. I loved the use of a cruise ship as the backdrop--it reminded me a lot of the train in the early part of RE0. In fact, I loved everything but the scanning mechanism. Not that it was terrible, but it could have been cut entirely and nobody would miss it.
Hector: Badge of Carnage (iOS)
I don't get the Telltale hate. Between this nifty trilogy and Strong Bad, they've more than justified their existence. Irreverent, dirty, and hilarious. I literally laughed out loud several times (yes, literally). Strangely enough, Ep. 1 has retina support, while Eps. 2 & 3 are noticeably lower res. No matter, it's still a good time to be had.
9mm (iOS)
You know, I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. The controls suck about as bad as you would expect for a shooter on a touch device, but the generous application of bullet time makes it bearable. In the end, I actually had a good time. I'd recommend picking it up during one of Gameloft's (many) sales, but not so much at full price.
360
Mass Effect 2
WII
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Deadly Creatures
3DS
Pushmo
Mutant Mudds
Resident Evil: Revelations
DS
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Again
The Legendary Starfy
999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
iOS
Alphadia
Hector: Badge of Carnage
9mm
PSV
Touch My Katamari
GBA
WarioWare, Inc: Mega Microgames!
GB/GBC
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
GEN
Phantasy Star II
37. Lumines: Electronic Symphony
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...icSymphony.png
Went through Voyage mode several times. Played Stopwatch mode for a couple days, too. Favourite Lumines. I say that having only played the first one (I skipped Lumines II and Supernova, I heard II was so-so, but I didn't hear anything about Supernova). Pretty much loved it. Great pick-up-and-play gameplay and I'm way better at planning to stack blocks than I was when I first played the original...7 years ago (Wow, that long?).
38. Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...lvsCapcom3.png
Beaten a bunch of times. Played with all the new characters. Kind of overdid it on Vanilla, so this wasn't as exciting. Beat the game with all the new characters and a few old ones to see if the ending's changed. Did 8/10 missions with every character in the game and called it a wrap.
#11.
Attachment 65501
I liked the cut scenes, but the game overall was slow and clunky and repetitive as hell. The character's names were pretty lame as well. "Cutie?" A bad guy named "Thorndog"? LOL.
39. Fez
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...occa/39Fez.png
Beaten. Had a rather backwards mentality on this game compared to most and wasn't too interested about it on first glance. Was perhaps a little less interested after hearing about the GDC debacle, until I read an article about separating the creator and creation and remembered I've done the opposite before and would seem a bit hypocritical not to buy this and spout that the creator usually ruins it for me. Anyways, I wanted to play the game and didn't care for that nonsense after a week and just bit the bullet. What I found was surprisingly deeper than I expected. Put short, I love it. It's grace is its simplicity while keeping a goal of back-and-forth item hunting. The warps, 3D map and bi-square doors make it feel like a very simplified 'vania' inspired game. It does many things which are a bit eye roll inducing, like the heavy Zelda themes and the one annoying Mario one (although a neat Gameboy reference with shades of olive covering an entire sub-level), but overall I love it. The constraints of space based on perspective, seeing a chasm which seems completely impossible to jump and making it due to a change of perspective, how it sounds from the basis sounds not that inspiring but I loved it.
Not in a very completionist mood though for this right now, but I'll get back to it to see it to the very end...the...the real one, that is.
8 (I think) - Sonic CD
I've had this game since the original Sega CD release and just beat it on the PS3. Short, but a total blast to play through in full.
Went through my live list and seen what I finished so far this year.
Bodycount
Rayman origins
Saints row 3
Resident Evil 4
Soul Calibur 5
Ace Combat AH
Darkness 2
Skyrim
Conan
Mass Effect 3
Resident Evil ORC
Binary Domain
Asuras Wrath
Need for Speed the Run
LotR War in the North
The Witcher 2
13.) Sine Mora (360 Arcade)
More specifically, I beat the story mode, which is substantially easier than the arcade mode. Best to play through it first to unlock more planes and pilots, however. By far my favorite hori shooter this gen and I encourage any fan of the genre that hasn't played it yet to check it out.
14.) Skullgirls (360 Arcade)
Got the achievement for completing the rather sparse story mode and have finished arcade mode several times. I think I've finally settled on a team of Parasoul and Painwheel. Going to spend a bunch of time in practice mode now and then take things online. The handful of matches I've had over Live have been against an almost constant stream of bad Peacock players. Is this going to be at EVO?
What did you think of it? I want to run out and get this but I don't think I've heard a single word about weather it's any good or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilMog
12. Bug Princess 2 - iOS
Beat it with both people, both kinds of shots, don't have many friends on GameCenter but I believe I'm the top score of the people on there. Was able to 1cc it on Novice and Normal, couldn't do it on Hard or Hell but did better than I thought. Scored in the top 5% overall for Maniac mode, tried Ultra mode today and WHEW! Not gunna be beating that any time soon. Awesome game, big thanks to Mechdeus for the suggestion.
13. DoDonPochi Resurrection - iOS
Another great recommendation, another EXCELLENT Cave shooter done just right on a touch screen. I don't seem to be as good at this one as I am at BP2 or Deathsmiles, but I almost like it more because of the way it plays and looks. 1cc arcade on Novice, got to the final boss on Normal and died near the end of his final attack pattern :( Smartphone mode is neat, although I'm not a huge fan of the Hyper mechanic in that mode, save for the badass feeling you get when you release a level 3 Hyper shot.
14. Trials Evolution (XBLA) 240/400 cheevos
Couldn't have asked them to do a better job with this game. I didn't finish all of the Extreme tracks, but I never expected to finish even one, let alone do half as well as I did on the hard ones. Posted times to beat on almost every track, save for a few that gave me a headache. I do hope that people beat my scores, it will give me a reason to continue doing better! I'll clean up a few more achievements as time goes on, a couple of them I almost had but lost at the last moment (DAMN YOU hard the hard way!)
15. Castlevania Order of Ecclesia (DS)
Finally finished after not playing for a while. Did not get everything or 100% it because there was no real incentive to, but it was a mostly enjoyable game. I just don't seem to have the patience for these types like I used to, I got kind of bored with it by the end. Overall still a solid experience, glad I can mark this one off my pile of shame.
16. Chrono Trigger (DS)
Had a game sitting at the end but I had been messing around last year with the DS extra stuff like being a Pokemon master. Just decided to finish it since I had my DS in hand and finished OoE. Used Chrono, Marle and Ayla for the final showdown. Ayla no lose! Lavos lose!
Ace Combat was pretty forgettable. Renter.
Bummer :(
17. Mafia II (360) 780/1000 cheebros
Got this from KoF when I bought a few games, I had absolutely zero interest in this series, never played the first one, and just overall didn't care much because I'd heard nothing about it and it didn't seem like the kind of game for me. Man, I was wrong. I was very pleasantly surprised by the game! I only went into the thread for it once and saw Yeller say the fights weren't that hard on Hard, so that's what I tried it on, and it's a very true statement. Besides a few random one hit kills, it wasn't very challenging. I ended up getting sucked into the story pretty good, it moved at a decent pace and had some interesting moments. I enjoyed the dialogue, too. At first I didn't mind all the driving, as the town was nice and driving from place to place made sense because that was the way to do things back then. Then when each mission started having several parts, and every single part was on the opposite side of the map, then I started getting annoyed with it. The last mission has you starting out very close to the objective, then you're forced into a car where you drive around getting yelled at, and are left on the other side of the fucking world just to have to go back. That's some silly shit right there. Wasn't really thrilled about how they ended the story either, but hey it was still a fun ride. With another hour or so I can probably get those achievements up to about 950/1000, but I'm never going back for all the wanted posters and Playboys (although some of those Playboys... whew!) Good stuff overall, very pleased.
18. Skullgirls (XBLA)
I beat the story mode with Painwheel, Peacock, Cerebella and Filia (sp?), dunno if I'll go back with the others. Not really worried about the achievements in this one, they're nearly all variations on the "Do XX with X character X times". It's fun with friends, that's about it.
#26 - Broken Sword: Special Edition (PC)
Not sure how I felt about this one. Kind of liked some parts but not others. Weird how they make you use the same items up to 5 times throughout the games. I guess in the end I didn't care too much for the characters or the story, and that's really what drives an adventure game for me.
40. Rayman Origins (Vita)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...riginsVita.png
Beaten. I loved this. Asked awesome friends at Ubi for a PS3 copy, but immediately retracted that statement because I wanted to see how it looked on a crazy OLED screen. And I was pleasantly surprised. It's identical and plays very well on Vita. Three's the lack of multiplayer, but that's fine, because I don't like people anyhow, hahaha. The amount of detail and colors on every part of the game is pretty surreal. The game is centric to music and that setup is strong throughout the entire game. Picking up larger pixies sparks the smaller ones into a reddish color for a limited amount of time where they're worth twice their value. They sing during the whole thing, which sounds a little like Mario's invincibility track.
Platforming was really fun and pretty creative. Unlocking more Electoons opens various treasures and character unlocks in the player's main hub, the Tree, but they're all mostly re-skins of previously playable characters, which is kind of lazy. I'd rather have no bonuses at all if that's what I'm being offered. Also loved the fact you could pinch or stretch the view if you want a closer view of everything, since the screen is smaller than a player on a console version. Really fun.