Completion Thread 2012: Hai! Dekimashita!

[No One]

22.) Gravity Rush (Vita)

Definitely the defining moment on the Vita thus far, and a potent reminder that Japanese developers can still make brilliant games when they take chances and step out of their collective comfort zone. For whatever reason, it invoked a lot of Dreamcast nostalgia in me. I really hope we see more of Kat (the ambiguous ending heavily implies this will be the case).

[Pineapple]

Thought it would take longer, but finished the rest for 1000/1000 on Ptype 2. WHEW!

[Tain]

26. Monster World IV



Huge step up from Monster World III, I think. I agree with A Robot Bit Me that the game isn't all that great, but the combat and dungeons in here are way less by-the-book than MW3's. The bosses are a little bit better, too, though they're still pretty bad. Great visuals and music.

Neither MWIII or MWIV are as good as Dragon's Trap. Or as good as what I've played of Monster Land, for that matter, but being an arcade game that's a totally different beast.

[Mzo]

#38 - Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX)

Pretty big step up from the last game, this is the remainder of the content that was in MGS and wasn't cribbed directly from MG. Copy protection in the form of a codex code and a fake Morse code decryption on the original docs WERE included in the software manual, so that was awesome. There are a ton of cool moments in the game but the backtracking is just the fuck out of control, which is pretty damn Metal Gear I guess. I understand how this game could have made heads asplode back in '90, and how big seeing the series re-imagined in 3D on the PS must've been. Pretty cool.

[Tain]

I've been meaning to play through that. I checked out the beginning and it seemed way more advanced than the original.

[Rumpy]

The Darkness II

This one came out earlier this year and from what I can tell was ignored. I enjoyed the first one and like the sequel even more mostly due to the better level design. The whole hook of the series is the "quad wielding" where you can attack with 2 guns and 2 demon tentacles at the same time. You can slash people, pick 'em up, rip car doors off and use them as shields and then throw them like a giant cleaver. They also added new super powers that you can buy as you kill your way through (extended ammo clips. black holes that do crazy damage, various health and damage boosts). This all leads to an incredible sense of power and the level of violence on display really pushes the visceral feel of combat as you rip across anything stupid enough to get in your way.

I like the cell shaded look, it runs well and the sound work is really good too. A play through of the campaign can be done in about 6-8 hours. Great game for a rental or a cheap pick up if you can find it.

[gameoverDude]

12) Rune: Classic (PC)

It's Rune: Gold, but with a reworked campaign featuring enemies that were added to the PS2's Rune: Viking Warlord. Instead of a shooter, Rune is a hack-n-slash game, with the rune power system giving certain powers to different weapons (one of the swords has a flame blast power, another lets you suck life from enemies, and there's another one that summons lightning storms to clear out a mob - but at a big cost to your rune power.). Pounding on enemies in quick succession builds up the bloodlust gauge, which takes hero Ragnar into Berserk mode when filled. Being hit in Berserk mode doesn't take health away, but it does make the Berserk time run out sooner. The enemies do get more numerous later in the quest, allowing more frequent Berserks.

Eating live lizards to regain health is one of Rune's signature moments. Limbs severed from enemies aren't too bad as weapons, but they're nothing compared to the 2-handed ones you find later on. Ragnar even takes a journey into Hel, the Norse underworld.

Unfortunately, the game crashed at a cutscene in Embers of Hrafnborg. On reloading, I cut the sound volume to zero just before approaching the spot where the cutscene gets triggered. That cutscene played through, and I turned the sound back on right after it ended. No more problems. Hopefully Human Head Studios will squash the bug in their next update.

[Joust Williams]

What are the odds that they're going to patch a 10 year old game that no one plays?

I liked Rune BTW

[Pineapple]

Used to LOVE Rune way back when on the PC, never really played the story but the deathmatches were fucking awesome. Really fast paced dismemberment heavy fights, it was so much damn fun.

[Thief Silver]

Persona 4 - True Ending - Clocked about 65 hours with all except one social link taken care of. I think as a general rule from now on, Persona games need to be started on the harder difficulty, because if you have some fun with fusion, the game becomes really easy. The last two boss/dungeon gave me no trouble at all.

Fun game, the 'message' is a little meh, but I liked the way the True Ending wrapped up everything, and the last bosses motives.

The only reason I'd pick this up on Vita again is for the Adachi social link I particularly liked his character in the end.

I'm ready for Persona 5 whenever they decide to announce it, but I guess Nocturne will be the next SMT game I finish.