Updated with Ratchet and Clank.
Archangel3371 said:Yes but can it reach the dizzying heights of a $4 game?
It depends if any Mega Man games are available for $4.
robio said:
It depends if any Mega Man games are available for $4.
Oh snap!
23. Beat The Bridge - 5/10
That last two puzzles were neato, and I'll admit to the hand-drawn art growing on me as far as the game went, but it doesn't quite deliver a satisfying puzzle game. With the biggest issue being that the puzzles are either pretty fucking easy (in terms of solving), but really become tedious or infuriating for how finnicky and precise the games execution can be.
And that doesn't stump a player in a puzzle game nor does it come ass clever. It's made frustrating to have basically solved the puzzle, know the answer, but now you have to deal with the game's control and try to wrestle with its physics system, because physics based puzzle games are literally only cool, when the physics are the ones that are associated with your actual character. You are actually have a better handle of that shit, and thus more connected to minute little changes that need to be made there.
Making me rock a level back n forth, just so I can make this ball independently carry some momentum to go to this fucking button, that then requires me to slide the world more so the ball gets to the button, but doesn't fall off, and my guy doesn't fall off the door, is lame. It's not fun, it's not challenging for a good reason either. It's making me wrestle the game on something the controls aren't exactly tight about. Braid had some difficult ass puzzles, none of them are because of how precise it wants you to be with the platforming. Ditto The Swapper (yes well aware that some people find doing those jumping teleporting sequences a bit much, but personally they never bugged me), or Antichamber. At least with Limbo whatever irritations I had came with that games bitchin atmosphere.
Additionally trial and error is technically a part of this genre on some level (I mean you are working through a puzzle), but having a puzzle that revolves around me doing the same step enough times that a small change will happen at an angle that I can barely notice, is fucking dumb. Puzzles work better when you are working through them, and you can see some results (be it small); that move you a step closer to your solution. If I'm just meant to rotate and go through this veil shit about 2 or 3 laps, because by lap 3 it'll change the angle just enough to move this evil death ball where I need it, that's not good design, that's kind of shit.
Also think the rewind itself could be a lot quicker (again Braid has that mechanic, and it's quick), and the general movement and tilting can feel slow as fuck. The second half of the game basically being mirror moded remixes of the first half of the game also makes things a bit unsatisfying, especially because again those 2nd half puzzles require more precision from a set of controls that aren't exactly ideal for this shit.
It also doesn't help the game that I started Snakebird, which is fun as fuck, and gets pretty tough, and doesn't get tough in a lame way. That and it's basically a pretty derivative puzzle game, the game isn't without it's moments, but it's skippable as far as puzzle games were concerned.
24. Beat Gravity Rush Remastered - 4/10
Can say I love the music, Kat is a chill character, and when I'm allowed to move around the overworld and just go after agility orbs like this is Crackdown/Saints Row 4 I'm having a good times.
But the rest of the game turned me sour, and gradually added to the lameness of the experience. First I thought going in this whole time the game was a platformer, because all I've ever read about is the gravity mechanic. And after a certain point all you really use it for is to fly up in the air, and then divekick the shit out of enemies. The platforming segments that are in the game, the more elaborate either gimps your gravity mechanic (like this one level where you are jumping on flowers), or straight up take it away from you so you're just running around as a normal shmuck.
The mission designs just get gradually more dull as the game goes on. I was fetching cats at one point, bringing bombs to some 4 points, only to have to go back to one of them again later to turn it on later, and falling down this large stretch where I just got bored, and stopped going for the games gems (the thing I called the agility orbs). The enemies and bosses are bland looking since they are just solid red with glowy spots, and the bosses all have the same sort of solution. All your dive kicking their weak spot, but there will be a scenario or two where you just gotta wait for the boss to give me his glowy spot which just feels tedious as I'm waiting for him to give me my opening, while being in basically no danger as the turrets on the thing shoot slowly enough it's impossible not to dodge it.
Which all of this would be tolerable, if the central mechanic I'm dealing with is actually fun, but you surprisingly do a lot of beat-em up combat in this game. That combat engine is way too simplistic for starters to carry an entire game, much less make some of these bosses actually all that engaging (hell they aren't even pattern bosses in the grand scheme of things), and talking pure game feel: I wish the hits had a bit more impact.
I only really used the rock throwing move and the twirling shit, because they were good enough to get me out of a pinch so I never had to rely on the other thing. Hell the rock throwing move can wreck some of the bosses when it has enough upgrades (which again I didn't mind getting, because simply moving around the city can be fun). There was one boss at the end that was basically some dragon ball Z fight a bitch in the air shit, that could have been hype, but given my limited combat options of press square, use a rock throwing move, or divekick, it came off really lame when games like Bayonetta 2 exist where some of the mid-air boss fights are hype as fuck, and they are the opening of the game. And not end-game shit.
Realistically I didn't even care much for the story, I just liked Katt's personality and the music enough to power myself through. But the core gameplay was dull, poorly design for large stretches, and in my opinion at least misguided. I feel there should have been more platforming or traversal challenges built around the gravity stuff, and less combat. Or at the least if you're going to make a beat-em up, make one with a combat engine that isn't basically from back when we got really shitty superhero movie video games back on the PS2.
I am absolutely willing to bet we will not pick a shittier game for game of the month this year. I knew coming in the game would have osme short comings, but I had to go double check that TGS trailer for Gravity Rush 2, or paris show, and this absolutely killed my interest in that game. They would need to make whole sale changes in that combat for me, or out right trim it the fuck down in the game. Also add difficulty settings, the game is really easy all the way through, really didn't die all that often.
There are stretches where I really want to like the game. I'm down for more Kat, the fucking director of this game did the original Silent Hill and the Siren games (and I kind of like Bloodcurse), and it being so fresh instantly makes it interesting. I didn't have the issues people have with say the controls or the camera - honestly never had a problem with either, more annoyed by little things like how a giant monster worm thing in a game where I can fly n stuff, my character isn't allowed to land on top of the boss ala Shadow of the Colossus or something? There are just so many more cool things I feel like they could have done with the game, but weren't done.
Ugh I could have been playing Doom 4 or Uncharted 4 all day.
Beat Shovel Knight yesterday. I must say that the game got a lot better after I wrote my innitial impressions. Is it worthy of all the praise it receives? Not really, but it was an enjoyable throwback to simpler times, with some challenging platforming sections.
SupremeAC said:Beat Shovel Knight yesterday. I must say that the game got a lot better after I wrote my innitial impressions. Is it worthy of all the praise it receives? Not really, but it was an enjoyable throwback to simpler times, with some challenging platforming sections.
I felt the same. I enjoyed it well enough but it's not all that.
Did you play Plague Knight?
___
Listen to Wu-Tang and watch Kung-Fu
Beat my fourth game of the year!
Updated with Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson!! 
Just finished Rise of the Tomb Raider....man I put a ton of time into this game trying to find all the hidden shit.
Its really hard to say if this one is better than TR2013 or not...I mean its fucking close. They're both amazing adventures and both superbly paced, but obviously this one doesn't have the Reboot factor going for it. Both games have great settings, level design, combat, etc. I think I liked the story of TR2013 a little more though but whatever. Now I can play Uncharted 4 for a direct comparison.
25. Beat Ultimate Doom - 9/10
Okay so talking OG Doom, the game is fucking divine. Very much like a lot of the classics of that era, where there is an elegance to all its simplicity, and the overall polish of the experience makes it a consistent pure gameplay experience. The shotgun to this day is just actively enjoyable to shoot, the plasma rifle is awesome, and the BFG? I mean it's the BFG.
I ended up being a little surprised by how well the mazes are designed, a lot of times it wasn't as backtrack heavy as I remembered, as you would get a blue key or whatever, and there would be a quick secret door that makes a short cut to where you really need to use the key. Making the maps that fold in on themselves for ease of navigation, which is actually shit a lot of the shooters in the 90s don't do, fuck even Quake doesn't do that shit as well as far as I remember.
Episode 1 is perfect, makes sense since that was the shareware version. Two and 3 have the additional enemy variety, barrons of hell add a hefty spike to some mazes, and the cyberdemon and the mastermind spider are dope enemies, but I think the mazes get more sloppy in those episodes. Visual gimmicks annoy me in this game, I actually hated getting the invulnerable power up, I didn't like having to fight in the dark sometimes, and um some of the areas in inferno where you have to run on fire or run on poison blood or whatever were more irritating, than this ingenious test of your abilities.
With that said Doom 1 is fucking terrific. Was in 1993, is today in 2016.
Episode 4 however? IS FUCKING GARBAGE. What an asshole add on. It's there simply to be hard, you'll have corridors of all the spongiest enemies, and you got barely any room to really strafe (if not out right no room). You'll get strings of sequences where you get fucking nothing to work with in terms of ammo/arsenal. And then it'll follow that up with a level where you get to let loose, except it's not as satisfying because it ends so fast, and it's followed up by another level that just blows dick.
Where episode 1 is a fuck you to anyone that thinks these type of games "aged", episode 4 is exactly what those people need to say "I fucking told you so". I fucking can not stand that episode, almost soured my whole run with Doom, but I figured I should have just done my homework and not play episode 4. Legit stone cold classic, unlike Tomas's point and click games : (
Just finished the main story in Fallout 4. I really enjoyed this excellent game, actually still enjoying it because there's so much to do in this game plus the dlc. I love the whole settlement building feature. Some things can be a bit obtuse and need to be a bit more user friendly and the companion AI can be annoying at times but overall it manages pretty well. A very large and nice looking environment to explore. 9/10
26. Beat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - 2/10
Game sucks. No other way of putting it.
I beat 2 games in one day yesterday. I'm on a roll!
- Never Alone (WiiU)
What a piece of crap. I cant believe Eurogamer scored this a perfect 10. It's a very simple platformer/ light puzzle game which reminded me of lostwinds on the Wii. What sets these 2 games apart however, is the fact that Lostwinds didn't suffer from horrible controls and infuriating AI. In Never Alone, you die whenever your Inupiat girl or her spiritual fox guide dies. You can control either with the press of a button, and the AI will take control of the other character. All the AI really does is kind of follow you around so that the characters stick together, it doesn't really partake in solving puzzles or anything other than the most basic of platforming. What it does do however, is have a tendency to fall off platforms into the abyss, dragging you with it. Luckily every other platform seems to be a checkpoint, as if the dev knew this would be a problem. Controls are sluggish to the point where your characters don't just seem to be carrying too much weight, but to the point where you seem to be tugging them along by a rubber band. Storytelling is poor also, which is a shame, as the game was conceived as a means of passing on the Inupiat culture. It's just a narrator and some cutscenes drawn in what I can only imagine to be the typical Inupiat art style. It gets the job done, but there's little that binds the story and the gameplay together. - BoxBoy (3DS)
This is another puzzle platformer made by a small team within Nintendo. Graphics look like they could have been done on a GameBoy Pocket, albeit in widescreen and some finer detail here and there. It's very clean, pleasant to the eye. You controll BoxBoy, who can 'grow' himself in all directions. He can then toss the form he created, stay attached to it, dangle from it before retracting to the higher ledge he's dangling from,... It's a very simple concept that is used in a myriad of different ways. The game then throws in new mechanisms like conveyor belts, spikes, switches, ... at you so things don't get repetitive. I really enjoyed the game. There's 100+ levels, so it's pretty good value for €5. My only complaints are that there is very little challenge to the first 90 or so levels, and that there's no limit to how many blocks you can spawn to clear a level, no scoring system that keeps track of how many blocks you used in your best run. There is a system where every level contains one or two collectibles that require you to reach them using only so many blocks, but it doesn't give the same level of satisfaction. Overall a fun, laid-back game. I'd go so far as to recommend this to people who enjoy puzzle games.
Oh, also beat Advance Wars: Days of Ruin on the DS.
I love me some Advance Wars, but that final level was brutal. Talk about a difficulty spike... Despite S-ranking most of the levels on my first try, I actually had to use a step-by-step guide for most of the level. The game still is Advance Wars bliss, but I feel the missions weren't on the same level of those in earlier games. It also doesn't help that the artstyle is pseudo-realistic and that the story takes itself much more serious, with some characters that are just asses. I'm sure this works great in a lot of games, but I missed the playfulness of the previous Advance Wars games.
Finished Fallout 4: Far Harbor and it was a pretty solid piece of dlc. Good size land mass to explore with quite a few quests to do. Some cool new enemies, weapons, and armour to get. I particularly like the fog effects, it gives it a really creepy atmosphere. 8/10
Just finished the story missions in Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2. Such a really fun game. There's a good deal of content here to be had. Lots of characters with lots of customization abilities. Decent single player content that's mainly just a warm up for the multiplayer aspect of the game but it is welcome stuff. A colourful game with a good sense of humour. 9/10
Finished Dragon Quest. While not as grandiose as Final Fantasy it's definitely a classic with a lot of charm. 8/10
Yes but can it reach the dizzying heights of a $4 game?