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I also finished Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. I too thought there was an uncomfortably large amount of boobs, but then saw Paul Robertson and Joakim Sandberg in the credits so I guess I can't be surprised.

 

There was a lot more to it than I was expecting, and while it doesn't have the map design or ability diversity of other games in the genre, it managed to stave off predictability through fairly well-implemented gameplay shifts. I also appreciated that the game just took the kid gloves off towards the end.

The last level had me raging in my household. It was worthwhile to beat and all, but goddamn that was a rough hour for me.

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There was one room that I think needed to be toned down a little, the one with the breakable blocks and the spikes. I like the idea, but it was super-easy to make that room extremely difficult.

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Just finished This War of Mine last night. Took 12 hours and by day 20~ I had totally secured my position. Food production, cigarette production, plenty of weapons and meds, house totally buttoned down. Just kinda hung out for the next 20~ days.

Really enjoyed it though, and I think it is still thematically relevant today with the current refugee crisis. Does a good job or showing how anyone can become a refugee, not just the poor. 

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Just finished Sleeping Dogs and I can barely say why I made it all the way through.  Definitely a pretty generic open world-ish GTA clone with very little new to offer, but the setting and combat were fun enough to get me through.  I'm obsessed enough with Hong Kong action that I enjoyed playing through the tropes of a Hard Boiled/ Infernal Affairs type story and the gun play felt good enough to get me through the main story.  Don't make the mistake of playing it like an open world game because there's not much to do in the world, the driving is boring, and the unlocks for hand to hand combat moves and guns barely do anything.  I probably would have enjoyed this more had I mainlined the story missions as quickly as possible, 

 

I suppose I would recommend Sleeping Dogs if you absolutely must play something vaguely related to Hong Kong action and you've already played John Woo's Stranglehold.  It scratched an itch I had for a generally competent action game, but it definitely convinced me that I prefer this stuff to not pretend it's "open world" and just take me through a fast-paced, stream-lined experience ala Uncharted or Tomb Raider 2013.

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Pillars of Eternity: Really liked it. That Adra Dragron, and to a certain extent final battle were pretty hard. I kind of cheesed the dragon with kiting and bows. I appreciated that most of the NPC's stories were exercises in disappointment, and was caught a bit off guard by the narrative twist at the end. I really liked Eder, particularly his barks when you had the pets out. "should we get the dog another dog so he's not lonely" or something like that. 

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I spent my sick day yesterday and completed two more games.

 

Tales from the Borderlands: As someone who hasn't played Walking Dead (or really any recent Telltale games besides The Wolf Among Us) I'm not sick of this style of game like a lot of people are. I absolutely loved this game. Funny, but serious when it needed to be. Referential, but not so much that I couldn't enjoy it without playing the Pre-Sequel. Great voice acting, great graphics, great writing. It's really cool that Gearbox allowed so much to go on in their universe. :tup:

 

Uncharted 3: I almost quit this game about half way through. If I had stopped at that point, I'd have called it the crappiest critically acclaimed game I'd ever played. Despite having three shots at it, the jumping around bits never seem to jump the way I want them to, it's often unclear where to go next and not fun to explore to find the path, the bullets don't go where the cross hair says they should which is even more frustrating when guys show up with heavy armor or shields that you have to shoot in a specific spot, checkpoints that teleport you around to bad spots, and the cinematic camera angles serve to make it even more difficult to see where you're going. But something happened in the second half where either the mechanics finally clicked with me, or they stopped laying it on so thick, because I didn't have near the problems later in the game and I found a lot of the cinematic tricks really compelling. The last couple of levels were a rush (minus a couple of times where platforms didn't appear.) I think I finally see what they're going for with this series, but I would still rather have full control of my character and camera and miss things over being forced cinematic. On the whole, I'll give it a  :tmeh:

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I also finished Shantae and the Pirate's Curse. I too thought there was an uncomfortably large amount of boobs, but then saw Paul Robertson and Joakim Sandberg in the credits so I guess I can't be surprised.

 

There was a lot more to it than I was expecting, and while it doesn't have the map design or ability diversity of other games in the genre, it managed to stave off predictability through fairly well-implemented gameplay shifts. I also appreciated that the game just took the kid gloves off towards the end.

 

I think what makes that game work is that the items you get are all really interesting. Metroidvania's live mostly on the quality of the level design and the quality of the items/abilities and while you're right that Shantae's level design is only alright,  the items are great.

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What I loved about The Pirate's Curse was how I discovered like 80% of the items without meaning to. I used a new item in an old zone and came across something, which lead to an upgrade. Made me feel super smart and lucky at the same time.

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I beat Rock Boshers DX on the Vita, which I may have beaten on PC.... *cough* with "help" *cough*

The Vita is becoming my redemption system since this isn't the first time I've done this.

 

I beat Amnesia: Memories and I really enjoyed it, I enjoyed it enough to want to try the other paths, which hasn't been happening often enough. I wonder why it's price dropped so much on the sale? Maybe because Steam isn't used to pay so much for VN?

 

I also beat Sacred 3.... The game everybody hates for not being a Sacred game, which is fine for me because I don't really like loot based games. It really annoys me to see this have such a low score especially when the new Gauntlet is so terribly boring. I really liked the combat, it was fast and fluid and my skills gave me good ground control, the small fries were practically flying around while I took my time with the bigger ones.

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On a bit of a 'vania tear lately. Just beat Shadow Complex: Remastered, wanted to try and 100% it since it was a pretty chill podcasting game, but some of the secrets seemed like a real pain in the ass, so I just went ahead and finished at 92% complete. Kind of annoyed that I couldn't go back and polish up the stuff I missed after the ending, but oh well, I feel like I got my money's worth (oh wait, it was free).

 

I'm a little mystified that I enjoyed it so much considering how janky so many parts of it are. The movement is floaty and imprecise, you're always getting caught on rails and crap, jumping up to vents and stuff is a fucking nightmare. Worst hookshot in video game history. Shooting feels great until you need to aim at anything in the foreground/background, which is just... why did they think this was a good idea??? In fact, the whole obsession with highlighting objects outside of the player's 2D plane of movement is so bizarre and distracting, especially when it's not always clear where an object is in relation to your character. Am I going to run into this crate or hide behind it? It could have been kind of neat if there was more of a focus on taking cover behind things I guess, and if they did it more gracefully by having you switch your focus to the background with a button press or something? Like come on, Contra did this shit better, what's your guys' excuse. Also the story is forgettable garbage and the ending is a giant wet fart out of a nowhere.

 

Buuuuuuuuuut it was really fun! And I don't really know why exactly except for maybe the level design? But even that has it faults, especially how difficult it can be just to move from A to B. Like, help a guy out with some freakin shortcuts maybe?

 

Seriously though it's good. I'm not even conflicted about it really I just have no idea how to elucidate why it's good. What a weird fucking game.

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I'm a little mystified that I enjoyed it so much considering how janky so many parts of it are. The movement is floaty and imprecise, you're always getting caught on rails and crap, jumping up to vents and stuff is a fucking nightmare. Worst hookshot in video game history. Shooting feels great until you need to aim at anything in the foreground/background, which is just... why did they think this was a good idea??? In fact, the whole obsession with highlighting objects outside of the player's 2D plane of movement is so bizarre and distracting, especially when it's not always clear where an object is in relation to your character. Am I going to run into this crate or hide behind it? It could have been kind of neat if there was more of a focus on taking cover behind things I guess, and if they did it more gracefully by having you switch your focus to the background with a button press or something? Like come on, Contra did this shit better, what's your guys' excuse. Also the story is forgettable garbage and the ending is a giant wet fart out of a nowhere.

 

All of those things are why I dislike it.  I can see where it's a good game, but my brain wouldn't allow me to enjoy it because it was constantly frustrated by everything else.

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I... I beat RocketBird: Hardboiled Chicken and... it's the blandest chicken I've ever tasted. All you do is try to shoot before the others do and you win, they add things like turrets and the power to take over enemies in very specific situations and minor puzzles. At least it doesn't overstay it's welcome?  :tmeh:

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After a long time away, I went back and finished Dying Light. Besides a sudden quick time event instead of a boss fight and a sudden obsession with inescapable combat arenas followed by crazy parkour at the end, I had a really good time. i felt like weapon upgrades were meaningful, the story was by-the-numbers but not overly annoying. Parkour felt good when you weren't being forced to climb a half-finished 100 story building, combat felt good too. I wish my friends would have play co-op with me more instead of leaving me behind.

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I recently beat Fairy Fencer F and... if you've played Hyperdimension Neptunia, it's basically the same game except for a few things, the even borrow a few enemies. I kinda prefer the Neptunia games since the sidequests and other systems seem more refined and polished and are less grindy and more rewarding.

 

I also beat many of the games from the SNK Humble Bundle and from Twinkle Star Sprites and Shock Troopers, which I've played before, I didn't really like them that much.

 

The shmups in the bundle are R-Type ripoff and not as good, and I've until I starter playing the fighting games I had forgotten how I prefer Capcom over SNK, not to mention it's not comfortable to play them with a 360 controller. 

 

Even the brawler game in it was bad compared to their usual stuff, Sengoku 3 is so... vanilla? No enemy variety the the stages are pretty boring too...

 

At least King of Monsters is cool? And at least I have SNK Arcade Classics Vol 1 & 0 with the games I actually like...

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Shock Troopers is one of the games that I wished had come out on a console that wasn't SNK. I loved it so much as kid and the Neo Geo CD version is expensive.

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I've put Assassin's Creed Black Flag to bed. 88% with all the fragments and chests. I'm not going back to 100% all the missions. It's the first AC I've played, it was extremely impressive at the beginning but it suffers from a delay between your input and the result on screen. I would guess it's the game number-crunching all the animation blending. The core running-leaping-stabbing-running bit is great fun but all the other mechanics struggle by comparison. The diving bell sections were tedious in the extreme.

 

I liked it, but one Ubisoft open-world every 5 years or so is enough.

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I've put Assassin's Creed Black Flag to bed. 88% with all the fragments and chests. I'm not going back to 100% all the missions. It's the first AC I've played, it was extremely impressive at the beginning but it suffers from a delay between your input and the result on screen. I would guess it's the game number-crunching all the animation blending. The core running-leaping-stabbing-running bit is great fun but all the other mechanics struggle by comparison. The diving bell sections were tedious in the extreme.

 

I liked it, but one Ubisoft open-world every 5 years or so is enough.

 

Shadow of Mordor ruined a lot of the good will I had left for Assassin's Creed. i realize there's a bit of a difference in density in the worlds and such, but in Mordor I can count on one hand the number of times that I was trying to go up a wall and didn't, or went up a wall when I wasn't trying. Part of it is the feel of the movement, but another part of it is making clear what's climbable and what isn't. Uncharted suffers from the same thing, they try their best but there are so many times that I look at a ridge on a wall and have to wonder if that's something I can grab or not.

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Welp, I've finally beaten Steins;Gate and... it utterly destroyed me emotionally. Like all great VNs, you can't really talk about it that much except that it's about time travel and it somehow works.

 

The game is full of jargon, but it explains them all in a "tip system" and since it's Japanese.... there will be a pervy moment or two, one character is a full on perv and will make quite a few pervy comments and it has a bit of transphobia,

but the main character seems to get over it and understand the subject by the end of the game, in one timeline he marries the trans character.

 

I'm seriously debating if I love this more than Undertale, it's definitely more or a roller coaster ride, that's for sure.

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I think I have finished Fallout 4. I got 100% of the achievements and don't have an urge to go back and do anything at the moment. I think it was an effective sequel, nothing revolutionary, but the gameplay and graphics improved enough that I don't think I will return to Fallout 3 or New Vegas to get the Bethesda RPG shooter itch. I wish there were more quests, but there has been a decline in quest quantity and complexity since Morrowind so its hardly shocking that they made a more detailed map with less to do in it. The biggest improvement in my mind is the modular weapon upgrade system. It makes random loot interesting and allows you to tune almost any gun to your play style.

I also finished Just Cause 3. Although I am still poking at some of the achievements. The latest patch seems to have fixed the few performance issues I had previously encountered. Again its a very solid sequel, they have kept the core game the same and added several improvements and enhancements. The wingsuit is a great addition to the grappling hook and parachute for world traversal. Avalanche makes very pretty maps, and the grapple wingsuit parachute combo is by far the most fun way to travel in any open world game. They also improved the black market drop system so you can ask for multiple items at once without ever getting a cinematic. There were also little things like the map showing you that last little destructible structure preventing you from liberating a settlement or base. My biggest complaint is the challenges system, there are all sorts of cool upgrades locked behind some boring and annoying challenges. Luckily cheat engine exists.

Next up Witcher 3.

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Axiom Verge

 

I destroyed this game over the course of about three days.  I haven't played a decent Metroidvania in ages, and I'd heard wonderful things about this game.  I don't want to go all-in on this post because I dumped my thoughts in the AV thread, but it was well-crafted and a lot of fun with an incredible soundtrack, but also quite a bloated game and one that rewards trial-and-error - it is not as streamlined as it should be.  The final boss was a pain in the ass and 2/3 of my total deaths came against two bosses.  

 

If you're a Metroid fan, you would do well to try it out.

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It's winter break! I have two weeks off of school. I'm using it to finish things!

 

Undertale

 

Finished this four nights ago. I killed one person in my playthrough. I felt terrible about it, and from what other characters later shared, I'm pretty sure it was the worst person to kill. Whups. That said, I'm happy to let that stand as MY playthrough. I realize that this is a game built around NG+s, but I feel like my journey through the game is done and I'm happy with what it was. The endgame was fantastic, ps.

 

Just Cause 3

 

Done last night. When I say finished, I mean FINISHED. Every unlock, 5 stars on every optional challenge, etc etc etc. I have 100% completion of this game. I REALLY like it, but JC2 is my GOAT, so that shouldn't be a surprise. Glitches and bugs on PC were infuriating, but the game was good enough that I saw it through regardless. It is a very good game. Not as good as JC2 in my mind, but that said I tried going back to JC2 about a week before JC3 came out and found the controls kinda frustrating and it wasn't as good as my memory. This definitely came close enough to recapturing the magic that I have to give it its propers.

 

Halo 5

 

Finished this up tonight. I know it got kinda mixed reviews, but I really liked it a lot. Glad the story decided to mix things up a bit.

Obviously Locke and Chief had to team up at some point, but the fact that they're doing so AGAINST Cortana was kinda cool.

Controlled great, weapons were awesome, levels were good. I had a really fun time with this game. Good job, 343. You made a really good Halo.

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I played 80 Days and... I don't get it? That anyone is praising this game indicates there is clearly something about it I have missed on a fundamental level, in the same way that I overlooked the "Talk" button in Dark Souls and missed all the lore.

 

As a mechanically driven affair, I found it neither difficult nor engaging: I bought everything I could possibly use, never felt pressured for time, health or storage, and only once had to make a small bank withdrawal (which didn't even cost me any time). It wasn't just easy, I never really felt like there were any opportunities to demonstrate skill, it was a very simple matter of "keep pushing east". It was like playing an extremely lucky game of Oregon Trail, the kind where nothing bad ever happens. As a side note, the whole time it seemed to be tracking my relationship with Fogg, as well as several character attributes, but it told me "your character is now dependable" multiple times, which quite confused me, and none of it, my relationship or my character traits, ever seemed to do anything.

 

As a narrative affair, I liked some of the little story snippets, but they were severely hampered by being only snippets. I learned that the Mongolians built a secret spaceship, which would be cool, except the story promptly dropped that thread to never again touch it. The Russian secret police have truth-detecting monocles, which is cool, and then, that setting detail established, my trip promptly took me out of Russia. It's a game about travelling the world, meeting people, and then leaving for your next destination just as you start to get to know them, which isn't terribly satisfying.

 

So, what have I missed? Or to put it another way, what about this game is so good?

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I would agree that mastering the mechanics makes much of the game trivial. For me, I got there in exactly 80 days the first time, but then playing the second time I made it in 60 and realized that I'd kind of drained the fun out of it. From your other recent posts, it's clear your a mechanics driven person, so I don't think that 80 days has much for you on that front. The fun of it is the little stories it tells hidden here and there and mainly the disasters that can strike and how you handle them. I imagine that you optimized so well that none of the small disasters ever felt like a real risk to your goal. The little story beats that you mention being disatisfying can have more depth, but it's easy to miss a part of the chain and just never hear about it again.

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I played Pikmin III and really liked it, i think it's the best one.  :tup:

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Halo 5

 

Finished this up tonight. I know it got kinda mixed reviews, but I really liked it a lot. Glad the story decided to mix things up a bit.

Obviously Locke and Chief had to team up at some point, but the fact that they're doing so AGAINST Cortana was kinda cool.

Controlled great, weapons were awesome, levels were good. I had a really fun time with this game. Good job, 343. You made a really good Halo.

 

There's been a weird thing happening with 5 where other fans i've seen talk about the game have actually been exceedingly positive about it, which is a strange twist for a 343 game after how much the Halo community revolted against 4. I've even seen people say 5 is the best one since 3. (I generally get the vibe that the community overall saw the customized loadouts from Reach and 4 as having been the wrong direction for the series, and i actually agree. The expanded mobility options seem to be a big hit too.)

 

Yeah, and that's happening opposite the game being reviewed fairly lukewarm, it doesn't seem to have gotten any mileage within the critical community.

 

I'd probably be all over 5 if i felt like i had other compelling reasons on top of it to go seek out an XBO.

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