VideoGame_Discussion

Agreed on all of the above. It’s nice to see that kind of creativity.

Simon_Belmont wrote:

Beat Star Trek Resurgence. It has an episodic format but covers only one main threat. I was hoping it would deal with more then one main antagonist over the duration but enjoyed the game nonetheless. The inclusion of three characters adds something from the past series but I don't remember one of them. It is a standard TellTale like game where you have options and combat set pieces with puzzles sprinkled in. Sometimes you get stuck trying to find the last object you need to scan to move forward though. It is around 10 hours long and is pretty enjoyable. Would prefer less cameos though.

Decided to beat The Last of Us Part 2 after dropping it and Guardians of the Galaxy. I was nearing the end and simply stopped enjoying it. I didn't enjoy The Last of Us Part 2 as much as the previous game but wanted to complete it. I didn't feel the gameplay was great, I hate forced stealth in the first game as well and the story introduction and ending wasn't as impactful as the first entry. I question the world as it seems like food would be a major issue and some other story elements.

I simply dislike the multiverse concept being splashed into a game without any reason and gave up on Guardians of the Galaxy after that scene. Beating it was an okay time as the gameplay was sastifying but the story was somewhat questionable to me, perhaps since I only know the characters from the TV show and recent movies.

Well beat Armored Core 6 Chapter 1. Going to take my time as September has Mortal Kombat 1 which I will only play for the story mode and arcade endings, Starfield and Daymare which is apparently only 6 hours long.

Both GOTG games exist in their own universe and don't take place in the MCU at all (other than having unlockable costumes from the movies). The Telltale game is more intuned with the comics and the action game creates its own universe using elements from the movies, TV shows and comics. Kind of like how the HBO Watchmen series invented its own universe using a combination of the movie, comics and original ideas.
I really dug the action game other than the repetitive (but fun) battles.

Beat Daymare Sandcastle. The good is the gameplay and combat systems. My god the clip system in the previous game nearly got me to give up on it and it being gone is great to me. The puzzles are quite a bit easier and less difficult then the previous game. The freeze mechanic is extremely important. The story is acceptable but I feel like most characters don't get enough screen time for my liking and enemy variety is extremely lacking. Basically enemies drop electric looking orbs that if not dealt with inhabit a new corpse. It has an upgrade system as well. If you like Resident Evil 2 Remake you might like this game. It is 5-7 hours long.

Quake II Remastered

I definitely liked this more than the first Quake. The levels are designed better and there's more variety. That said, there's still too much brown for me. I love how fast you run, but it can be problematic during the very little amount of platforming there is. It's really easy to walk onto a small platform and slip right off. I still have the expansions and 64 to go.

Blasphemous 2 - one of tf last bosses is a big difficulty spike compared to the rest of the game. Otherwise it was great

I’m almost finished with blasphemous 1 trophies. This whole game feels like a troll. I’ve heard 2 is much better?

2 is better from a gameplay point. No more instant death from pits/falls, aside from boss rooms. Story and atmosphere wise 1 is better but overall 2 is solid. I basically played it non stop when I could, 17 hours to just beat it. Not all achievements though

2 also shows you where to go next, I definitely liked that addition.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider. That was a hoot.
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Shadow of the Tomb Raider to me felt like the most Tomb Raidery experience of the new trilogy. Shame it didn’t get much praise next to Rise.

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Rise of SH1FT3R on
It's not a good game, but if an easy platinum trophy means anything to you, you can get it in like 3 hours. I wasn't able to get it because of one trophy that requires you to win a race in split-screen and I don't have a second DualSense controller, but in 3 hours of playing that was the only trophy left to unlock.

edit: I take that back, I did get the platinum and then even went and did it all over again in the PS4 version. Didn't take much time and there's not much challenge to the game anyway.

Finally got around to beating Strider on PS4. Really good game, wish they had a disc version but only Japan got one.

nonamesleft wrote:

I've beaten like half the Zelda's and half I haven't beaten, working on Spirit Tracks right now.

Beaten:
Ocarina of Time
BOTW
Wind Waker
Skyward Sword
Twilight Princess
Phantom Hourglass
Minish Cap
LTTP
Link's Awakening (the original)

Haven't beaten
Zelda 1
Zelda 2
Majora's Mask
Spirit Tracks (shoon hopefully)
Oracle of Ages/Seasons
Link Between Worlds
Tears of the Kingdom
Links Awakening (remake)

Simon_Belmont wrote:
It's that good? A relative of mine kept trying to convince me to buy it. He was even willing to pay for it if I didn't enjoy the game, that's how confident he was that I would.

justin_credible wrote:
Link Between Worlds was solid. One of the last (maybe the last?) 2D style Zelda games the series had.

A nice amount of games in the series I haven't played.

I haven't played Ocarina of Time. I know I should though.

Haven't played Twilight Princess either.

Although I didn't play Majora's Mask, I did read the Mana, so although it's not the same as playing it, I feel like I experienced the game's story.

Are you enjoying Spirit Tracks? I played Phantom Hourglass. Enjoyed it. But didn't play Spirit Tracks.

I have listened to plenty of music from many of the games though, so at least there's that :)

nonamesleft wrote:

It was one of the most interesting games I've played in years. Just go in completely blind and enjoy. Give it 3 or 4 hours before you make your decision either way. I know that's a big time commitment if you aren't enjoying it, but games like this are pretty rare. I don't even like card-based battling systems in games, but I really enjoyed this one.

nonamesleft wrote:

I am playing Spirit Tracks on an emulator on PC with a patch that allows you to use controller instead of "stylus" which is just mouse but you still have to use the mouse for half the things, so I am holding a Wii U Pro in one hand and a mouse in the other while I play. Kind of a PITA. I'm about half way done with the game. Like PH the controls make things hard more than the puzzles themselves.

I'm stuck in Link Between Worlds, no idea where I'm supposed to go next and the save is from several years ago. A guide might help but not sure.

Orlandu wrote:
I'll definitely keep it in mind. I've heard very good things about it, and I don't know much about the game. So I would be going in fresh.

I almost bought the physical version last year, but didn't. And now it's sold out. (Not surprising considering the fan base that the game was getting)

justin_credible wrote:
Interesting, using a mouse instead of a stylus. At first with Phantom Hourglass, I wasn't a big fan of stylus controls, but I didn't really mind it too much as the game progressed.

Maybe I should try Spirit Tracks sometime. I've been wanting to.

As far as Link Between Worlds, if you don't feel compelled to finish it, no reason to force it. Maybe Nintendo will one day give us another 2D Legend of Zelda game.

@nonamesleft If you have an even halfway modern PC it should run okay. I played it on an i7-3770 and a GTX 950 and had no problems. I don't think it will be a game you play more than once or twice so the cheapest route is probably the best one.

Beat Getaway Black Monday on PS2 (technically, PCSX 2 on PC) Not sure why, it was pretty crappy. I'm a sucker for GTA ripoffs.

Orlandu wrote:
Sadly, my PC specs are really not impressive. I think I have to go the Switch eShop route (unless I happen to find a physical copy for a good price)

Finished Resident Evil 4
21 hours.

Now playing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Beat Expanse Episode 3. The pacing in this game is terrible. Episode 1 had a slow startup but got rolling and episode 2 had some real impact but episode 3 was more slow and exploration based then previous episodes. It is in no means bad and episode 4 drops in two days but so far I highly recommend buying this at a discount. Chapters only take around an hour to beat so it should be a six hour game in total. I do like these interactive stories and will be getting Mortal Kombat 1. Gave up on Horizon didn't find it fun and am going to play God of War Ragnarok.

I finished Saints Row on last night.
My friend and I were playing co-op on Sunday night, the final mission warns you there is no going back once you start it. At some point during it, the game froze. We decided to just stop and retry the next day...except she could never join me last night because there was no way to completely abort the mission and restart it, so it always started me from the last checkpoint we had reached before the game had froze on us and when playing co-op the other player can't join when the host is in the middle of a mission. So she had to connect remotely to my PS5 so I could let her watch my screen while I did the final mission alone. What a bummer that was because we had already done everything else in the game as a team up to that point.

Quake II - Call of the Machine

The content in a $10 digital game with 'Quake II' is quite staggering actually. This is a new campaign from Machine Games, and like their campaign for the first 'Quake,' they at least try to mix things up. They use enemies from the expansions and the level design is a bit more vertical. The colors are also more varied, but there's still too much brown for my taste. I had to take a break and watch a Wes Anderson film to even it out.

Beat Giana Sisters DS. If you want 2D platforming, this certainly has it. With more than 80 levels it can keep you busy for a few hours. Found all the collectibles myself too.

It's not as polished as New Super Mario Bros but it's not bad. Most levels were decent fun but it didn't seem like there was any theme to each world, so not very many of them really stood out. And weirdly enough it's a euro platformer where there aren't drops of water that fall from the ceiling to hurt you!

Quake II - The Reckoning

Yup, I'm still going with this. I might push 'Starfield' back a few days to finish all the campaigns up. This was another solid one, still brown, but they tried. Enemy placement is more suspect in this game, and it's mostly in tighter corridors. I found myself running out of ammo a little more often, and health pack placement was questionable; either too much in one spot or not enough/any in others. Still worth a run.

Didn't know Mario Rabbids Spark Of Hope DLC finished dropping and I decided to play them. Tower of Doom is where you play 10 stages and has great replay value. Basically you start are with certain sparks and slowly gain more levels, sparks, heroes and other collectibles. Last Spark Hunter and Rayman Phantom of the Opera just add a bit of story and gameplay such as traversal options and combat but each DLC pack is 1.5-2.5 hours long and are fun to play. Not as repayable as the previous game and as tactical though but fun nonetheless.

Well back to God of War Ragnarök and then the wait for Mortal Kombat 1. Expanse Episode 4 drops today though and Episode 5 is coming out on the 21st. I kind of made mistakes in Episode 1-3 such as not finishing the optional quests since I don't like exploring for items and perhaps failing in a certain moment. I hate how the trophies pretty much ruin the surprise.

Diablo IV

8.5/10

After about 45-50 hours I’m finally watching the credits roll and man what an addictive journey. Diablo games never fail to disappoint in the hooking you in functionality for sure and if I didn’t have about 12 other games in my backlog I’d def start up again on a new class. I went Druid just to see how it fared and I enjoyed shapeshifting and using Thor like lightning and wind powers alike. I also loved the sense of wanderlust the overworld map gave you to discover all areas and do all those “!” Side quests that popped up. I wasn’t as compelled to finish every single dungeon though as there’s just so damn many of them so I just stuck to doing dungeons that suited my class towards the latter half of the game. But in regards to the story it probably has the most engaging and interesting tale to date. Lilith the Daughter of hatred is as eerie as she is terrifying and it only makes it more so as she speaks mostly in a calm, mothering like yet sinister tone. And I can definitely see this continuing on as a TV series somewhere after witnessing the epilogue. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this sequel and my only complaint would be that sometimes it’s a bit too big and dense for its own good and can overwhelm at times and not in a good way. Like I said the vast amount of dungeons do overstay their welcome towards the latter half of the game and become too similar to each other and offer not enough to warrant doing them all unless you change the world tier to a higher difficulty to pump out those rarer rewards and item drops. Other than that though it’s a groovy experience. While Diablo 3 still holds the crown for me in regards to both addictive gameplay and a nice balancing decently paced and not too overwhelmingly lengthy experience, Diablo 4 is still a very rich game in its own right that if it’s the only game you play can offer you countless hours of enjoyment and replay-ability if you wish to experience each of the 5 unique classes.

Life is Strange: True Colors on
My friend bought me this because she wanted to play through it and she likes when we play these types of games and then compare our choices after. I think the story was good, there were some fun parts and some sad parts. Not really sure where they will take this series next though, it's only a matter of time until it starts to feel like we've done it all.

Quake II - Ground Zero

Yeah the 'Quake II' formula was stretching thing by this second pack. Made by the same dev as 'The Reckoning,' the levels seem longer, but there's a lot of backtracking. Enemy placement is questionable; there's a lot of ambushes by the small flyers. The biggest issue I had is a few times during the campaign you have to activate something, usually calling in an air strike, and then have a limited amount of time to run. Except, it's easy to miss the on-screen cue, especially if you're fighting enemies off, and there's no timer. Once there was an audible 10 second countdown, but by then it was too late. Instant death. The compass also directs you to the point of activation, which also means certain death. It's a fine campaign for 'Quake' fans, but definitely the weakest.

Quake II 64

It was very cool of the devs to include this version in the remaster/re-release, though given its short length (about 2 hours if you know what you're doing), it should be. That said, I think it's my favorite 'Quake II' campaign. It could be because it's shorter and more linear, and therefore no level outstays its welcome, but there's a great variety in locations and, despite the ever present brown, a lot more color variation too. Enemies are fewer, but thoughtfully placed (except the last full level). It was a great campaign to finish 'Quake II' on.

I had been considering the physical release of the 'Quake II' remaster, unfortunately only available through Limited Run Games, because it'd be great to have this physically. But after playing so many FPSs like this the last two years, I just don't think this style of FPS is for me. I didn't grow up on these types of shooters, so I have no nostalgia for them, and the constant running backwards while engaging enemies is tiring. I acknowledge their contribution to the genre and games as a whole, but not pick if I have other FPSs to choose from.

Beat Expanse Episode 4. The puzzles are way to easy and like the previous episodes the parts near the end are the most important. Exploration is lowered in quantity though. Right now each episode seems to heavy on one thing or another with the ending parts being the most meaningful.

100% Mario Rabbids DLC. I am surprised you don't get to level 40 doing all the battles in The Last Spark Hunter. Rayman has a level cap of 10 and getting the gold trophies is easy minus the kraken battle but they aren't needed to 100% it.

Beat Star Ocean: Second Story R Demo which you can transfer your save data to the final game. You get to the caves and have a possible choice to go on a side quest and recruit a character. Unsure if the options really do anything though. Got max level 12 and even got the piece of armor near the mountains. There are some other chests along the side paths but the other areas aren't accessible in the demos. There is voice acting as well but not for every NPC and character dialogue.

Going to avoid Mortal Kombat 1 as I heard it has a thing I dislike in the story. Going to borrow Resident Evil 4 from a friend and play Separate Ways on the 21st and will beat Expanse Episode 5.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords via

9/10

It has been far too long since I replayed this one. It’s about my 3rd time finishing this wonderful game and while not as perfect as the first, it’s still a blast to play. The gameplay is dated sure but the experience is all there from the engaging dialogue options and choices to the depth of lore to the amount of memorable characters and events that transpire. My only complaint about the sequel, that remains from years past, is that the whole Kreia story felt not as fleshed out as I would have like for my tastes. But alas other than that if anyone out there has yet to experience this damn near masterpiece I beg of you to play it for you will find and encounter a smart, deep role playing adventure that doesn’t pull it’s punches in the gameplay and story department that’s for sure. Choose to become either a Jedi master of the light or Dark Sith bringer of darkness. The choice is yours and yours alone.

Mortal Kombat 1 (PS5). Storytelling is uneven but good. Not a fan of what they did towards the end because too many things have them now, but it was fun for the afternoon. I may replay it, but for now I hope they come out with story DLC soon.

Beat Expanse Episode 5. Just waiting for the DLC. It is somewhat sastifying but I feel overall the pacing is just terrible. Episode 3 had to much exploration, Episode 4 two puzzles were braindead easy and was a glorified hallway simulator for the middle half., Episode 2 and 1 had a decent amount of exploration and dialogue which struck a nice balance, Episode 5 on the other hand had a ton of choices which makes sense since it was near the end. Takes about an hour to beat and wasn't to bad overall. If I had to rate the Episodes 5, 1, 2, 3 and 4. 4 didn't have enough added story to make it worth it to me but 3 had some bits that drew me in near the end. 1 was a nice introduction and 2 had some choices and dialogue. A major issue to me is choice. You don't have choices on some sections I feel it would be interesting if you did. Example, you could try selling it instead of destroying it.

Sadly Sonic Frontiers update on September 28th might be something I avoid. I deleted my PS5 save data and don't subscribe to PS+ to back it up so ya.... Don't feel like replaying that game again to get the new ending.

Separate Ways in 4-5 hours long. It is short and they didn't lock additional areas and mercenaries with it which I found odd after Resident Evil Village. It is well worth it, has some story, additional bosses and more time with Luis. Basically if you liked the main game you will like this plus it is $9.99. It also has some replay value.

Persona 4 Golden

8.5/10

It took me about 60 hours to finally watch the credits roll, but it was such a great journey to get there. Persona games really rarely disappoint and while it isn’t as robust to me as Persona 5, it’s still almost as good with the usual rag tag group of memorable characters with the focus on immense character development through establishing and maxing out your social links and bonds with them. Also, mixing and fusing various persona spiritual beings I thought was kinda fun and unique too. The only thing that really annoyed me was the Teddie character. I just wanted him to go away most of the time. Between that and I wish the turn based combat was a little more polished like P5 was but alas this game is 12 years old at this stage and a tad dated on that front. I got the secret ending doing after completing all of the main and bonus dungeons, which were pretty cool and one or two dungeons offered some variety in tackling certain areas and boss fights such as finding keys located on different floors to progress or using different battle tactics by digging into your attained items to topple bosses that force you to think outside the normal status quo combat. I’m also looking forward to playing Persona 3 Reload when it drops early next year too since I never played the original.

Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated

Even before Sony announced the PS+ price increases I was considering not renewing. Sony just helped make my decision for me. So, I'm starting to go through the slew of PS+ titles I have downloaded, and after the drab color palettes of 'Quake II' and (mostly) 'Starfield' (which I've put on the back burner for now), 'Battle for Bikini Bottom' seemed like a colorful alternative.

I've never seen the show, and frankly the characters really annoy me (all cutscenes are thankfully skippable), so I went into this pretty blind. The story is weird, but the gameplay does live up to its reputation. Levels are laid out well and have a bit of a challenge. There are sliding sections to break-up the platforming plus multiple characters that each have special abilities, and the controls more or less are good. Yes, there's some occasional mid-ought invisible walls, platforming jank and hit-box oddities, but nothing bad. One curious thing is that the characters are able to grab onto ledges and pull themselves up, but that only happened literally a couple of times. In most cases, you either make the landing or fall to your death.

That is one sticking point, "dying" institutes a pretty long load time. Character switching is almost instant, as is the taxi service, but it seems like the whole level has to reload upon death (all enemies do respawn but items picked-up are kept).

The game itself might be the most colorful thing I ever played, and it looks great. Most of the time it's 60fps, but it can drop a frame here or there. The music is always catching, though the loops are on the short side. Voice acting from the show cast is also great, even though I didn't care about anything they were saying.

I have the remainder of the bonus world to finish, and I'm debating on getting the last handful of Patrick's socks for those golden spatulas, but I would have a ways to go collecting flowers to turn them in to Mr. Krabs for his golden spatulas. That would platinum the game for me, which I very, very rarely do for Playstation games, and I'm not sure it's worth the time and effort. Regardless, 'Battle for Bikini Bottom' is a solid platformer and I had fun playing it!

Sea of Stars

Kommie wrote:

How is this?