I saw the new thread pop up and I really thought some Australian had finished a game in the first hours of the new year.

Might as well post the full list now that the year ended, with dates finished and links to the two reviews.

1-2. Tropico 4 (review on blog or MobyGames):
- Original campaign: Jan 24
- Modern Times campaign: Feb 28
- DLC scenarios: Mar 24
(I'm counting Modern Times (and the one DLC scenario compatible with it) separately, hence the 1-2, after all it's probably more different from the base game than vanilla Tropico 4 is from Tropico 3: Absolute Power.)
3. Flight of the Amazon Queen: Apr 6
4. Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark: Aug 25 (quick review on blog)
5. Akalabeth: World of Doom: Sep 29
(Bit hard to count though, since I just quickly went through it by abusing the amulet. But still...)
6. Gone Home: Nov 14 (review on blog or MobyGames)

And since I didn't post in that one but still have the dates, 2015 list:
1. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition (review on blog or MobyGames):
- Base game: Feb 4
- Adventures: Mar 14
2. Age of Wonders: Jul 28
3. Traffic Department 2192: Sep 12 (review on blog or MobyGames)
X. Mice Men: Sep-Oct (Played a few games of it to add it on MobyGames. Can't count it, but just for completion. Added it there on Sep 5, but added screenshots on Oct 21.)

And using this for "historical" reference too, as I track down games finished in previous years:

2014:
1. Age of Wonders: The Wizard's Throne: mid-April, at least 13, no later than 16 (review on blog or MobyGames)
2. The Lost Vikings: Jun 2
3. Return to Krondor: Jun 23, 22 at the earliest
4. Akinator (browser) (counted after using for 100 characters): late June, after 27, at most start of July
5. Alter Ego (browser version) (died in old age): Jul 9, 8 at the earliest
6. Blades of Heaven: Aug 14 (review on blog or MobyGames)
X. The Plan: No idea about date. (Can't count as a game anyway, but for completion.)

2013:
1-2. Castle of the Winds:
- Castle of the Winds I: A Question of Vengeance: late May
- Castle of the Winds II: Lifthransir's Bane: Jun 11, 10 at the earliest
X. Inner Vision: likely end of Feb, at most March 1. (Can't count it as a game, but just for completion.)

2012 list

Incomplete 2011 list. Add Tropico 3 Gold Edition (completed: Dec 16, review on blog and MobyGames) to it. Also played Forsaken World for a while earlier that year (review on blog and MobyGames), and briefly poked at Perfect World International again after the Genesis expansion launched.

Here is everything I've finished in 2016. Finished that last one just in time.

Far Cry3: Blood Dragon
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Magrunner Darkpulse
Orcs Must Die! (All maps completed on Nightmare. 100% Achievments)
Prince of Persia (2008)
Doom 3
Apotheon
Ultimate Doom
Mad Max
Dishonored (Ghost/Clean Hands)
GTA 5
Enslaved: Odyssee to the West
Shadow Warrior 2013
Huniepop
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Turok (NightDive version)
Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae
Lichdom Battlemage
Crysis
Crysis 2

Squeezed one more in before 2016 ends.

Dishonored 2 PC version.

Added it to my list:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2016/post68

Finished it as Emily.

Just finished the game, which is fantastic....provided you can get around technical issues such as CTD's, poor performance, and other nonsense at settings, graphics & framerates you might deem as worthwhile.

2016 summary

What a crap year, but at least it wasn't that bad in the world of videogames (If you forget about NMS) even though I only played 2 games released this year. Anyway I'm gonna just do a quick summary of my year.

Don't know how to do the links, so just gonna post the address for my whole list here. https://www.gog.com/forum/general/games_finished_in_2016/post57

Total games completed: 72

Top 10 games completed in 2016:

10. Lost Window: The Secret of Cape West
The sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215, which I played at the beginning of the year and loved it, point and click is one of my favourite genre's and I played very few this year, this is probably my favourite of the genre that wasn't made by Lucasarts.

9. Puzzle Series: Vol 5 - Slitherlink
This shouldn't be here, but I'm so proud of myself for completing this game, it took 3 months and played this game longer than any other, and because of my devotion to spending 80 hours on the gaming equivalent of a Sudoku book, it made the top 10.

8. Demons Souls
I've never played any of the souls game, I'm not really a fan of games where you die over and over again, but like the previous game I'm glad I beat it, I'm also glad that my friend who always boasted about his skill at Dark Souls 3, was unable to complete this game and I happily provided him a running commentary of me beating the bosses he struggled with, for some reason he's stopped talking to me.

7. Bayonetta
Big fan of the Devil May Cry series, and this game was just awesome and action packed, just a shame the sequel is Wii-U exclusive.

6. Alien Soldier
I love boss fights, and this game was full of them, action packed and I hope with all the inevitable remakes coming in the next few years, this will be one of them.

5. Breath of Fire 2
A great JRPG, a change from Final Fantasy and I hope to play some of the other games in the series next year.

4. Super Mario Galaxy 2
A brilliant platformer, superb music and just a great experience overall, absolutely loved it. Probably the best Wii game I've ever played.

3. Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
Love turn based strategy games, and a game with a level cap of 9999 keeps you busy for ages. Spent ages playing this.

2. Rogue Galaxy
One of the first games I played this year, a great Action-JRPG, good story, good gameplay, good fun.

(As you can see I'm getting tired as the reviews are getting shorter)
1. Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
One of the only games I beat that was actually released in 2016, great story, great gameplay, it was good fun and I plan to play it again next year.

Biggest Disappointment: Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
Not because it's a bad game, but because so much was different from the previous game in the series that I just hated it.

Worst Game Completed: Meteos
You can win easily by indiscriminately swiping upwards really quickly, got dull and boring fast.

Biggest Regret: Shenmue
I was unable to complete this because disc 2 of my copy didn't work, which is a shame because I was enjoying it so far.

Well, 2017 here we come!

The final score:

Persona Q, 3DS
Albino Hunter, Steam
Hotel Dusk: Room 215, 3DS
Alchemy Mysteries: Prague Legends, Steam
9 Clues: The Secret of Serpent Creek, Steam
Cafe 0 ~The Drowned Mermaid~, Steam
Final Fantasy IV: Interlude, PSP
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Case of the Mystified Murderess, Steam
The Chosen RPG, Steam
Mega Man Legends, PSX/PSN
Contrast, PS3
Persona 4: Dancing All Night, Vita, 2/29
Zen, Intergalactic Ninja, Gameboy, 3/5
Escape Goat, GOG, 3/09
Bastion, Vita, 3/10
Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Vita, 3/21
Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, 3DS , 3/30
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1, Vita, 4/7
Suikoden, Vita, PSN 4/12
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Vita, 4/14
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, DS, 4/18
Dark Souls, PS3, 5/9
Danganronpa 2: Goodbuy Despair, Vita, 5/29
Stardew Valley, GOG.com, 6/13
Escape Goat 2, GOG.com, 6/26
Mind Zero, Vita, 7/7
Sometimes: Success Requires Sacrifice, Steam, 7/7
Super Mario Land, Gameboy, 7/7
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Gameboy, 7/8
Crystal Mines 2, Lynx, 7/21
Defenders of Oasis, Gamegear, 7/26
Space Quest 1 (EGA), GOG, 8/3
Demon's Souls, PS3, 8/12
Wizardry 1: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, SNES, 8/26
Inescapable, Steam, 8/27
Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn, SNES, 9/7
Never Alone, PS3, 9/17
Wizardry II: Knight of Diamonds, SNES, 9/28
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, GBC (on 3DS), 10/9
Firewatch, GOG, 10/15
Gunman Clive, 3DS, 10/10
Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors, Vita, 10/25
The Beginner's Guide, Steam 10/28
Home Is Where One Starts..., Steam, 11/8
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald, Steam, 11/8
Inexistence, Steam, 11/8
Adventures of Mana, Vita, 11/10
Mother 3, GBA (rom), 11/12
The Witcher, GOG, 11/12
SteamWorld Dig, GOG, 11/13
The Last Door: Season Two, GOG, 11/14
Disaster Report, PS2, 11/19
The Fall, GOG, 11/19
Megami Tensei I ( Kyūyaku Megami Tensei remake), SNES, 11/27
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations, NDS, 11/28
the static speaks my name, Steam, 11/29
Layers of Fear, GOG, 12/12
Final Fantasy XIII, Steam, 12/20
Cave Story+, Steam, 12/21
Hexcells, Steam, 12/26
Pony Island, Steam, 12/26
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Steam, 12/28
The Old City: Leviathan, Steam, 12/28
Hexcells Plus, Steam, 12/30

My favorite game completed this year is a toss-up; some (but probably not all) credible contenders, in no particular order:

Stardew Valley
Sure, in many ways it's just Harvest Moon, but it's everything I wanted from a Harvest Moon game done brilliantly. The mine combat could have been tighter, but otherwise, completely stellar. I need to replay this now that there's been an expansion, but I'm kind of waiting for the multiplayer.

Crystal Mines 2
Remember the Lynx? No? Well, it didn't have much going for it, exclusives-wise, but it had this. The concept is simple: you play as a robot in a 2-D plane. Collect a set number of crystals and get to the exit without dying. The levels are incredibly well-designed, some pure action, some puzzles, and some a mix-up. It's a source of enduring frustration that I can't get a hold of the DS remake. I've played this game off and on since I was a child, and finally beating it was immensely satisfying.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
This quirky visual novel/murder mystery plays kind of like Phoenix Wright, but isn't really much like Phoenix Wright to play. I'm giving the original a nod over the sequel because it was (inevitably) fresher when I played it, and because the last part of the sequel gives a lot of not terribly interesting backstory.

Mother 3
Believe the hype! This GBA classic is deep, quirky, and fixes a lot of irritating issues that the original Earthbound had (e.g. you have bigger inventories).

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
This is what I want from a Zelda game. Somewhat on the easy side, however.

Mega Man Legends
Including games that I replayed because I already knew they were great is maybe kind of cheating, but I did beat this game (again) this year.

Demon's Souls
Although there was one level (the swamp) that I found incredibly annoying, this game boasted incredible atmosphere and level design; in particular, the Prison of Hope was a masterpiece.

Oxenfree (Adventure)

Options are simple enough, with Subtitles (NOT the default), Disable Effects, Windowed or Full-screen, and a range of resolutions from 640x480 up to 1920x1080. I played the game entirely with my controller with no issues.

Oxenfree is a compelling game for those who love dynamic story-games. Replayability is added to by having multiple endings and a variety of achievements. This is not a "I have no idea what to do next," kind of game with impossible puzzles and obtuse logic. It's all about the journey.

The graphics are not what I'd call compelling, but coupled with the stellar soundtrack, voices, and story, they set the stage for an environmental journey that will keep you riveted throughout. You can see from the screenshots that the people are not super-detailed, and yet you can tell that the devs put some care into their mannerisms and movements. For instance, when walking down a steep incline, the characters will lean way back and have the kind of jerky steps one has when they're trying not to lose control of their descent. Little touches that add some realism and suck you deeper into the world they're created.

Gameplay consists of 2.5D exploring, discovering secrets, and interactions with the people around you. You will generally have three options to choose from during conversations, and your choices absolutely matter. There are color-coded thought bubbles that show you which character is speaking, and if a face shows up in that bubble, it means that the character either feels closer to that person, or the opposite, depending on the situation. Along the way you will discover a compelling story with plenty of "What the HELL?" moments.

The characters themselves have well-defined, believable personalities that are absolutely evocative of the teen years, from their mannerisms right down to their word choices and life decisions. This is not to say that they're annoyingly "angsty"... just that the devs did a beautiful job capturing their individual personalities. The voice actors are masterful in their delivery, bringing them all even more to life.

The soundtrack and sound effects range from beautiful to thought-provoking to downright creepy, and all of it atmospheric.

There is one thing that I found semi-annoying about the game, and that is the loading screens. They're artfully placed in a manner that is reminiscent of the breaks producers add to their shows to allow commercial lead-ins, but I still would have been happier without them. I also enjoyed the first half of the game more than the second half, with the difference being more interaction with the unknown in the beginning, and more character-development in the latter parts... but that could also be because I was off exploring and looking for secrets instead of progressing the story.

There are 13 achievements to be had, and it will take multiple play-throughs to get them all... The idea of playing again is OK by me, since there are multiple endings! I managed to get 5 achievements and the second-best ending during my play-through, but I'd like to see where else the story can take me. There are also five behind-the-scenes documentaries, but when I click to look at them, it just takes me to a loading screen, then back to the page you see upon entering the game. Not sure what's up with that *shrugs*

If anything in this review sounds enticing to you, then I think that you'll love the game. Absolutely recommended!

Time to finish my 2016 account of completed games:



<span class="bold">Ittle Dew</span>

Loved everything about it: its cartoony art style, its goofy and self-aware humour, and its nonetheless carefully designed and well thought puzzles. Yeah, it draws a lot of inspiration from old Zelda games, but its main focus are the puzzles and not the adventure/action aspect. And I enjoyed it all the more because of that.

I completed it the easiest way, i.e. by getting all 3 weapons. But the game can also be completed with any combination of two of them, so I miiiiight return to it someday... On the other hand, I beat the devilishly twisted Master Cave (and I only had to check a video-waltkthrough for like 2 or 3 of its levels!), so there's that.




<span class="bold">Pythagorea</span> (Android)

Surprisingly fun and addictive geometrical puzzle game. Great for learning (or re-learning) some geometry. I guess it'll look better on a tablet with a bigger screen, but I had no problem completing it on my 5.5"-screen phone. Some levels could be brute-forced, and some others I solved by randomly drawing lines, but most of them made perfect sense and could be solved by thinking logically.

My main complaint would be that I had to solve all the puzzles in a set before being able to unlock the next (something that's been addressed in the sequel Pythagorea 60º, which I'm currently playing). But other than that, an excellent game that'll make you think.




<span class="bold">SOLITUNE</span>

Short and experimental-ish point-and-click adventure game "about escapism and sheep", according to the devs' own words. It hasn't got much gameplay, but it's got some nice art and music, and it's pretty cheap. Actually, it was never meant as a commercial game, and you can read a bit about the authors' motivations on their blog.




<span class="bold">Three Fourths Home</span>

This is a game that grew on me as I was playing it. At first I got annoyed (as many people does, I'm afraid) by its cumbersome controls. Yeah, having to press a key all the time in order for it to keep going doesn't make it the most user-friendly game out there. But after a while I didn't mind it that much, and I was starting to care for the main character and the members of her family.

Apart from pressing that key, the only agency you have in this game is choosing dialogue options (as this is primarily a narrative game). As far as I know the final outcome of the story is always the same no matter what you choose, but I think some of the decisions you make can trigger different conversations, both in the main story but also in the epilogue/extra chapter included in the Extended Edition of the game.

As many other narrative-centered games, it kind of leaves everything open to be interpreted by the player. The main story ends with a sort of a cliffhanger and you never get to know for sure what happens. But that's OK, because then the aforementioned epilogue can be seen under quite a different light depending on how did you interpret that ending. Pretty neat.




<span class="bold">_PRISM</span> (Android)

During the last Black Friday week, I fell victim to consumerism and bought an Android tablet. This is the first game I played (and completed) on it. It came on a recent Humble Mobile Bundle and it's basically a puzzle-ish game with a strong zen component (mainly thanks to its ambience music). The player's task is to disassemble geometric shapes of increasing size and complexity by panning, zooming and rotating them. Obviously, it's a game specifically designed for touchscreens and wouldn't work on a PC. I liked it.

The only bad thing about this game is that it's quite demanding graphically, and made me realize my brand new octacore, full-HD tablet had a somewhat lousy GPU. :(




<span class="bold">Odd Bot Out</span> (Android)

Continuing with my Android spree I finished a game I had started long ago on my phone, but which I had to eventually put aside. With my new tablet's bigger screen I had no trouble finishing the 100 levels that separate the clumsy but cute robot protagonist from freedom. Almost everything (even the robots) must be moved around by tapping and dragging your fingers, which makes the controls deliberately cumbersome. But in my opinion this only adds to the cuteness of it all, and besides the game would become much easier and blander if you could move the characters with a traditional control method.

Each level is a room of varying size, and the goal is always to open the door to the next level. At first the this is quite straightforward and requires not much effort, but every now and then you find a some harder challenges, both figuring out how to open the door and actually doing it. Out of the 100 levels, only a handful felt too tricky or almost depending on luck. Highly recommended to all the family (kids seem to love it).




<span class="bold">Ghosts of Memories</span> (Android)

Yet another puzzle-ish Android game. This one is an isometric puzzle adventure, a little reminiscent of Monument Valley. But instead of deceiving perspectives, its challenges lie on sliding platforms, rotating totems, and phasing between different realities in order to activate crystals. There's an overarching story about a spirit trapped in a crystal, or something like that, but I honestly didn't pay much attention to it.

It's also quite a zen experience as you can never screw up a level, and there are some 'enemies' but they're more of a nuisance than a threat. Plus, the artstyle is really beautiful and the soundtrack is quite relaxing. The puzzles are not hard at all if you pay a little attention to the structure of the level, but nonetheless I got completely stuck once in one of the later levels. I don't know what happened because the next time I picked it up I solved the level in a whim.

It's not a very long game though, even taking the free expansion with like 8 or 10 extra levels into account, but still I'd recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of games. Plus, they seem to be giving away codes for the game on their website (in exchange for your email), so you can try it for free if you like.




<span class="bold">Picross Wall</span> (Android)

This one was kind of special for me. I played it on and off while at the bus, at the toilet, at bed before falling asleep... and it took me about 20 months to complete it: such is the scale of its content. It's one in a myriad of Picross/nonogram games available for mobile devices, and I happened to choose this one on Google Play for no particular reason.

As I hinted it's got thousands and thousands of different puzzles, and the cool thing is that most of them are bits of pictures from famous painters throughout history. So besides getting entertained and exercising your brain, you can also learn a bit of history of art. The puzzle range in size from 5x5 up to 30x30 and for some reason, the bigger the board, the more my phone got slowed down as I was filling up the board. That's the only bad thing (but not a minor one) I have to say about this game. I assume other similar games don't have this problem, but I couldn't really say as I've really got my fill of Picross and I don't want to play any similar game for a good, good while.




<span class="bold">DISTRAINT: Pocket Pixel Horror</span> (Android)

This is a game I wished it had a DRM-free Linux version (right now on PC it's only available for Windows on Steam), so when I saw it on Google Play for free I didn't hesitate to install it and fire it up.

It's a pixelated adventure game with lightweight mechanics but a heavy load of narrative. Heavy, and gloomy, as you can readily see by looking at some screenshots. Despite its creepy nature it doesn't rely on cheap jumpscares to keep you on your toes and make you feel uneasy. The ending did feel a little cheap though, as if looking for some easy emotions, but overall I enjoyed it a lot. Suffice to say that I completed it in a single sitting.




<span class="bold">V3CK</span> (Android)

The last game I completed in 2016 was another Android logic/puzzle game. Nothing particularly special about it, it just achieved its goal of making me think and entertaining me for a while.




My list of finished games in 2016

Finally I have my PC at my new home, so I am adding 3 more games to my list of finished games :)

The complete list you can find HERE

Game number 14: I have purchased Playstation 4 Pro at the launch day, and I have immediately started one of the games, which I have purchased in previous months while waiting for the Pro. The game which I have launched first was Tales of Zestiria by Bandai Namco. The first playthrough lasted little bit over 122 hours, which I have enjoyed immensely from beginning to the end. The story was interesting take on fight of good versus evil with few unexpected twists.

Game number 15: Immediately after finished Tales of Zestiria, I began its DLC The Strength of a Knight: Alisha's Story. In comparison to the main game, this was typical dungeon crawl adventure, with difficult enemies, and interesting boss fights. Unfortunately I was little bit disappointed from the ending. I was probably expected to happen something different, but 15,5 hours spent playing it were worth it.

Game number 16: The next game, which I chose to play was Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness, the fifth game set in the Star Ocean Universe. I have to say, I like the story of this game, much much more than in the fourth game. But to be honest, the combat compared to Tales of Zestiria was uninspiring, and at some points even boring, but what the game lacked in the combat department, it made up in the Private Action department. I have laughed a lot during the whole game. I really liked, that the game did not took itself too seriously, and even if there was need for some boring backtracking quests, I have always eager to come back to the game, and continue with the story, which was sometimes very difficult in a lot of games, which I have played in last few years. Altogether I have spent 57 hours in the game, before the end credits started to roll. The first two ending which I got were Miki's and Relia's Ending.

Finished over the last couple of months.

Dirt 3 - Enjoyable arcade racing game from Codemasters. I did not enjoy the career mode here as much as with Grid. The events are divided up into "seasons", but there's no element of a set number of events per year. That being said, the environments are excellent and it's good fun to speed through them at the very edge of control.

Redline - A decent shooter set in a future, gritty dystopia not too dissimilar from Escape from New York or Carmageddon. The on foot movement controls are rather dire - it seems to accept X and Y inputs as separate events. The levels are varied enough to the keep the interest.

Banished - A solid town builder, and one that punishes aggressive expansion. My town suffered an early winter that destroyed most of the harvest that year, and was never quite able to recover even though it plugged along for about 10-15 years more.

FEAR - A replay of this excellent shooter. The horror elements are largely forgettable and telegraphed in advance (see Extraction Point for some genuinely unnerving moments), but the gunplay is where this game shines. The environments ensure that dust will be hanging in the air and furniture flung around. Highly recommended.

The Walking Dead: Season 1 - I'd heard a lot about this game prior to playing, namely the prevalence of choices that only marginally affect the events of the game and rarely change the outcome; however, I was able to become engrossed in the game. The writing was generally good, and the game was rather graphic at points. The best episodes were the first and second in my opinion, where the larger cast of characters made for more varied plot points.

Ground Control II - The first Ground Control is one of my favorite RTS games, which its emphasis on small units and lack of reinforcements. The second one largely does away with the defining attributes of the first. Overall, the game is still excellent when the maps and missions are more open. The last two missions of the Viron campaign are overwhelming and extremely frustrating.