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General discussionGames Finished in 2021(726 posts)(726 posts)
(726 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted December 09, 2021
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CMOT70: Alice: Madness Returns (XSX Game Pass)

Sequel to a very underrated shooter that I played back when it came out, and which I remember having difficult platforming. Madness Returns is a pretty good game overall, but has a few annoyances- just as the first game did. First of all are the annoying micro cut scenes that interrupt you after many fights...right when you're about to pick up health drops or about to do something- it just interrupts the flow of the game and is mostly unneeded. It's done to highlight where you need to go next, but the levels are quite linear anyway.

The biggest annoyance though is the move from being a regular shooter (though 3rd person not 1st) of the original to using a lock on system. In one sense it's even good in that it works much better for melee, which is a big part of combat. But for shooting it's hideous. It continuously locks onto targets you don't want and switching targets is still very hard to get the one you want. There is a free aim ability, but it makes you really slow and unable to dodge- and is really more for puzzle solving. The real problem with the lock on is that the developers actually decided to exploit it with their encounter design! Many fights having tiny constantly spawning enemies that are easy to kill, and just there to make it impossible to target the thing you want.

Despite the above, it was still a good game. The platforming plays a huge part in progression, but it isn't as frustrating as I remember in the original- at least here you don't have enemies placed to deliberately knock you off platforms. Here you tend to be either platforming or fighting and not both at once, as that was what I remember being so hard about the original.
The story is also a very dark take on the world of Alice In Wonderland. One of the darker and more disturbing stories in video gaming. But when you think about it, even the original story is not really a kiddie story when you delve under the surface.

Unfortunately, I believe the PC version can only be bought on Origin now. I've heard it has some issues too. The Xbox 360 version is okay, it has no enhancements for the newer consoles- but at least it's readily available and runs and plays fine on newer consoles, and that's better than nothing. It also comes with the full version of American McGee's Alice as a bonus, well the digital version does- not sure if you get a second hand disc if it would work? I assume PS3 and PC also come with the original as well. Because of that, I think I'll take the opportunity to replay the first game some time soon.
You needed to buy Alice Madness Returns: Complete Edition on PC to get the original American McGee's Alice on PC.

Standard Edition of Alice: Madness Returns on PC did NOT come w/ the original Alice PC game.
Post edited December 09, 2021 by MysterD
Posted December 10, 2021
Peggle Deluxe + Peggle Nights
Despite having played Peggle Deluxe so many times, I don't think I ever beat it, or at least ever beat it without cheat codes back in the day. I remember loving the game but I feel that it's a bit more luck based than pure skill which kind of put me off it this time around. Also I really hate pretty much the 2nd half of the powers that Peggle Masters have and find them to be not that useful. I don't think I ever beat Peggle Nights either, seeing it has a new Peggle Master I don't even remember. I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy Zuma and Zuma Revenge much more seeing as they're reflex based. For my couch setup I'm probably going to try to emulate the PS3 or 360 versions.

Tell Me Why
I rarely make it a point to grab up free games because I don't want a bunch of games in my accounts unless I know I'm going to enjoy playing them. I grabbed this because I knew I would enjoy it and I was absolutely right. DONTNOD is a studio that I know I can definitely trust the quality (Life Is Strange, Vampyr and now Tell Me Why), going to go through their older games and see what catches my eye.

It's a beautiful game that doesn't really have many puzzle elements and instead relies on story, which of course means it's right up my alley.
Posted December 11, 2021
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MysterD: You needed to buy Alice Madness Returns: Complete Edition on PC to get the original American McGee's Alice on PC.

Standard Edition of Alice: Madness Returns on PC did NOT come w/ the original Alice PC game.
Okay so the Origin version definitely does not come with the first game then. Only the digital console version comes with American McGee's Alice, well the 360 version does, but I don't see why the PS3 store version wouldn't as well.

American McGee's Alice (XSX Game Pass)

I played the original on PC back when it first came out- though I don't own it, since I rented it from the local video store at the time. This time I played the version that comes bundled with the Xbox 360 game on Game Pass. Surprisingly it plays really well, they did a good job with the controller. It seems to make the platforming easier than I remember.

It's a good game for it's time, with some unique levels- especially the chess themed one. It also reminded me of some of the games annoyances. Like the late game enemies that are placed simply to knock you off platforms to instant death. The combat also feels...weightless and with little feedback. It's hard to always know, especially against bosses with small damage spots, whether you're effectively doing any damage. The bosses were just crappy overall, I can't remember if I thought that back when I first played it.

It's still a great game for its time, but now that I've played both games in the series I prefer Madness Returns, even though that game has a few annoyances as well, I think it holds up better.
Post edited December 11, 2021 by CMOT70
Posted December 11, 2021
Stick it to the Man!
I am pretty sure I beat this back in like 2015 but I decided to replay it since I remember enjoying it. It's funny - listening to the dialogues and jokes provides many laughs. The puzzles are simple yet engaging. The only negative would be the "stealth/combat" sections in which you have to get around the guards. It was trial and error for me and I feel like that could have definitely used some polish. The art is beautiful and was one of the reasons I wanted to replay. Looking forward to play Flipping Death and Zombie Vikings eventually as they have similar art styles and are by Zoink Games as well.
Posted December 11, 2021
Finished a few ones since last time:
- 11/06 - Ben There, Dan That !: A good short point'n click. I already beat it in the past but wanted to play it again before playing the sequels.
- 11/14 - Call of Cthulhu: An excellent game, I really recommend it.
- 11/25 - Wolfenstein 2: The Freedom Chronicles - Silent Death: An excellent DLC for Wolfenstein 2.
- 12/02 - Wolfenstein 2: The Freedom Chronicles - Captain Wilkins: An average DLC for Wolfenstein 2. I went the brutal route with this one and did not bother avoiding alarms.
- 12/04 - The Dream Machine: Chapter 1: A good original point'n click, short.
- 12/05 - The Dream Machine: Chapter 2: The same :)
- 12/07 - The Dream Machine: Chapter 3: A bit longer but there were some puzzles I did not like / understand.
- 12/11 - Pinstripe: A very good looking game but gameplay is average at best.

Full list here.
Posted December 11, 2021
After finally acquiring 100 million gold and defeating 10,000 enemies, I have finished my third playthrough of Fairy Fencer F on PS3. This time, I have unlocked Eryn's Ending, and with it, I have obtained the Platinum Trophy as well :) . I have arrived in final dungeon after just few days of playing, but to get the Platinum, I had to do loads of farming at the Shukesoo's Tower top floor, to get enough gold to get one crazy trophy. It became pretty boring fast so I spent more than 7 months playing the game for one or two hours in a week, while playing other games. If I do not count this grind, the game was fun enough, to play it three times :) .

You can find the complete list HERE.
Posted December 11, 2021
Little Nightmares
A very simple platform game with a very unique environment and worth trying out, you'll love the game environment more than the game itself. It features unique, original and dark scenarios, and all very diverse, the player will never feel lost or not knowing what to do, all the problems that the player faces in the game are quite simple to solve. It's a short game, but it deserves a purchase.
Posted December 12, 2021
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (PS2)

Earlier this year I took the opportunity to buy a really cheap PS2 that was sold locally. I bought it assuming it doesn't work, I was more interested in the 60 games it came with. One of those 60 games is the PS2 version of GRAW. so I decided to play it as a comparison to the 360 game (btw it never released on PS3). But...I don't have a single display device anymore that takes a composite video input. So I needed to either emulate, get a scan converter for my old CRT monitor or buy a PS2 component cable to use a regular monitor. I bought an ebay $6 cable, since scan converters are expensive and I didn't know if the PS2 even works. It works!

But PS2 GRAW is pretty crappy. It's way cut down and features narrow streets that are really just standard fps tunnels. The overall story is the same, but the missions are shooter and simplified. All that could still make a decent stand alone game, if it wasn't for the dismal performance. The FPS regularly drops into single digits, but never feels smooth even when running at it's full frame rate. It seems like the devs knew how hard the frame rate makes the game to play and compensated by making the enemies just as bad as me. They basically can't seem to hit me unless I'm standing in front of them. Also, the game only gives you a single squad member, so it doesn't even count as a squad based shooter. However your squad mate (I think his name was Ramirez) is a walking killing machine! He's better at the game than both myself and the enemies. So I soon learnt the way to play the game was just send Ramirez ahead to kill everything and just mop up after him.

It wasn't very good. But it's a hardly a fair comparison comparing an Xbox 360 game to a PS2 game- even though it's only a single console generation, the jump from a PS2 to a 360 wold be one of the largest generational power jumps in console history. Which is exaclty why Ubisoft made three different games by different devs, all with the same name.
Post edited December 12, 2021 by CMOT70
Posted December 16, 2021
Halo Infinite (XSX Game Pass)

I finished the campaign and world activities in 30 hours. That means all story missions and side activities with the exception of a handful of collectibles. I really enjoyed it, very close to being the most fun game I've finished this year.
The gun play is probably the best in the Halo series, amplified by being open world. By that i mean the story segments are linear and much the same as always- you go in with a starting load out and then pick up either ammo or replacement weapons as you go. The story was like every other Halo game- just there to move you from one place to another. The Halo universe has a great meta story and world building, but the games themselves are always about shooting and blowing stuff up first and foremost- and that is how I want it to stay

But the open world stuff is where the fun was at. You can approach high value targets or bases any way you like. You can get a Warthog or Razorback full of marines and go shoot the place up. Or fly in using a Wasp or Banshee. Use anything you've unlocked whilst opening up the map and rescuing the marines. About half way through the story I had unlocked the Scorpion tank due to concentrating on clearing the map activities. So I loved to drive into bases, even the start of story missions, using a Scorpion- it can kill most enemies with a single hit, though it's probably a bit more fragile than I remember to balance things out. The game most reminded me of my favorite open shooter (that isn't a looter shooter) Far Cry 2. So the story missions are for the developers to tell their story, and the open world is for the player to tell their own any way they want. I like it.

Technically, it may not be the most graphically stunning game ever, but it still looks great, especially the view distance when you get up high on the very vertical map. It has some little things that really surprise you occasionally like the swarms of butterflies and other wildlife- especially having a flock of birds take off and fly past you when you're in Wasp. It ran perfectly too, and never had any crashes or issues for me- I played the entire game without ever closing it, using the "quick resume" feature of Xbox to get back to the game in a 3 seconds each time I returned. It's the debut of a brand new graphics engine and will only get better in future games- provided they don't swap over to Bethesda engines. But there is a sequel coming, as the ending basically sets it up. Hopefully this time it should take only 3 years, now that they don't need to build the engine.
Post edited December 16, 2021 by CMOT70
Posted December 17, 2021
Firewatch (XSX Game Pass)

Another artsy walking simulator done. Unlike so many around these forums, I like walking sims as short easy games to wind down with after longer or harder games. All types of game have their place when it's what I feel like.

But Firewatch was only an average entry in the genre to me. It's primarily bout the relationship you strike up with your boss lady in the other Firewatch tower further away. Unfortunately I didn't like her much and found her the type of annoying prying busybody that I dislike in real life. So after the first day I just ignored her and let her talk to herself except for communications strictly required to advance the game. I'm not certain the way I treated had any impact on the story at all. It's okay, but nothing about this one got to me like What Remains of Edith finch, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture or even The Last Stop.
Posted December 17, 2021
Did finish the main story of Stranger of Sword City Revisited.

Basically, a DRPG, and apparently one of the harder Experience ones. Thing is, enemies aren't too dangerous most of the time, but every now and then there will be some out-of-depth enemy you need to worry about. Also, there are some specific enemies that are dangerous, like those that have an attack that does triple damage if it hits, and some that can instantly kill. Fortunately, the game does provide you the means to deal with such things, like a divinity ability that negates status ailments (including instant death).

There's character creation, and you can have reserve characters (in fact, it's helpful to, in case you need to have a character spend time reviving or recovering LP), but unfortunately the game has a main character (who you create) that can't ever be removed from the party. (For this sort of game, I prefer not to have a main character.) The character creation involves choosing race, class, talent, and feature (basically a background skill). There's also the setting of character age (older characters start with more bonus points, but have lower LP; elderly characters perma-die as soon as they die even once), rolling for and allocating bonus stats (yes, there's some stat rolling in this game), and some cosmetic options (portrait (and the game supports custom portraits) and voice).

There's also a class change system; you can change a character's class, give up half your level, but then can equip a limited number of abilities from your previous class. This can be quite handy. For example, get Clock-up from the Clocker (allows the character to act twice at the start of the round, but can't use skills next round), then change to Fighter; now, after a round of concentration, you can use Rush (requires spending a turn to concentrate, but hits 3 times) twice with only one concentration.

Worth noting that, while characters can die permanently, the game doesn't have perma-death style saving. You can only save in the town, but there's multiple save slots and you can reload your save if something goes wrong. On the other hand, there's the rather odd decision to make changing the difficulty require a consumable item.
Posted December 18, 2021
Lake (XSX Game Pass)

It's not a walking sim, it's a driving a postal delivery van sim. It's about 6 hours long, has three endings and you basically return to your home town to do your fathers delivery job for two weeks. You drive around Small Town Hicksville, delivering mail and packages, meeting the town folk and choosing who to help and spend your after hours with. That's about it, it's slow and relaxing and was fun- but ended when it needed to, any longer and it would outstay its welcome.
Posted December 19, 2021
XCOM 2 is evolution of good series restart. With Avatar project game feels as if it would pushing you to go forward as much as possible, but it is only appearance. When you accustom to game rules, then it will became obvious, that it is not a case and that there is a lot of time for everything. Unfortunately in later phase game is very repetitive what started bore me a little. So I focused on finishing this game. Another negative shock came in last mission, it is so long! It was so long, so it started to bore me and I finished it only, because it was end.

What I like on game is, that although you upgrade weapons and armors for your troops at once, there are some small tweaks which are unique which makes each soldier special. For example acid grenade, special kind of bullets, etc. Also I would never thought, how much I enjoyed color my soldiers and make them easily recognizable on field.

In sum, it is very good game with some flaw, but since I played only original game without DLCs it can be possibly improved with remaining content.
Posted December 20, 2021
Fortix 2

Stuck with my laptop for the time being and not in the mood for something truly involving, when going through my game collection, I stumbled across this old game again that I had tried in the past but never played for long. And somehow it was the right time for it now and I finished it in two sittings only, including the classic levels which I assume is just Fortix remade in the Fortix 2 engine, so maybe I've actually finished two games at the same time. ;)

It's a new take on the Qix formula: in this one you have to capture forts by destroying their defenses and avoiding dragons, and it plays a bit differently from the original, because gradually decreasing the playing field is not the main objective here, it's more about capturing catapults without getting hit, plus there are impassable walls, so you're more likely to built safe paths through the field than to cut off whole sections (although that's still a thing). There are enemies on the outer lines too occasionally but they are rare and easy to beat, so at least in my playthrough it was not really a hectic, fast-paced arcade-y game but rather slow and requiring patience (later on, towers shoot homing missiles so you're better off waiting on the safe lines until the missiles are gone because otherwise it's just a matter of time before they hit you. The hit boxes of the dragons are such that they destroy your line before you actually see them collinding with it, but it's easy enough to adapt to that. I sometimes got stuck on my own raggedy lines or missed them by an inch, or accidentally left the safe paths, but while that was annoying, I did not feel it was the fault of the game. I noticed Fortix 2 actually gives you an indication of whether you're safe or in danger (reddish glow at the bottom of the screen), and if you press STRG to speed up on your safe line, it also makes sure you stay on it, so I used that from time to time to prevent accidentally stepping off the path. I thought the mechanics were quite solid and fair.

I have to admit, I played on Easy difficulty and didn't really care for getting the perfect score, my only goal was to beat every level once and progress through the game from start to finish, just to see what it had in store in terms of level design and mechanics (it did introduce new ones during the course of the game which was nice, although some made the game even slower, see above). I didn't pick the difficulty consciously and only found out about it after beating the game, so I assume it's either set to Easy by default or you first have to beat the game in order to unlock the other difficulties? In any case, you can set it under "Profile". But I don't think a higher difficulty would really have added to my enjoyment of the game. I was content with playing it as it was, the game length was just right for me and Fortix 2 didn't overstay its welcome (3-4 hours, maybe around 30 levels? but that's just a wild guess, I didn't count); that's mostly because I seldom had to repeat a level though. I saw there would be still quite a bit of stuff to unlock for me (achievements, new avatars), but it's not really enough of an incentive for me to replay levels.

All in all, it was a neat little Qix clone to pass some time with. Nothing to write home about but a good game regardless.
Post edited December 20, 2021 by Leroux
Posted December 21, 2021
Yakuza 6 The Song of Life (XSX Game Pass)

That's it, all done, I've finished the Yakuza series at last- well regular games, I'm not even sure what handheld or mobile spin offs may exist and I'm not really all that interested.
As for Yakuza 6 it finishes off the Kazuma Kiryu story line. It has similar game play refinements to Yakuza 0 and the Kiwami games. The story is similar and has all the usual gazillion or so plot twists, though the stakes do have more weight this time for obvious reasons when you play it. It was okay, but I still believe that Yakuza 0 is the best of the series and where anyone should start if they are considering the series- and not just because it's the origin story, it has the best game play and story. But 6 finishes things up reasonably well. Though I like the series, I prefer the new Like a Dragon game way more and am looking forward to that series continuing.

The Xbox version specifically is the only way to play on console at 60fps on Series S or X, as the game is one the 100 or so game that use the system fps boost feature to remove frame rate caps. This now leaves Kiwami 2 as the only 30 fps game in the series for some reason- I assume trying to boost its frame rate would cause glitches.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionGames Finished in 2021(726 posts)(726 posts)
(726 posts)