Your 2016 Gaming Diary

Wahey!

After completing Nioh I felt like it was time to finish Dark Souls III. A 40 hour long journey has come to a (temporary) end. And what a journey that was. Fucking incredible game.

Won't start NG+ right away. I'll concentrate on other games and put the Platinum for Dark Souls III on hold.

Finished another chapter of Hitman GO on the Vita. The puzzles can be quite tricky, especially when going after all the challenges. It's a nice little game to play for a couple of minutes.

I hope I'll be able to finish Severed over the weekend. Can't wait to get back to it.

Started playing Table Top Racing: World Tour on PS4 today. @Hero\-of\-Time helped me getting the multiplayer trophies (thanks again ) so I can now focus on the singleplayer. : peace:

I spent some time with Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer on Tuesday. Can't believe I still haven't had enough of it. Need to finish up the Camos for 3 sniper rifles and the knife and then I earned every camo on every weapon.

Persona 4 Golden...oh man. It's not on hold, but it doesn't get any playtime these days

So, not only did I not complete the other games I was playing, I completed another one instead:

Rayman Forever

 

Audio

 

"Excelleeeent!"

Or just "Rayman", this 1995 gem was one I felt like revisiting. I played the original PS1 game a fair amount here and there (never going beyond Band Land for some reason), so I bought it on GOG on a sale some time ago. This version is called "Rayman Forever" and was apparently a MS-DOS re-release with a few extras.

First things first: it's kind of a lousy port. Not only does it run on DOS-Box (a really impractical emulator), certain obstacles and enemies have the wrong colour (for example, the PS1 would have red spiky fruits that don't fall, and orange spiky fruits that do. In this version they're all red), but worst of all, they did away with, like, a third of the soundtrack. The hell!? I can understand CD limitations back then, but there's no reason to not put the music back in. They even took out the little jingle at the end of the level! And the prologue & epilogue FMVs!

As a bonus, the game gives us a Level Designer that predates Super Mario Maker by almost 20 years, and even a few levels designed by fans (mostly French fans, but still). I didn't play most of those levels (DOS-Box stutters a lot there for some reason), but they do feel like a neat extra, like free DLC.

Anyway, the game itself: it's beautiful. It's not just that enemies, bosses and backgrounds look detailed, the animation is pretty darn fluid. Oddly, every time you start a level, you're treated with a neat splash picture that's presented to you via Powerpoint animation (this was all the rage in 1995, you see).

The gameplay is pretty solid. Not only is it fun to control Rayman, the level design is pretty creative, throwing some new gameplay elements right up to the end of the game. It's a lot like Donkey Kong Country in this regard (Rayman even hovers with his hair like Dixie). There's also cages to find throughout the levels as collectibles, hidden in a clever way: they only spawn if you visit specific spots of the level (meaning they could be hidden in plain sight, and you really need to explore)

The real problem is the difficulty... I see why I never made it past Band Land, its first level is the longest and hardest of that world. In fact, there are a lot of levels that feel like they should've been split into 3 or 4. Furthermore, the sliding mechanics are really frustrating (why does Rayman retain so much momentum?) and even the cage-spawning mechanic is partially ruined because the ditty you hear when it spawns is the same as when an enemy spawns, making it really confusing. This game does not feel like it was playtested.

But it's overall a good experience. It's fun to play, and the difficulty just makes it all the more satisfying when you do beat a level and hear that satisfying jingle (or in my case, the jingle I was humming out loud).

It's a solid 4 out of 5. A nice throwback to the days where Ubisoft still produced fewer but good games, before they gained this unsightly image of a company that spits out the same game every year, sometimes unfinished.

Anyway, I don't recommend the GOG port, find another version if you can.

Runbow (Wii U) complete!

Not sure if I'll continue for the 100%. Some of the later stages are a bit of a pain the butt. I may keep picking away at them, I may not.

As well as buying 'Star Fox Zero' and the Nintendo Humble Bundle, I also got a Playstation 3 last week with a few games. First on my list to play was Metal Gear Solid 2 as part of the 'Metal Gear Solid HD Collection' and i've just finished playing through it. I think overall I enjoyed it more than the first game, Kojima and his team were clearly better able to realise their cinematic vision with the second instalment and the improved visuals & wider scope really help the game to achieve those ambitions, but the game still suffers from some of the problems that plagued the PS One original. The controls are still awkward at times, despite offering use of the left analogue stick for movement I still found the controls to be imprecise - causing issues when trying to traverse treacherous areas and sometimes finding that Raiden would hug a wall instead of running past it when trying to evade an enemy guard. Mostly the issues only occurred when errors weren't too costly, although I did find myself aiming at thin air during the final boss fight but it wasn't much of a hinderance.

In terms of the general gameplay I was in equal parts frustrated and pleased. Some moments, such as the battle with the Metal Gear RAY's seemed impossibly challenging to begin with, but were a real joy to work through, even the 7th straight failure causing me no consternation, but it was still a huge relief to finally defeat them. The segment with Emma on the other hand was infuriating, her inability to walk faster than a slow, sputtering crawl causing me constant irritation, why Raiden couldn't just carry her on his back i'll never know. Fortunately though you don't have to babysit for too long before you're back to running about the shell as Raiden.

Speaking of Raiden, he's one of the most pathetic characters I've ever had the joy to control. The way he looks, the way he speaks, just such a thoroughly terrible, whiny teenager - reminding me far too much of the obnoxious Link from the 'Legend Of Zelda' cartoon. Raiden definitely grew on me as the game went on, but it was such a strange juxtaposition going from playing as Snake being thrown in at the deep end on the 'Tanker' to playing as someone so seemingly clueless and having to endure a glorified tutorial.

The dialogue is fantastically awful. I love it whenever the colonel points out that Raiden's equipment is made from 'currently existing technology'. Baffling.

Despite some frustrations though, I really enjoyed it and look forward to making my way through the rest of the series. I'm going to get stuck into 'Affordable Space Adventures' though before I plough on with the rest of my PS3 library.

Good to hear your thoughts on the game @killthenet.

MGS2 is easily my worst entry in the series. I hated Raiden and Rose, especially when they both started spouting their love garbage in the middle of the mission. I care not for this banter or the Titanic reference. Luckily, Raiden gets a major reboot and is all the better for it.

Yeah, the Emma sections were really annoying, both the swimming and the hand holding.

The game did deliver by giving us one of the greatest pieces of music in gaming.

	Audio

Just a shame they can't use it anymore.

I remember watching an interview with Kojima years ago about Raiden. He was created to appeal to the Japanese audience. While Snake was all manly and had a more western appeal, Raiden was had a feminine look, which is what Japanese women look for in a man...apparently.

I can't wait until you get around to playing 3 and 4. I love them both to death ( especially 3 ) and would like to see what you think of them.

The game did deliver by giving us one of the greatest pieces of music in gaming.

Harry Gregson-William is a genius. His MGS soundtracks are all fucking incredible. And we shouldn't forget Norihiko Hibino who gave us:

	Audio

There is also a song from Metal Gear Solid which made me cry (I'll put it in spoilers because I will talk about something from MGS 4...don't read if you haven't played it, peeps)

	Audio

 

When I arrived at Shadmow Moses and the music played...Not ashamed to say that I had tears in my eyes. To be honest, I get goosebumps whenever I hear this song.

 

The Metal Gear Solid Series has been a big part of my teenage years. I was 13 when I got introduced to MGS by one of my best mates. He was playing Sons of Liberty and I was so amazed by what was going on.

 

A year later I bough Twin Snakes for my GC and I loved every single minute of it. I've played all the main installments and MGS became my favourite video game series. It really helped me through my teenage days. Not that they were horrible, but I did need a place to retreat to from time to time and the Metal Gear Solid games helped me with that like no other game has ever done.

 

And when MGS 4 came along...and that song...I couldn't stop the tears

 

Ah the memories...

 

 

This one has been a long time coming...

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

Hyrule Warriors Legends is a 3DS port of the absolutely brilliant WiiU game Hyrule Warriors.

Yes, a 3DS port of a WiiU game. It came out 2 months ago in March.

 

In case you don't know somehow, Hyrule Warriors is a spin-off Zelda game that is basically a crossover of Zelda and Dynasty Warriors. The gameplay is Dynasty Warriors with a Zelda flair while the setting is all Zelda.

The 3DS port includes almost all of the content of the WiiU version, including the DLC along with quite a bit of new content.

 

The object of the game is to help your Hyrulean army to victory by driving back enemy forces using a smorgasbord of past Zelda characters (With a few characters created specifically for this game).

 

At first glance, the game just looks like a boring hack and slash kind of game. And it is, at first. But delve a little deeper and you'l soon discover that this is not a game of button mashing, this is a game of time management.

Your army is always woefully unprepared for every battle, and you have to turn the tables by using your playable character smartly. If you just go around killing every enemy you see with no concrete goal, you're gonna lose, and you're gonna lose often.

 

In order to do well, you have to recognise what the biggest threat is and take care of it as quickly as you can.

Should you focus on that bothersome enemy commander? Or maybe you should fortify your defenses by capturing keeps nearby and work your way outwards.

Some of the later stages can get very intense as the game throws all sorts of problems at you, forcing you to pick and choose what you need to do and what order it needs to be done in.

 

The 3DS version adds a few new mechanics, but the most obvious one would be the ability to switch between multiple playable characters on the fly. Simply touch a character's face and you instantly assume control of them.

This adds a new element to the game and can open up all sorts of new strategies.

Careful though, if a single one of those characters loses all their health, it's an instant game over. Seeing as how the AI will get themselves hurt, you need to pay attention.

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

The game has two main modes, Legend Mode and Adventure Mode.

Legend Mode is the main story mode that has 32 scenarios to fight through. (9 more than the WiiU version)

Yes, the game has a story. It's just an excuse to get loads of characters from different Zelda games together really, and that's just fine.

 

This is the reason for conflict in this game.

 

 

Yes, it's stupid, but who cares? Because this game is all about the Zelda fan service. I mean, where else can you have Ganondorf team up with Agitha from Twilight Princess?

 

 

Or have Young Link murder Toon Link for replacing him in Smash?

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

Or give Tingle exactly what he deserves after his Wind Waker shenanigans?

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

It's all sorts of silly fun that is sure to make Zelda fans smile!

 

The main meat of this game is Adventure Mode. Which puts you on the overworld map from the first Zelda game. Each square has a mission for you to complete. There's all sorts of different things to do on it and lots of rewards to unlock. Characters, weapons, costumes, heart containers, etc.

And because this game includes all the DLC from the WiiU game, it has 3 more maps, including ones based on Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask and a brand new map based on the Wind Waker. I only just finished the 5th one. Something I never did on the WiiU version.

 

You must have JavaScript enabled on your device to view Miiverse posts that have been embedded in a website. View post in Miiverse

 

As mentioned in the Miiverse post, the game is far better balanced, requiring you to be nowhere near as high a level as you needed in the WiiU version.

There's still stuff for me to do (Finishing off the Heart Containers and Gold Skulltulas). But with even more DLC on the horizon, there's plenty more to look forward to.

You definitely get your money's worth with this game, that's for sure.

 

The game looks great on the 3DS. It's remarkable how well it runs... on the New 3DS.

Unfortunately, a standard 3DS struggles to run this game, less enemies on screen and a pretty lousy frame rate means that I can't really recommend getting this game for that.

But on a New 3DS, the game somehow runs even better than it did on the WiiU. I have no idea how they did it, but clearly the goddesses of the Triforce had a hand in this.

That said, turning on the 3D does cause a drop in frame rate. But hey, at least they tried, and it's completely understandable with this game. (I'm looking at you, Game Freak)

 

The soundtrack is fantastic as well. Taking some of the music from other Zelda games and providing rock versions.

Sounds like it shouldn't work, but it kinda does in a weird sort of way. There's also some original music that's pretty great too.

 

	Audio

 

	Audio

 

So if you have a New 3DS and loved Hyrule Warriors (Or haven't even played it), you should really give this game a go. It's easily the definitive version!

 

Oh, and Ruto still sucks!

 

And with that...

 

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - SNES

Shovel Knight - 3DS (Custom Knight amiibo playthrough)

Game & Watch Gallery 2 - GB

Radiohammer - 3DS

Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Path - DS

Shovel Knight - WiiU (Co-op run with Dcubed)

Puzzle and Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition - 3DS (Crazy Diamond Wall 2nd Playthrough Difficulty)

Metroid Prime - Wii

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Wii

Game & Watch Gallery Advance - GBA

Zelda - Game & Watch

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Wii

Metroid Fusion - GBA

Super Mario World - SNES

Star Fox Zero - WiiU

Bravely Second: End Layer - 3DS

Hyrule Warriors Legends - 3DS

 

Time for an update...

Since my last post in here I've played through Bloodborne.

Absolutely mad game. Think I'm a bit too old/casual to fully enjoy this kind of thing now, but I can still appreciate its quality (especially the presentation, which is amazing).

A must-play for anyone who enjoys a challenge.

Something colourful and lighthearted was in order after that, and it was PKTBALL on iOS.

Basically Pong, but with loads of different characters (each complete with their own theme tune + court design) and special power ups.

Very simple touch control scheme that works perfectly, and another fantastic example of unobtrusive ads in a F2P game.

Also, the announcer really sounds like the one from Smash Bros.

Time for another "free" game, but this time from Nintendo!

It's Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge!

Fantastic little game for anyone with some amiibo kicking around.

Unfortunately I could only take on the standard levels plus Mario & Yoshi's, but I'll certainly be keeping the game installed on the chance I ever get other compatible amiibo.

Just finished and nabbed the platinum on Table Top Racing (PS4). It is done @lostmario. Special thanks to @drahkon for the multiplayer boosting session.

Once again PS+ delivers a cracking little game. It's a cross between Micro Machines, Need For Speed and DriveClub. Throw them in a blender and this game would pop out.

The game starts off pretty easy but the difficulty soon starts to ramp up and you need to upgrade you cars to stay ahead of the curve. Once you finish the normal cups a special event section unlocks. This is where the real challenge is. I spent over an hour trying to get the best ranking on just one of the events and there are around 25 or so to do!

A great little game that offered a nice surprise in terms of a challenge.

Just finished and nabbed the platinum on Table Top Racing (PS4). It is done lostmario. Special thanks to drahkon for the multiplayer boosting session.

 

Once again PS+ delivers a cracking little game. It's a cross between Micro Machines, Need For Speed and DriveClub. Throw them in a blender and this game would pop out.

 

The game starts off pretty easy but the difficulty soon starts to ramp up and you need to upgrade you cars to stay ahead of the curve. Once you finish the normal cups a special event section unlocks. This is where the real challenge is. I spent over an hour trying to get the best ranking on just one of the events and there are around 25 or so to do!

 

A great little game that offered a nice surprise in terms of a challenge.

Would've done so already if I wasn't in the middle of Trackmania Turbo and therefore already getting a racing game fix. Don't wanna OD.

Just finished and nabbed the platinum on Table Top Racing (PS4). It is done @lostmario. Special thanks to @drahkon for the multiplayer boosting session.

 

Once again PS+ delivers a cracking little game. It's a cross between Micro Machines, Need For Speed and DriveClub. Throw them in a blender and this game would pop out.

 

The game starts off pretty easy but the difficulty soon starts to ramp up and you need to upgrade you cars to stay ahead of the curve. Once you finish the normal cups a special event section unlocks. This is where the real challenge is. I spent over an hour trying to get the best ranking on just one of the events and there are around 25 or so to do!

 

A great little game that offered a nice surprise in terms of a challenge.

I've given up, was starting to get really frustrated with it.

Back playing Shantae Risky's Revenge on the Wii U

Finished Life Is Strange very early this morning. More thoughts of each individual episode can be found in its own thread.

I'm very happy that I finally got around to playing this game. It's so many things rolled into one. It's an American high-school/college drama, with a coming-of-age story at its focus, yet it also clearly takes inspiration from films like Donnie Darko and The Butterfly Effect. I found it really intriguing to play and the characters kept me coming back for more. I loved seeing more of Chloe, who was at the heart of Max's transformation story from somebody timid and alone to an empowered woman who wanted to make positive changes to the world...and suffered the consequences of this. Episode 3 and 4 illustrated this very well, I thought.

I've youtubed the ending again one more time today and it's so moving. Excellent choice of song, which rounds off a superb selection of music throughout each episode. Episode 4 was such a superbly done episode that I feel that the final episode could never truly surpass it, even though I did enjoy it on its own merit.

Fantastic experience and would happily play more from these creators in future. I wanted to find out as much as I could about Arcadia Bay and its residents. I did truly feel like I knew the characters and felt that they were fleshed out and weren't just cardboard cut-outs. Gah, want more of this game to play!

Games of 2016

Flower - Finished

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Finished

The Unfinished Swan - Finished

Grim Fandango Remastered - Finished

Race The Sun - Finished

The Wolf Among Us - Finished

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Story Finished

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

Ico - Finished

Tokyo Jungle - Finished

Grand Theft Auto 5 - Finished!

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Finished

Batman: Arkham City - Finished

Life Is Strange

Did Not Finish

Darksiders

Wahey!

 

How is it possible to play spelunky for 1000 hours? Or any game really...?

How is it possible to play spelunky for 1000 hours? Or any game really...?

Its my go-to game for playing when I'm watching Youtube or any videos that dont need my full attention and as the game's levels are randomised it keeps it interesting enough each time.

Its my go-to game for playing when I'm watching Youtube or any videos that dont need my full attention and as the game's levels are randomised it keeps it interesting enough each time.

Well it's certainly an impressive haul... Is that steam? Or can you check how long on ps4?

Well it's certainly an impressive haul... Is that steam? Or can you check how long on ps4?

Its Steam. I have the PS4 version as well but I've never been able to have the controls work as well on it. I think having spent so many hours playing it on PC with a 360 controller that any other way just doesnt feel right.

Here's my top list of games played by time on Steam. You can see Spelunky just blows the rest out of the water.

How is it possible to play spelunky for 1000 hours? Or any game really...?

It's not that hard. I mean, if you love a game then you'll play it countless hours. I imagine most people who play online games easily rack up that sort of time. I racked up 600+ hours on one of the Monster Hunter games alone.

I've given up, was starting to get really frustrated with it.

 

Back playing Shantae Risky's Revenge on the Wii U

Quitter. :p

Really glad you enjoyed Life is Strange @Fierce_LiNk. It's an amazing game and once again shows just how diverse gaming has become. A well crafted story can really be something special within a game.

I started, finished and platinumed Super Exploding Zoo (PS4) this morning. I was looking for a shortish game to play before Uncharted arrives and looking through my PS4 library, and then checking HLTB, this seemed to fit criteria nicely.

The game is kinda like Pikmin meets Bomberman. You collect animals and then try your best to make your way through the stage by blowing up walls and enemies by using the animals.

It's certainly a fun little game. Looking through my friends list I see a few who started it and then never finished it. I guess people didn't care for it. @drahkon and @Tales you enjoy trophy hunting, right? This is a relatively straight forward platinum that can be nabbed in 5-6 hours.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, PS+ continues to deliver the gaming goods.

you enjoy trophy hunting, right? This is a relatively straight forward platinum that can be nabbed in 5-6 hours.

I've started it but it wasn't the right game for me to enjoy at that time. Might give it another go once I'm finished with Severed and/or Hitman GO.

If I remember correctly there are multiplayer trophies involved? Is there any chance in getting these easily?

I've started it but it wasn't the right game for me to enjoy at that time. Might give it another go once I'm finished with Severed and/or Hitman GO.

If I remember correctly there are multiplayer trophies involved? Is there any chance in getting these easily?

Yeah, you can boost them by yourself if you have a Vita. Strangely you can play against yourself using the same account. Just download both PS4 and Vita versions and you're set. Failing that I would happily fire it up again for you to boost off me.

Yeah, you can boost them by yourself if you have a Vita.

Did that just now : peace: Think this is my next Vita game to play since I've finished and platinumed Hitman GO today. I will, however, complete Severed first.

I highly recommend Hitman GO if it's ever on sale again (got it for less than 5 €). Great little puzzle game.

It's not that hard. I mean, if you love a game then you'll play it countless hours. I imagine most people who play online games easily rack up that sort of time. I racked up 600+ hours on one of the Monster Hunter games alone.

 

 

 

Quitter. :p

 

Really glad you enjoyed Life is Strange @Fierce_LiNk. It's an amazing game and once again shows just how diverse gaming has become. A well crafted story can really be something special within a game.

 

I started, finished and platinumed Super Exploding Zoo (PS4) this morning. I was looking for a shortish game to play before Uncharted arrives and looking through my PS4 library, and then checking HLTB, this seemed to fit criteria nicely.

 

The game is kinda like Pikmin meets Bomberman. You collect animals and then try your best to make your way through the stage by blowing up walls and enemies by using the animals.

 

It's certainly a fun little game. Looking through my friends list I see a few who started it and then never finished it. I guess people didn't care for it. @drahkon and @Tales you enjoy trophy hunting, right? This is a relatively straight forward platinum that can be nabbed in 5-6 hours.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, PS+ continues to deliver the gaming goods.

I was considering it when I saw you played it. Maybe some other time.

Finished Shantae: Risky's Revenge earlier, good game, nothing that special but I enjoyed playing it and it got me playing on my Wii U.

Thanks to @Hero\-of\-Time for giving me his spare code for it.

Started Affordable Space Adventures but not that impressed by it at the moment, I'll give it another go next week.

 

Really glad you enjoyed Life is Strange @Fierce_LiNk. It's an amazing game and once again shows just how diverse gaming has become. A well crafted story can really be something special within a game.

 

I started, finished and platinumed Super Exploding Zoo (PS4) this morning. I was looking for a shortish game to play before Uncharted arrives and looking through my PS4 library, and then checking HLTB, this seemed to fit criteria nicely.

 

I had a fantastic day today and spent most of the morning just thinking about the game/the ending. I've had Spanish Sahara in my head all day and youtubed the ending a few times. It's a really well-crafted game and I can't wait to see what comes next from these guys.

@Eenuh has played Super Exploding Zoo and I think she enjoyed it!

Finished Severed just now and got the Platinum. Wonderful game. Slight shortcomings but they can be neglected. It's a must-have for every Vita owner.