Your 2016 Gaming Diary

Are either of you planning to plat Rogue Galaxy? The game is great fun for the most part, but some of the trophies can be a little grindy at the end.

Anyway, got the platinum on Uncharted a few days ago. Three playthroughs plus a few chapter selects. Thoughts are in the Uncharted thread somewhere.

Are either of you planning to plat Rogue Galaxy?

Probably not for the time being. Think I'll just finish the game once and save the Platinum for some rainy days

Are either of you planning to plat Rogue Galaxy? The game is great fun for the most part, but some of the trophies can be a little grindy at the end.

 

Anyway, got the platinum on Uncharted a few days ago. Three playthroughs plus a few chapter selects. Thoughts are in the Uncharted thread somewhere.

Probably but whether I go for it straight away or just pick away at it is another matter.

I got up to chapter 6 last night and i'm still loving the game. I've gotten used to switching between characters to use their different moves and i'm defeating mobs quite swiftly now. One of Jasters moves ( think it's called Desert Wind or something ) completely sweeps multiple enemies in a single use. It's fantastic.

I was surprised to hear this song during the game.

	Audio

Even though I never finished the game back in the day, I knew about this song and thought it was just for the credits. It's a song I always listen to when I go through a phase of just listening to VG music. I was loving it when it popped up during chapter 6.

@drahkon I tried playing this via remote play on the Vita and you were right, it works great! I was able to grind a few levels while watching some TV. Good times and i'll certainly be using it again over the weekend.

@drahkon I tried playing this via remote play on the Vita

Copycat :p

One of Jasters moves ( think it's called Desert Wind or something ) completely sweeps multiple enemies in a single use.

Yeah, I've unlocked Desert Wind LV 2 5 minutes into chapter 4 and my tactic so far has been: 3 or more enemies? Desert Wind. Win. Repeat.

If low on AP -> recharge. Continue with Desert Wind.

I love farming enemies to max out weapons and use them to create new weapons. : peace:

I just wanted to drop in and say that I played Firewatch and that it was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I've had since Journey. Beautiful game.

I was thinking about playing Overwatch, but I've not played Firewatch, will I know what's going on?

They are not related at all, if that's what you're thinking.

Uncharted 4

First of all, this game is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Beautiful graphics and sound. I had a great time with the characters, with the settings and the traversing across dangerous areas and barely surviving by the skin of your teeth.

For 95% of this game it's a complete and utter joy to play and look at. It sets the standard for 21st century action games. Buuuuuut, there's 5% of gameplay here that soured the experience for me and prevents me from giving it the absolute maximum score I could have. It's a shame that much of the problems with the game occur right at the end, since it's still fresh in the mind when you view the credits and leave the game. Everything up until Chapter 18 is a masterpiece, imo.

Overall, it's going to be one of the best games of the year. Buuuuuut, it could have been absolute perfection. For me, anyway. It may be something that I rate much more highly on repeated playthroughs. I hope so, anyway. I definitely enjoyed my time with the game...95% of it anyway.

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

Uncharted 4

Did Not Finish

Darksiders

Platinum for Table Top Racing: World Tour get!

Solid, almost good game but it lacks charm and variety. I still enjoyed it Easy Platinum and a nice PS+ game.

I currently can't be arsed to go after the remaining 50% of collectibles in Uncharted 4 I really want to get this done by the end of the week, though.

Just finished playing through Metroid Prime. I enjoyed it and was frustrated by it in equal parts, the games atmosphere is spectacular - on a par with 'Super Metroid', but it made some missteps with some of the game mechanics that made me enjoy it less than I enjoyed the SNES classic. The issues I have with the game were pretty minor overall though, my main problem being the grapple beam, so it didn't mar my enjoyment of it too much and I'm really glad to have finally played it, it's one of those games that I never got around to playing on the Gamecube simply because I felt like I needed to play it's predecessors first. I wish I could go back and tell my 15 year-old self to just play it, because it surely would have been a life changing experience when it came out.

Next up I think it has to be 'Metal Gear Solid 3 HD'.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End complete. Like Flink, there was a small part of the game i disliked (to the point it's near enough exactly the same part). Otherwise, a fantastic game none the less. It's certainly a contender for Game of the Year for me, and we're not even 1/2 way into the year.

Bought Virtua Cop off @Dcubed a month or so ago and finally got round to playing and finishing it.

Had to buy a Virtua Gun first though, which I got with Virtua Cop 2

It hasn't aged well graphically but it is a really good & fun lightgun game.

The Virtua Gun is a solid lightgun as well, feels just like the one in the arcade.

Next up tomorrow, Virtua Cop 2

@lostmario

I loved Virtua Cop on my Saturn. It was amazing fun with the lightgun.

"RELOAD!!!"

I've just finished Beyond Good & Evil on the Gamecube

I started it a few years ago but finally resumed my save file at around 8 hours at the weekend. It wasn't exactly easy to jump back into as I couldn't remember where I was or what I was supposed to be doing or how a lot of things worked.. yet I didn't particularly want to start the game again from scratch

Once I got my bearings and figured out where to go, everything was pretty straightforward and it didn't take long to see the adventure through to the end. I wasn't exactly blown away by it and found the combat to be a lot like Starfox Adventures.. and not in a good way

Most of the game was decent enough and I can see why it may have seemed great back when it was originally released. I'm not sure I'd necessarily be clamouring for a sequel but having seen the short clip after the credits, Beyond Good & Evil was obviously set up with one in mind. It would probably have worked well with the Wii U Gamepad

Got in the mood to play Crash Bandicoot after the little Easter Egg in Uncharted 4, played it after finishing Uncharted until now. Not too bad, enjoyed it. Means it's time to move onto Crash Bandicoot 2 tomorrow.

Well that was quick! I've wizzed through Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD over the past couple of days. Before playing it I had expected that it would be the weakest in the series, not based on anything concrete just a feeling I had, and to begin with it definitely felt that way, it took more time to get into the game that either of the first two entries, but once I started enjoying it, I couldn't put it down. I'm not a James Bond fan at all, but it would be interesting to the see the franchise take a similar turn to this, with it's bizarre dialogue and sci-fi/horror elements.

There is a weird sexist streak in the game, like allowing Snake to stare at EVA's breasts by pressing L1 during cutscenes, and when walking with EVA to the lake towards the end of the game she's pathetically slow and regularly moans about being weak and hungry - although she does take out a few guards whenever they show up. I was worried that it would be a painfully stupid part of the game, like the Emma section was in MGS2, but fortunately it didn't last very long.

I got a 'Resident Evil 4' vibe throughout the game, mainly because it's setting and colour palette is quite similar but also because of Volgin's similarities to Krauser and the 'on rails' style run & gun towards the end of the game. I really breezed through the game, but didn't find it ridiculously easy, with a few of the boss fights providing a stiff challenge, especially those with Volgin & The Boss. In some areas 'Snake Eater' surpasses the original MGS, the stealth aspects when sneaking around the jungle are incredibly tense and the action sequences are fantastic. None of the boss battles quite reach the heights and challenge of the Metal Gear Rex fight from MGS2, but the overall quality of the game is markedly higher than that incarnation and 'Snake Eater' is a more fitting follow up to the PS1 original.

When I started playing it, I thought the environment of the jungle was going to be detrimental to the experience, but it added so much to my enjoyment of the game, and coming off the incredibly atmospheric 'Metroid Prime', it's a testament to how well crafted the environments are that this felt almost as immersive. It conjured up memories of 'Fitzcarraldo', 'Rescue Dawn' and 'Apocalypse Now' but being in the 'Metal Gear' universe it adds it's own unique twists too, thanks mainly to the Cold War setting.

On top of everything else, the narrative of the game is outstanding, expanding the history of 'Metal Gear Solid', providing answers and fresh questions in equal measure and I'm really keen to continue to story right away, but should probably work through some more items on the backlog first. To sum up, it's not only my favourite entry in the 'Metal Gear' franchise, it's also one of the best games I've played.

Up next will be 'Shadow Of The Colossus' and 'Super Mario Galaxy 2'.

Finished The Walking Dead - Season 1 on PS4. While I enjoyed it, I think the Telltale games would benefit from a new engine with improved lipsync and facial animations. Many times I haven't been as emotionally invested because the faces just looked hilarious...and some conversations were horrible. Pacing could've been better, as well.

Still, overall I liked it because the story was great.

Not sure if I'll start the special Episode or Season 2 anytime soon.

I just finished this.

Freedom Planet is a game that started life as a Kickstarter campaign.

It originally came out on Steam in 2014 and a WiiU version (The one I played) came out a year later.

Most WiiU owners got it as part of the recent WiiU Humble Bundle. Not me though. I'm far too cheap for that. I just took @Dcubed's code because he had already bought the game.

But are the best things in life free? Let's find out.

The game follows Lilac (A dragon, apparently... despite looking nothing like one) and her best friend Carol (Who manages to look like a cat).

A spacecraft crashes near their house and they go to investigate.

Once they reach the ship, they meet a duck named Torque who tells them that they need to protect something called the Kingdom Relic or bad things will happen.

This story is serviceable. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it is enjoyable.

I have to give props to some of the voice actors as well, there's some great performances here.

Although I couldn't help but notice some volume balancing problems with some of the more minor characters, I really had to strain to make out what they were saying sometimes.

But anyway, enough plot. Let's talk about the game.

Freedom Planet is a 2D Platformer that will make any seasoned gamer instantly think of the original Sonic trilogy on the Genesis.

The game is heavily inspired by it (Shouldn't be surprising, it did originally start off life as a Sonic fangame), but play it for a bit, and you'll start to see that there's a lot more to this than the first impressions tell.

Now don't get me wrong, you can run fast and you probably will run fast. But I always felt that I had total control over Lilac at all times, unlike in the Sonic games, where going too fast can easily get you killed.

There's almost no cheap bottomless pits, enemies can't hurt you just by simply touching you and it's these small details that make Freedom Planet a lot more enjoyable to play.

The levels are great too, you've got some basic levels where you get from point A to point B, and some more maze like levels, where you have to find a certain thing to proceed.

And naturally, all these levels end up with a boss battle, which unfortunately puts a shuddering halt to my paragraph of praise.

Yeah, sure. I'm meant to dodge this?

Almost every single boss in this game is a ludicrous difficulty spike of unbelievable proportions. Now I'm not against making a game difficult or easy. That's totally up to whoever made the game, but I do take issue with having inconsistent levels of difficulty.

Getting through the stages is, well it's not completely easy, but it's certainly doable. But the bosses just ate through my lifes faster than I could run!

And I'm afraid it's a dreaded case of fake difficulty in some cases. Untelegraphed attacks up the wazzoo suck out all the fun that these could have been. There was one particular boss quite early on in the game that could get rid of half of your health if you just happened to jump at the wrong time, which was incredibly easy to do.

After a while, I started dreading every boss, scared of what cheap tricks they'd hit me with, and I don't think that's what they were going for.

It is a shame, because I did have fun with this game at times. But those unfair bosses just impacted my enjoyment too much.

I definitely don't regret playing this game, not one bit. Especially for the price I paid for it (Nothing).

The actual platforming is great fun, but those bosses make this very much a mixed bag. But you know what? I probably won't touch it again. And I can't help but feel a bit sad about that. It was so damn close!

Finished Virtua Cop 2 .

Improved on the original and was a challenging game at times.

Really got me in the mood to play more lightgun games now.

Tempted to get House of the Dead but it goes for £20+

Maybe its time to revisit the Time Crisis series.

I completed Shadow Of The Colossus last night, and as much as I enjoyed 'Ico', this is the far superior game. I feel like i've gone from one extreme to the other after the lengthy cutscenes of 'Metal Gear Solid 3', SOTC throws you straight into the action, barely 10 minutes in and I was already fighting the first Colossus. The fights themselves are often exhilarating, climbing atop the giant creatures and searching for their weak points, while some are presented like puzzles that need to be solved before you can expose their vitals and take them down. The presentation of the game is flawless, with wonderful dilapidated architecture and luscious scenery inhabited by the powerful Colossi, who oftentimes resemble a more organic Iron Giant, with their small & expressive eyes making them seem like they're thinking, feeling creatures. Most of the game is a joy to play, even the horse riding - which felt awkward at first - ends up feeling quite effortless and you become quite attached to your horse, with him even playing a major role in some of the boss fights. Nintendo must have felt so downtrodden when SOTC came out, the horse riding elements of 'Twilight Princess' were so poor in comparison, feeling like you were riding a tank instead of a swift, agile horse.

Accompanying the expertly paced story is one of the finest soundtracks I've heard in any medium, let alone video games. The way the music rallies as you cling onto a colossus, readying your sword for a final blow, to the slow build up of the music throughout the final colossi battle, it's all perfectly timed and composed. It reminded me at times of 'Lacrimosa' from 'The Tree Of Life' or the better parts of the 'Interstellar' soundtrack and it helped to elevate the games atmosphere even further.

I had a couple of minor issues with the controls that took some getting used to, mainly when trying to make a ledge jump (down on the analogue stick always pushes you away from the wall, regardless of where the camera is), and also had problems with the camera system, which is identical to that of 'Ico'. One more major issue I had was during the Lion colossus fight, when it seemed quite unfair at times - if the colossus hit me even once, there would be no escape and it would pummel me until I was dead. Thankfully it only happened once, but it was after a lot of hard work setting up the end of the battle, so it was frustrating to say the least.

In the overall experience though, it's easily forgotten and the game has to rank alongside 'Shenmue' and 'Majora's Mask' as one of the very best games that I've played.

As well as playing through 'Shadow Of The Colossus', I've also beaten the Match Race mode on 1080 Snowboarding on the Wii U VC. Unfortunately, I don't think the layout of the Wii U controllers is conducive to getting very high scores in the Trick Attack mode, so I might have to dig out my N64 cartridge if I want to truly conquer the slopes again.

As an odd aside, every game I've played so far on my PS3 has been an HD remaster by Bluepoint Games, those guys have done some stellar work - assign them to the 'Shenmue' remasters already! My next PS3 game had nothing to do with Bluepoint though, as I begin to tackle 'Dark Souls'.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Platinum get! Incredible game from start to finish.

Put several games on my "On Hold"-list. Including Rogue Galaxy. The initial enjoyment didn't fade away, but apparently I'm not in the mood for a big RPG.

Well, nothing too bad as I am interested in getting the Platinum for Alienation. It will be a huge grind, but with me buying The Talos Principle for PS4, the upcoming purchase of Overwatch for PS4 on Monday and the not-yet-faded-enjoyment of Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer I think I can strike a good balance between those games

In other news:

There's no way I'll be able to finish The Talos Principle (or any other game for that matter) until June, so I think it's time to choose my GOTM for May.

Tough choice...Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is a masterpiece, Dark Souls III scratched my Souls-itch in the best way possible and Severed is one of the best Vita game's I've ever played.

Well, considering all...there's only one winner:

 

As I've said, it's a masterpiece. Genuine GOTY contender.

Nioh - Alpha Demo. This can be something very special and I'm really looking forward to it. The Alpha was an incredible experience.

 

 

Currently Playing

____________________________________

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) long-term playthrough

 

Alienation (PS4) long-term playthrough

The Talos Principle (PS4)

 

 

Completed

____________________________________

 

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

 

February

________________________________________________

The Wolf Among Us (PS4)

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 2

Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)

Peggle 2 (PS4)

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Cadence+Melody Zones 1-4; Cadence All-Zones-Mode

 

March

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Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Melody+Bard All-Zones-Mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 4 and 5

The Unfinished Swan (PS4)

Limbo (PS4)

Assault Android Cactus (PS4)

Salt and Sanctuary (PS4)

 

April

________________________________________________

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Master Prestige

 

May

________________________________________________

Alienation (PS4)

Nioh - Alpha Demo (PS4)

Dark Souls III (PS4)

Hitman GO (PSVita)

Severed (PSVita)

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) acquired the Dark Matter Camouflage

Table Top Racing: World Tour (PS4)

The Walking Dead - Season 1 (PS4)

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)

 

Put on hold

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

Flame Over (PSVita) long-term playthrough

Dark Cloud (PS4)

Stories: The Path of Destinies (PS4)

Persona 4 Golden (PSVita)

Super Exploding Zoo (PS4/PSVita)

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) long-term playthrough

Enter the Gungeon (PS4) long-term playthrough

Rogue Galaxy (PS4)

 

 

There was one particular boss quite early on in the game that could get rid of half of your health if you just happened to jump at the wrong time, which was incredibly easy to do.

Was that the Robo-Panther from the game's cover? I honestly can't recall any boss that could take away half of Lilac's health like that.

I only experienced that "boss-difficulty-spike" when playing as Milla during Hard Mode (enemies do double the damage, Milla is hard to use and has half the health), and with Brevon's ship (a battle that makes more sense at the final level than when you first see it as a mini-boss). Other than that, I thought the difficulty was fine, but I guess opinions vary.

I'm just glad to see someone other than me checking out that game

You seen to be playing some really big name games right now, @killthenet, and I'm enjoying reading about your impressions and how they may compare to mine

Well that was quick! I've wizzed through Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater HD over the past couple of days. Before playing it I had expected that it would be the weakest in the series..

I've been through Snake Eater twice, once on PS2 and then again on 3DS. With Metal Gear Solid being one of my favourite games, I wanted to enjoy the rest of the series but nothing seems to come close to the original.

I'm not sure if I find Metal Gear Solid 3 to be the weakest entry I've played but I just couldn't seem to get into it in the same way I had with the first game and Sons of Liberty, the latter of which I need to play through again to see how I feel about it now!

I actually believe that one of the main problems I have is that I'm simply not good at it. Perhaps I was too dependent on the soliton radar in MGS1 and MGS2 or maybe just found the experience to be more enjoyable with it available but I feel like I've struggled since the series moved away from this.

There's also the fact that I've never appreciated the atmoshpere or bosses in the same way as I had done with the original Metal Gear Solid and I certainly found in Snake Eater that there were a couple that I couldn't quite seem to get a grasp of and made the battles a long and cumbersome affair, including the final battle In fact, I had such a bad impression from the fight with The End on the PS2 version that once I reached that point on 3DS, I didn't play the game for a week so that he would die naturally and I wouldn't have to bother with it

I completed Shadow Of The Colossus last night, and as much as I enjoyed 'Ico', this is the far superior game.

Shadow of the Colossus is definitely superior and is a game, like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, that I have the HD version of on PS3 that I'd like to play through having previously taken care of both on PS2 several years ago.

The controls were definitely irritating at times, making certain battles extremely frustrating, but the game was a good experience overall and I hope to like it even more the second time through

In fact, I had such a bad impression from the fight with The End on the PS2 version that once I reached that point on 3DS, I didn't play the game for a week so that he would die naturally and I wouldn't have to bother with it

I hate you.

I hate you.

Is that because of my lack of respect for the battle or because I revealed a spoiler that I felt was already pretty well known..?