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PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by PartridgeSenpai Sat Aug 20, 2016 7:51 pm

Perhaps Nintendo was afraid to publish a game in America that puts any kind of military servicemen, such as ex-marines, in a bad light? Or maybe they didn't think Americans would dig a game showing home-grown terrorists. Japanese publishers tend to be very tender-footed around releasing games here that have anything to do with parodying or twisting symbols that have strong ties to American nationalism (the flag, an eagle (Parodius), the military, etc.). Of course, there have been games released here that break those norms, completely without consequence, but it's possible.

It might also be that Nintendo just didn't want to release ANY of the Monolith developed Wii games in NA because reasons, and Disaster just wasn't on the hit-list of the fan petition to get games like Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower released over here.
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by Xeogred Sat Aug 20, 2016 9:57 pm

PartridgeSenpai wrote:Perhaps Nintendo was afraid to publish a game in America that puts any kind of military servicemen, such as ex-marines, in a bad light? Or maybe they didn't think Americans would dig a game showing home-grown terrorists. Japanese publishers tend to be very tender-footed around releasing games here that have anything to do with parodying or twisting symbols that have strong ties to American nationalism (the flag, an eagle (Parodius), the military, etc.). Of course, there have been games released here that break those norms, completely without consequence, but it's possible.

It might also be that Nintendo just didn't want to release ANY of the Monolith developed Wii games in NA because reasons, and Disaster just wasn't on the hit-list of the fan petition to get games like Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower released over here.

And look at Xenoblade's status now. Easily one of Nintendo's biggest fuckups holding that game back. I bet Soma Bringer would have been a big success over here too.

You have one of the last teams of classic JRPG lineage, many veterans from Square, first party... I don't know, maybe utilize that team and their efforts better? :roll: :lol:
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by PartridgeSenpai Sat Aug 20, 2016 11:43 pm

Partridge Senpai's 2016 Beaten List
1. Tales of Vesperia
2. SNK Vs. Capcom Card Fighters Clash 2: Expanded Edition
3. Toro! Let's Party!
4. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
5. Ghost Trick
6. Shining Force: EXA
7. Fire Emblem: Awakening
8. New Super Mario Bros. U
9. New Luigi U
10. Riviera: The Promised Land
11. (Dragon Quest) Mori Mori Slime 3
12. Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry God
13. Yoshi's New Island
14. Yoshi's Island (repeat)
15. Super Back to the Future II
16. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
17. Binary Domain
18. Star Fox Assault
19. Chibi-Robo Park Patrol
20. Scurge: The Hive
21. Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure
22. Yoshi's Woolly World
23. BOXBOY!
24. Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom
25. Mafia II
26. Gears of War
27. Halo 3
28. Tales of Graces f
29. Tales of Graces f : Lineages & Legacies
30. DeathSmiles
31. Dishonored
32. Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall DLC
33. Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches DLC
34. Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival
35. Tales of Symphonia
36. Ninja Smasher
37. Samba De Amigo
38. Mario & Luigi 4: Dream Adventure
39. Alien on the Run
40. Resident Evil Revelations
41. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
42. Beautiful Katamari
43. Katamari Damacy
44. Crazy Construction

45. Spec Ops: The Line

At the suggestion at ElkinFencer10, who I believe was the last person to post about this game on this thread, I played through the whole thing in one sitting, and it is a recommendation I shall pass on. Going in, I knew the story of the game was very centered around real horrors of war, but I really had no idea where it was going to go from there. Even in the spoiler section, I shall speak very minimally in terms of story, but I shall do slight references, so I implore anyone who even slightly thinks they'll play this game to not read the spoilers.

First, from a gameplay perspective, the game is nothing new. You could just call this "Gears of War with Good Story" and that would be a fairly accurate series of events. It's a 3rd person cover shooter on last gen, and it really follows the tried and true formula for what makes those games fun. While it really doesn't do anything new, it also doesn't do anything wrong, which is really the best thing I could've asked for in a game like this (reinventing the wheel just wasn't necessary for the narrative they were trying to tell to be successful). BUT the gameplay is really not the main event in this game, as you, reader probably well know.

The main event here is the story. For the public bit, I will only comment that the story is voice acted very well, and with the exception of one performance drop in a cutscene, the game also runs very well so that never really broke my immersion. Additionally, there are "intel" bits you can find and collect for extra details on the world and the main character's thoughts, and THANK GOODNESS they do not commit the Mafia II sin of having them strewn about battlefields. With the exception of one in chapter 10 and one in the last chapter that has combat, all of these intel pieces are in places where there's no combat anyway, and I was able to find all of them on my first playthrough. They're never really nefariously hidden, as long as you keep your eyes open and hug a wall every now and then. Not necessary to the story or the experience, but I like when games do something gamey that doesn't break the immersion too much *COUGH* Alan Wake *COUGH*.

I highly recommend that you only read the following section if you've already played the game, as to not bias yourself in any way.

Damn, this game really threw me for a loop. The way your squad breaks down as you go through the game, and slowly breaks rules of decency and mercy are just so fantastically nuanced in their presentation. It was only in retrospect did I even notice in several areas that the game was trying to get across a major point thematically, but because it just fit so well in the narrative and the atmosphere at the time I hadn't noticed it (or it just wasn't something you'd realize with the narrative at the stage it was at). And that twist, hot damn, I love when a game/movie can give me a twist I NEVER saw coming, and this game fucking delivered.


Verdict: DAMN recommended. If you are going to play ANY shooter of last gen for its story, make it Spec Ops: The Line. It is now one of my favorite story-focused games in any genre, and especially the shooter genre. It's only 6-8 hours long (depending on how much you die, and I died quite a bit on the last couple chapters, but I only took 7 hours) so it's not an incredible time commitment, and I do sincerely recommend playing through it in once sitting to get the full experience of the narrative at once.
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by dsheinem Sun Aug 21, 2016 3:41 am

Spec Ops The Line is a milestone for the medium.

Now go read this: https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Harmless ... B00B9P2WP6
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by ElkinFencer10 Sun Aug 21, 2016 8:33 am

PartridgeSenpai wrote:Perhaps Nintendo was afraid to publish a game in America that puts any kind of military servicemen, such as ex-marines, in a bad light? Or maybe they didn't think Americans would dig a game showing home-grown terrorists. Japanese publishers tend to be very tender-footed around releasing games here that have anything to do with parodying or twisting symbols that have strong ties to American nationalism (the flag, an eagle (Parodius), the military, etc.). Of course, there have been games released here that break those norms, completely without consequence, but it's possible.

It might also be that Nintendo just didn't want to release ANY of the Monolith developed Wii games in NA because reasons, and Disaster just wasn't on the hit-list of the fan petition to get games like Xenoblade and Pandora's Tower released over here.

I'm sure those were considerations, but the main reason was extremely poor sales in Europe, Japan, and Australia. Nintendo of America did a decent amount of marketing for the game and assured IGN at one point that it was still coming. The decision to cancel was a last minute one based on sales.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by ElkinFencer10 Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:21 am

Games Beaten in 2016 So Far - 88

January (20 Games Beaten)
1. Shadow Warrior - Playstation 4 - January 1
2. The Order: 1886 - Playstation 4 - January 2
3. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - Wii - January 3
4. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits - WiiWare - January 4
5. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - Vita - January 5
6. Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube - January 9
7. Fairy Bloom Freeia - Steam - January 10
8. Petit Novel Series: Harvest December - 3DS - January 13
9. Gas Guzzlers Extreme - Steam - January 14
10. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Wii - January 16
11. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition - Wii - January 19
12. Killzone: Liberation - PSP - January 20
13. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii - January 20
14. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii - January 24
15. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii - January 25
16. Corpse Party - PSP - January 25
17. Freedom Planet - Wii U - January 25
18. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space - Vita - January 25
19. Silent Hill: Homecoming - Xbox 360 - January 26
20. Life is Strange - Playstation 4 - January 28


February (8 Games Beaten)
21. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - PSP - February 2
22. Megadimension Neptunia VII - Playstation 4 - February 12
23. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - February 13
24. Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Vita - February 17
25. If My Heart Had Wings - Steam - February 18
26. Missing: An Interactive Thriller - Steam - February 18
27. Her Story - Steam - February 18
28. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS - February 26


March (8 Games Beaten)
29. Saints Row 2 - Steam - March 1
30. Saturday Morning RPG - Playstation 4 - March 3
31. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS - March 6
32. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Wii U - March 8
33. Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 20
34. Moe Chronicle - Vita - March 22
35. Tom Clancey's The Division - Playstation 4 - March 23
36. Yoshi's New Island - 3DS - March 28


April (13 Games Beaten)
37. Alien Rage - Steam - April 1
38. Alien Breed: Impact - Steam - April 2
39. Alien Breed 2: Assault - Steam - April 3
40. Alien Breed 3: Descent - Steam - April 3
41. Bravely Second: Ballad of the Three Cavaliers - 3DS - April 6
42. Quantum Break - Xbox One - April 7
43. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric - Wii U - April 8
44. Akai Katana - Xbox 360 - April 9
45. Otomedius Excellent - Xbox 360 - April 9
46. Chasing Dead - Wii U - April 10
47. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation - 3DS - April 14
48. Ratchet and Clank - Playstation 4 - April 20
49. Starfox Zero - Wii U - April 23


May (6 Games Beaten)
50. Aero Fighters 2 - NeoGeo - May 8
51. Bravely Second: End Layer - 3DS - May 11
52. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita - May 15
53. Doom - Playstation 4 - May 20
54. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - Playstation 4 - May 22
55. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan - Playstation 4 - May 25


June (13 Games Beaten)
56. MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies - Vita - June 2
57. Republique - Playstation 4 - June 3
58. Splatterhouse - Playstation 3 - June 4
59. Spec Ops: The Line - Playstation 3 - June 5
60. 1943: Battle of Midway - NES - June 6
61. Mirror's Edge: Catalyst - Playstation 4 - June 12
62. Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem - SNES - June 13
63. Homefront: The Revolution - Playstation 4 - June 15
64. Gone Home - Playstation 4 - June 15
65. Double Dragon Neon - Playstation 3 - June 16
66. Vanquish - Playstation 3 - June 17
67. Epic Dumpster Bear - Wii U - June 20
68. B3: Game Expo for Bees - Wii U - June 21


July (7 Games Beaten)
69. Raiden V - Xbox One - July 16
70. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE - Wii U - July 16
71. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES - Playstation 2 - July 23
72. Lost Sea - Playstation 4 - July 24
73. Far Cry Primal - Playstation 4 - July 27
74. Black - Playstation 2 - July 28
75. Until Dawn - Playstation 4 - July 31


August (13 Games Beaten)
76. Divine Sealing - Mega Drive - August 1
77. Gal*Gun: Double Peace - Playstation 4 - August 2
78. Valkyria Chronicles II - PSP - August 5
79. Breach and Clear - Vita - August 10
80. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - Gamecube - August 12
81. Metal Gear Solid - Playstation - August 15
82. Hello Kitty Kruisers - Wii U - August 16
83. Monster Monpiece - Vita - August 17
84. Army Men: Major Malfunction - Xbox - August 17
85. Layers of Fear - Steam - August 18
86. Kirby: Planet Robobot- 3DS - August 19
87. Disaster: Day of Crisis - Wii - August 20
88. Caladrius Blaze - PlayStation 4 - August 20


88. Caladrius Blaze - PlayStation 4 - August 20
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Caladrius is a shmup originally released on the Xbox 360 in 2013. A few months later, it was ported to arcades under the name Caladrius AC. A year after that, it saw a PlayStation 3 port with the title Caladrius Blaze. Here we are, almost exactly two years later, and its glorious PlayStation 4 port has arrived. IIRC it's available worldwide digitally, but I think only Japan and Korea got physical releases (I have the disc with Korean and English subtitles).

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I've only played the story mode for Caladrius, but I have finished it with all eight characters. The common theme throughout all eight characters is that the king went a bit crazy with desire for power (physical power, not political) after failing to protect his son and one of his wives and uses a forbidden tome of black magic to bind human souls to machines, thereby making immensely powerful weapons. Each of the eight characters has his or her own reasons for opposing the king's plans. One of the things that I really appreciated about this game was that, unlike a lot of shmups, each character really does feel and control distinctly, and no two characters' playthroughs feel the same even if you're going through the same levels with the same enemy attack patterns.

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Visually, you can tell that it's just a port of a 360/PS3 game, but because of that, it runs VERY smoothly with little to no slowdown. Even with being a port of a last gen game, though, it still looks fantastic. It's mainly just the environment textures that you can tell are a little dated if you look closely. In addition to your standard weapon (which you can hold X to fire; no need to wear yourself out mashing the button millions of times), you have three special weapons that vary from character to character. Typically, one of these will be defensive and destroy incoming shots, one will be a more wide ranged offensive weapon that deals less damage but over a huge area, and one will be a ridiculously powerful but concentrated attack. Each of these special weapons can be fired for extended periods the same way that your standard weapon can, but they've got an energy gauge measured by percentage. This does, however, refill over time. The bosses are (for the most part) a breeze if you effectively utilize these special weapons.

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The thing that I think is particularly worth noting above all else is how extremely approachable this game is. There are six difficulty settings - Practice, Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard - so that everyone from greenest of shmup noobs to most ragged of shmup veterans will be able to play at an appropriate difficulty level. Because I'm typically not that great at shmups, I played through on Very Easy with my first character, Easy for the next two or three, and Normal for the rest (since, at least with the story mode, difficulty has no impact on trophies as long as you don't pick Practice).

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Speaking of story mode, there are three "versions" you can play. Original Mode is a straight port of the 360 original with 5 stages. Arcade Mode is the arcade version with 5 stages plus 2 extra missions that have no real story connection and are purely for points. Evolution Mode has the 5 stages of the original, the two missions of the arcade version, plus a sixth stage. I played through all of them but felt that - from a narrative perspective - they were all about the same, so most of my playthroughs were done on Original Mode. When I replay on harder difficulties to challenge myself later, though, I'll probably stick to Evolution.

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All in all, this is a GREAT shmup that everyone with a PS4, PS3, 360, or PC needs to pick up. I think it's only like $20 in the PlayStation Store (don't quote me on that), and its fantastic. Oh, and there's local multiplayer and global leaderboards. Replay value galore.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.

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Xeogred
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by Xeogred Sun Aug 21, 2016 10:54 am

Looks pretty legit and not too bullet hell-y.
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by Xeogred Sun Aug 21, 2016 12:47 pm

1. Sly 2 Band of Thieves HD (PS3)
2. Black (Xbox)
3. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox)
4. Super Mario Bros Advance 4: SMB3 E-Reader Levels (WiiUVC)
5. Galerians (PSX)
6. Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (WiiU)
7. TRAG / Hard Edge: Mission of Mercy (PSX)
8. Soul Blade (PSX)
9. Castlevania Circle of the Moon* (WiiUVC)
10. The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess* HD (WiiU)
11. Mega Man 9* (PSN)
12. Mega Man 10* (PSN)
13. Dark Souls 3 (NG++) [PLATINUM] (PS4)
14. Mega Man 1* (PS4, MMLC)
15. Mega Man 2* (PS4, MMLC)
16. Mega Man 3* (PS4, MMLC)
17. Mega Man 4* (PS4, MMLC)
18. Mega Man 5* (PS4, MMLC)
19. Mega Man 6* (PS4, MMLC)
20. Doom [PLATINUM] (PS4)
21. Quake (PC)
22. Quake 2* (PC)
23. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (PS3)
24. Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon (PC)
25. Quake 2 Mission Pack 1: The Reckoning (PC)
26. Quake Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity (PC)
27. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2: Ground Zero (PC)
28. Quake: Dimensions of the Past (PC)
29. Bayonetta 2 (WiiU)
30. Wolfenstein The Old Blood (PC)
31. Dishonored DLC The Knife of Dunwall (PC)
32. Dishonored DLC The Brigmore Witches (PC)
33. Metro Last Light Redux (PC)
34. Doom 3 BFG Edition* (PC)
35. Metro 2033 Redux (PC)
36. Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil* BFG (PC)
37. Doom 3 The Lost Mission* BFG (PC)
38. Ninja Gaiden 3 Razor's Edge (PS3)
39. Ultimate Doom* (PC)
40. Devil's Third (WiiU)
41. SOMA (PC)
42. Doom 2* (PC)
43. Gone Home (PC)
44. Metroid Other M (Wii)
45. Deus Ex Human Revolution Director's Cut* (PC)
46. AM2R: Return of Samus (PC)
47. Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4)
48. Metroid Zero Mission* (WiiUVC)
49. Alan Wake's American Nightmare (PC)
50. Odallus: The Dark Call (PC)

* replay

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Odallus was a nice surprise and is quite possibly my second favorite "indie" game as of now, under the supreme champion Shovel Knight. The competition isn't much, because as some may know I am very vocal about being super picky with "indie" games or throwbacks. So for Odallus to simply make the cut should speak highly of its quality to me. My NES/SNES/Genesis blood runs deep and to appeal to me, I want something that looks, sounds, and feels extremely authentic and could have come right off the classic hardware, and this definitely has the Genesis vibes in spades and the aesthetics ruled. It's a beautiful blend of Castlevania meets Ghouls' n Ghosts to me. I've seen people compare the gameplay to Demon's Crest which I can see, with it being level based but there's a few branching paths, secrets, and unlockable items/equipment to find, so you'll do some backtracking. Frankly I like it more than Demon's Crest, since it controls better and the combat is more fun.

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There's a few pitfalls with some buggy mechanics from time to time. The dash+jumping being a bit finicky and the ledge climbing not always functioning right. Definitely had some frustrating f-bombs dropping throughout bits of this, but it was all in good fun and this is something I can see myself revisiting. I got I think one game over, which just puts you back on the worldmap I think and you'll be put back whatever checkpoints you reached in a level. So it's pretty fair, the game isn't super hard but isn't a cake walk either. I ended up missing one of the key items early on that may have made some of the journey harder, as I missed a double jump ability and better armor for half the game. Those and a stronger main weapon definitely made it easier. But the difficulty balanced back again near the final stretch and got pretty tough. So it did a good job keeping it consistent.

Overall I clocked in about 4 hours and 15 minutes. Definitely recommended for classic Capcom/Konami fans.

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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by noiseredux Sun Aug 21, 2016 1:39 pm

That looks awesome.
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Re: Games Beaten 2016

by BoneSnapDeez Sun Aug 21, 2016 1:42 pm

Yeah that game looks rad. $15 on GOG.com though! I'll most certainly wait for a sale to grab it.
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