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Games Beaten 2016

Spirits of Xanadu - PC
Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 1 - PC
Operation C - Game Boy
That Dragon, Cancer - PC
Contra - NES
Super C - NES
Contra III - The Alien Wars - SNES
Tekken - PS1
The King of Fighters '99 - PS1
Street Fighter Alpha - PS1
Call of Duty: Black Ops III - PS4
Three Fourths Home - PC
Firewatch - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
Far Cry: Primal - PS4
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax - PS3
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma EXTEND - Xbox One
Android Assault Cactus - PS4
Table Top Racing - Vita
The Room - iOS
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle - PS3
The Room 2 - iOS
Broforce - PS4
Toybox Turbos - PC
Peggle 2 - PS4
R-Type (R-Type Dimensions) - 360
The Room 3 - iOS
Rampage - SMS
Doom (2016) - PS4
Dungeon Siege III - - 360
Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End - PS4
NES Remix - Wii U
Moon Chronicles: Episode 1 - 3DS
Outrun 3D - 3DS
Box Boy - 3DS
Splatoon - - Wii U
Nano Assault Neo X - PS4
Mamorukun Curse! - PS3
Hyperburner - iOS
The Beginner's Guide - PC
Halo 5: Guardians - Xbox One *new*
POP: Methodology Experiment 1 - PC *new*

Total: 42

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Halo 5 is perhaps my least favorite Halo campaign (though I am also not a fan of ODST's), and I am glad I played through it during Microsoft's free preview weekend instead of paying for it. Many of the levels could more or less just be run through, the story was inconsequential, boring, and often obtuse, and the gameplay was less innovative or interesting than in the high-water marks of the series. Here's hoping Halo 6 is better.

POP: Methodology Experiment 1 plays like someone's strange retro-game/old-TV fashioned acid trip, and while it is interesting at a certain level, I don't think that I can reasonably recommend it to anyone (unless you want something to trip out to)...that said if you are interested in a more esoteric approach to video games and a quick playthrough of something that is unorthodox and perhaps reflective of a designer's headspace, it may appeal to you.

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)



If Looking Glass released a game in 2012, Dishonored would have been it. Dishonored is the ultimate successor to Looking Glass studios, Ion Storm, and all the classics of the late 90's and early 2000's. I replayed it last year on PC and ran through it twice back to back, doing a low and high chaos runs. I can't say there's a lot of games I can replay twice in a row like that. It's aged better than other games of its time and will easily be a timeless gem in my eyes. I'm a big fan of Human Revolution, but one could argue that Dishonored is closer to the classics in design and player freedom. It's just sheer mastery when it comes to the gameplay and the world is hands down one of my favorites in all of gaming. Where Thief 4 failed the hardest to me is when it comes to verticality, and that's where Dishonored shines. You can easily scale large buildings and then it becomes obvious where you cannot (not so obvious in Thief 4), and the towering dirty slums of Dunwall give off some of the best oppressive and claustrophobic vibes I've ever experienced in a game, similar to Half-Life 2's City 17 (cue the same art director I believe).

The DLC puts you in the shoes of Daud, who assassinates the Empress in the beginning of the main game. The DLC's take place during the events of the main game and there are some crossover moments that are very cool and flesh out the world and plots even more. The DLC channels Thief even moreso than the main game did in humorous ways, Daud has a voice here unlike the mute Corvo, there is no hub for buying or upgrading items but you can do so before the start of each mission, and the Brigmore Witches plotline feels like a nod to Thief 1 I'd say so. The final Brigmore Witches level was really cool and stood out from the rest, it just seriously felt like a level straight out of Thief. There are a lot of cool choices and options in these missions, so I can easily see the DLC being just as replayable as the main game.

Altogether the expansions are probably another full game worth of time, ~8 hours, more or less depending on your play style and if you like to explore the levels fully for all the power ups. Daud has a few new abilities to spice it up. Difficulty wise I thought Knife in Dunwall was a little tougher, but Brigmore gets challenging near the end with the new Witch enemies. The way the DLC's wrap up and tie into the main game is really awesome.

I'm really excited about Mankind Divided and Dishonored 2, and I think it's going to be amazing to see which one comes out strongest. Either way, it's a win/win. Some of my most anticipated games of the year.



The New Order was a nice surprise for us all. One of the best single player FPS's since Half-Life 2, Bioshock, and of course Dishonored and Deus Ex mentioned above. I wanted more and The Old Blood is just that. It has a few more jokes that are well placed and fitting. Some people have knocked on the forced stealth sections, but I didn't really feel it was any different than the main game. Still felt balanced to me. Took me about 6 hours to get through, there's no hubs like in the original so it's a more straightforward linear story.

It was amazing, but I do however have to knock on how fucking lame the last boss was. It comes out of nowhere and was annoying as balls, to the point of almost ruining the whole journey. I almost rage quit. So... just a heads up.

I just picked up Dishonored GOTY, so you've gotten me suuuper more psyched for the DLC than I already was

Prepare for more awesomeness.

I agree that Halo 5 was rubbish, but I think that it's MUCH better than Halo 4's campaign.

ElkinFencer10 wrote:I agree that Halo 5 was rubbish, but I think that it's MUCH better than Halo 4's campaign.

Funny, I liked 4 a little bit more. I'd rank the campaigns as:

1) Halo Reach
2) Halo 2
3) Halo
4) Halo 3
5) Halo 4
6) Halo 5
7) Halo ODST

I used to like H2 the best, but I think in reflection Reach is even better.

dsheinem wrote:

ElkinFencer10 wrote:I agree that Halo 5 was rubbish, but I think that it's MUCH better than Halo 4's campaign.

Funny, I liked 4 a little bit more. I'd rank the campaigns as:

1) Halo Reach
2) Halo 2
3) Halo
4) Halo 3
5) Halo 4
6) Halo 5
7) Halo ODST

I used to like H2 the best, but I think in reflection Reach is even better.

I'd rank them

1. Halo
2. Halo Reach
3. Halo 2
4. Halo 3
5. Halo Wars
6. Halo 3 ODST
7. Halo Spartan Assault
8. Halo 5
9. Halo 4

I'm eagerly awaiting Halo Wars 2.

Glad you finally did the DLC for Dishonored @Xeo, knew you'd like it. Can't wait for Dishonored 2!

I started up some new games and am having fun... but now I'm already wanting to do a high chaos run for the DLC's.

Fully prepared for at least 3+ runs of Dishonored 2. One with Corvo, then Emily, then a no powers run. Then the choices/chaos probably factors into different experiences as well.

Too good!

1. Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One)
2. DOAX3 Fortune Edition (PS4)
3. Uncharted 4 (PS4)
4. DOOM (2016) (PC)
5. Halo 5 (Xbox One)
6. Dark Souls (PC)
7. Call of Duty (PC)
8. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC)


Still kinda-sorta purchased for last month's Together Retro, but I opted to wait to download it until my data cap reset. Played through the regular campaign on Normal in about 6 hours or so, entirely on July 4th.

This would now be the third Call of Duty game I've ever played, and one that had me mildly interested with the trailers n' such back when it came out. Admittedly, I also wanted to try playing something that'd actually make a little use of my new GTX 1080 and 1440p G-Sync monitor.
Unfortunately, the game seems to have some sort of bug or issue that would noticeably impact performance occasionally. It seemed like it might have been due to pre-caching, since it didn't correlate to more complex environments or anything. It ran great most of the time, but wasn't quite as polished an experience as I'd hoped. It also hard crashed twice. Still, it's often a very nice looking and running game, and there might be some settings to mess with to address whatever issues I was running into.

The multiplayer may be different, I don't know, I haven't touched it. The campaign was more of the same "do what the game says, when it says" variety. Tends to just remind me of the Rebel Assault games and such. There's a bit more freedom, but I'm still essentially just along for the ride...provided I shoot things fast enough, and hit the keys when it says to. Fun enough for a little while, and Advanced Warfare shakes things up frequently, with different vehicles or exo suits/attachments to use.
Ultimately though, I was pretty happy it didn't overstay its welcome.

Where the previous entries I'd played were a little more grounded, Advanced Warfare goes a bit nuts with the narrative...and it makes less and less sense the more I think about it. And, yet, it's also utterly predictable. It's just dumb, albeit the kind of dumb that powers plenty of fun lazy Sunday afternoon type action movies. Which...is pretty much what the game was for me.

More or less, it was what I expected, and made for a fun day off. That's about all though, and it'll be one of the first things to go if I need 50GB of HDD space freed up.