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1. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
2. Puzzle Link (NGPC)(Puzzle)
3. Illusion of Gaia (SNES)(RPG)
4. Warhammer 40,000: Rites of War (PC)(Strategy)
5. Shadowrun: Dragonfall (PC)(RPG)
6. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (PC)(RPG)
7. Drakkhen (SNES)(RPG)
8. Flight of the Amazon Queen (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
9. Shadowgrounds: Survivor (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
10. Lufia & The Fortress of Doom (SNES)(RPG)
11. BioShock (PC)(FPS)
12. Jeopardy! Sports Edition (SNES)(Game Show Sim)
13. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (PC)(FPS)
14. Thief Gold (PC)(Stealth)
15. Call of Duty 2 (PC)(FPS)
16. Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (PC)(RPG)
17. Alone in the Dark (PC)(Survival Horror)
18. Silent Hill (PS1)(Survival Horror)
19. Sanitarium (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure/Horror)
20. Gauntlet: Slayer Edition(PC)(Hack and Slash)
21. Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES)(Fighting)
22. Ultima II (PC)(RPG)
23. System Shock (PC)(Action RPG)
24. DOOM (PC)(FPS)
25. Soul Blazer (SNES)(RPG)
26. Slave Zero (PC)(Action)
27. Broforce (PC)(Run and Gun)
28. Gothic (PC)(RPG)
29. Eye of the Beholder (PC)(RPG)

Well, this was a fun one. It took me a while due to how busy I've been, and it was a learning experience throughout, but I can now say I have beaten Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Eye of the Beholder via the DOS release on GOG. I played the game entirely in VGA graphics with the audio turned off, so I cannot speak for the additional graphics modes or audio effects. I did use a built-in touchpad mouse for my playthrough(that funny enough has a disable command built into it. I accidentally shut the mouse off in multiple fights, which if you can't imagine made things go very poorly. It turns out when you die that the game just shuts itself down, as if to tell you that you simply aren't good enough to be allowed to play. Bravo, Westwood Associates.

Eye of the Beholder works off of a classic premise: a Dungeons & Dragons party is forced into a dungeon crawl against monsters which steadily increase in nastiness. This time the dungeon in question starts as the sewers under the city of Waterdeep, a mainstay in the Forgotten Realms universe. The leaders of the town have discovered some kind of nastiness is haunting the depths below the city, so a strike force of four individuals is sent below to take out whatever threat may be found. Unfortunately the threat knows all of this, and as soon as the party enters, the passage crumbles behind him, trapping them within.

Thus begins your adventure into the depths to take on the eponymous Beholder, one of the many notable Dungeons & Dragons mainstay beasties to appear over the course of the tabletop game's run. While monsters are mainly floor-specific, a wide variety of D&D staples make an appearance, ranging from the traditional skeletons and zombies to the notable Drow and to the infamous displacer beasts, rust monsters, and even mind flayers across the game's 12 levels. To complete the arduous dungeon crawl, you'll have to make a party of four characters from the D&D classic races and classes; later in the dungeon, you also have the ability to let up to 2 characters join you, filling you with as a six man team.

Typically in Dungeons & Dragons it is best to stick to the 4-player party staple: 1 tank, 1 skills, 1 healer, 1 caster. In Eye of the Beholder, the healer and caster roles move from typical staple to absolute necessity, as having a capable Cleric for healing and food spells will drastically reduce the difficulty while having a Mage who can use wands is basically required to defeat the final boss. You have a bit more leeway on the tank, choosing between Paladin and Fighter. I always favored Fighters, but the Paladin does get healing and eventually a few Cleric spells...though it is unlikely your Paladin will be a high enough level to use them by the time you finish. Mine certainly wasn't. Also note that despite the quality of the Paladin's Lay on Hands, that role does NOT replace a qualified Cleric, a mistake I made from the get go. As for skills, you get a choice of Thief or Ranger...but truth be told, I found I didn't really need the ability to pick locks(the Thief's major thing), and while I did have my Thief use a bow, it seemed to work just as well as if I had a Ranger. In short, I don't know if a Thief or Ranger are really necessary. You could potentially multiclass between them and something like a Fighter, but I always felt that made a character to general and not specialized enough to last in high-level play. Again though, not that you'll get there...in this game.

One of the perks to the DOS version of Eye of the Beholder is that you can port your party through the games in the series and keep most of your gear and stats. This gives you an advantage in each subsequent game as you can start with higher levels and +5 weapons or tons of armor. The thought of going full iron man through the trilogy is something that interests me, hence why I stuck with the DOS version from GOG. With this game beaten, I'm now looking at taking my heroes (Ack, Bone, Exhum, and Noise) into the next adventure.

But how does it play? Well, it has a definite curve. A mouse makes things considerably easier(I have one on that PC), as does a numpad for movement(I do not have one of these unfortunately). You don't have much in the way of options, and RPGs were not so streamlined or user friendly as they are now. There is no map(find them online or make them yourself), navigating spell menus in the middle of realtime combat is cumbersome, and it was floor 9 before I felt like I really had a complete understanding on my character inventory. In fact I'd say that the game didn't really pick up for me until floor 7 as I was still figuring out the basics like how to equip multiple throwable weapons through the first half of the dungeon. As a result floors 1-6 kind of dragged, while 7-12 flew by. I also managed to find a much needed Cleric on floor 7, which also says a lot about the necessity of a good dedicated healer.

Do you like classic dungeon crawls? Are you a fan of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons? Does the thought of watching a party grow in power as you solve often cryptic puzzles with little to no information and slay powerful and sometimes nasty monsters excite you? Then I think you really should consider giving EotB a go. It is not always easy, but it does feel rewarding to reach each new level of the dungeon. And while that Beholder is easily one of the nastiest experiences I have taken on in an RPG in some time, watching it die has been one of the most satisfying. It's totally worth taking the time to learn this system to experience the crawl.

Nice work Ack. Glad I could help!

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)
9. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
10. King's Field: The Ancient City (PS2)
11. Bloodborne (PS4)
12. SOMA (PC)
13. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin (PS4)
14. Dark Souls III (PS4)
15. Lords of the Fallen (PC)

Played: About 11.5 hours, didn’t bother with proceeding into NG+/etc. Bought the PC version rather than play the PS4 version that I guess I could have gotten free via PS+ this month. Mostly because I hadn’t checked, but when I read Digital Foundry’s head to head, the console versions appeared to struggle anyway. Even on PC it’s a strangely demanding game, likely due to all the graphics bells and whistles.

Thoughts:

Yeah, I looked into that one again recently and... I'll pass. Not sure why I'd bother with a Souls knockoff when I can just replay some Souls.

Games Beaten 2016

First 50:

Battleborn - PC
140 - PC
Last Duel - Arcade (PSP)
Alien on the Run - 3DS
Undead Bowling - 3DS
Chain Blaster - 3DS
Runny Egg - 3DS
Bound - PS4
Parasite Eve - PS1
Destiny - PS4
Destiny: The Dark Below - PS4
Destiny: The House of Wolves - PS4
Destiny: The Taken King - PS4
Otomedius Excellent - 360
Crimsonland - PC
Planet of the Eyes - PC
Destiny: Rise of Iron - PS4
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Final Cut - PC *new*

Total: 68

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

This game combines the three Incredible Advenntures of Van Helsing games released over the past few years into one full experience, and I am glad I waited to play it in this form as, from what I've read, it is by far the best version.

The game is essentially a Diablo clone (Diablo III, specifically), but with a lot more humor and a setting that provides a cross between a traditional gothic horror aesthetic and more of a steampunk aesthetic. I ran into no bugs, glitches, slowdown, etc. and the whole thing looks quite nice with great lighting effects (it moves smoothly even with massive amounts of enemies on screen). There's a lot of customization options, plenty of classes, the default difficulty is pretty fair (in that some sections seemed tough, some seemed easy). The whole thing clocked in at about 28 hours for me (making it one of the longest games I have played this year). I'd certainly recommend it if you like the genre.

1/16: Diablo III (PC)
1/19: Picross E (3DS DL)
1/23: Baroque (Wii)
2/5: LocoRoco (PSP)
3/31: Picross e2 (3DS DL)
4/7: Stardew Valley (Steam)
4/8: Voices From the Sea (Steam)
4/10: X-Note (Steam)
4/11: To the Moon (Steam)
4/19: Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland (PS3)
4/19: Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match (PS3)
6/19: Steins;Gate (PS3)
7/11: Yoshi’s Woolly World (Wii U)
7/13: Muramasa Rebirth (Vita)
7/13: Strider 2 (PS1 Classics)
7/16: Planetarian ~The Reverie of a Little Planet~ (Steam)
7/16: Narcissu (Steam)
7/26: Crimzon Clover: World Ignition (GOG)
7/28: LocoRoco 2 (PSP)
7/30: Criminal Girls: Invite Only (Vita)
8/1: Pokemon Art Academy (3DS)
8/5: Gal*Gun: Double Peace (PS4)
8/8: Before the Echo (Steam)
8/9: Ironclad (PC DL)
8/9: Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)
8/14: Super Paper Mario (Wii)
8/15: Metal Slug (Steam)
8/17: Metal Slug 2 (Steam)
8/17: Metal Slug X (Steam)
8/18: Metal Slug 3 (Steam)
8/24: Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon (PS3)
8/25: The Typing of the Dead: Overkill (Steam)
8/28: Hatsune Miku Project Diva f (Vita)
8/31: Fable: The Lost Chapters (PC)
9/8: Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni - Ch.2 Watanagashi (Steam)
9/28: Hatsune Miku: Project Diva (PSP)

Total: 36 games

Higurashi Ch.2
I beat this a few days before my Japan trip, so some things might be a little off from what I remember. Hopefully not though ha.

Anyway, this is very similar to the first chapter (small town seems normal at first, then murders!!), but different stuff happens. I'm trying not to get into too spoilerly territory, but in this chapter it's like the events from the first chapter didn't happen. It starts over from the beginning, minus the long section of introducing everybody that the first chapter had. I'm still not really sure if it's even related to the first chapter at all, but I think that this is part of the Question arc (which is the first four chapters) and not the Answers arc (the last four), it's supposed to leave some questions unanswered.

I felt the story itself was pretty well told though. I think pretty much all of the events had some sort of importance to the story, which may of been an improvement from the first chapter. Only thing that I didn't particularly like, was that in one of the later chapters, the mood gets really tense and I start worrying about what's going to happen to the characters... and then huge exposition dump. Kind of killed the mood a bit.

Overall though, I still enjoyed reading it. I have a lot of questions though, so I'm curious on how the third chapter will play out.

Hatsune Miku: Project Diva
I wasn't really sure how the PSP Hatsune Miku games were compared to the ones I've played (Project Diva f and f 2nd), but since I found this one for around $2 (and 2nd for $5), there was really no reason not to get them and try them out.

Surprisingly, even though it's the first entry in the series, I thought it was still pretty good! It's missing a few things that f and f 2nd have, but for the most part it doesn't affect the game too much.

For one, it's a lot simpler, with no button holding or star flicks/screen-taps. This I don't mind since I didn't like the star thing much anyway. Secondly it only features Miku songs (minus a few sorta kinda hidden songs), which makes sense I guess since it's the first game. Most of the songs there feel a little "samey", but most of them weren't completely annoying so I didn't mind that too much. Thirdly is that you have to beat a song on Normal before you can play it on Hard. I didn't mind this at all since Normal was often pretty difficult for me, but I would imagine that to annoying if you already were good enough to play at the Hard difficulty. The last kind of minor difference, is that it doesn't feel quite as smooth as f and f 2nd. This only bothered me a little bit, and I got used to it after a while, but this might annoy some people. It's not like it's laggey or anything, but it did feel a little off when I first started to play it.

So with all those minor differences, for me they didn't affect my enjoyment of the game too much. However, there is one thing that did lower my enjoyment a bit. In this Miku game, there is no progress bar! In f and f 2nd, there would be a bar at the bottom which would show you how close you are to the various ranks. At the end, you could also see how close you were to getting the other ranks. Here, since there is none of that, it made it really difficult to know how well I was doing. I would know my rank at the very end, but I couldn't tell if I just barely made Standard (the lowest passing rank), or if I was very close to getting a Great.

But despite that, I still had a good time with the first Hatsune Miku game. Hopefully the 2nd will be good as well!

Second is better and it does introduce holds. I don't think third game did go beyond but it's my personal favorite out of the series. Like i said the series really didn't need any new note types after that.

I went back and got the good ending for RE Revelations 2 and it was so worth it for the RE1 joke references. I like Claire a lot, but this was Barry's game to me.

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:


September:

122) Xenoblade Chronicles X
123) Final Fight (ARC) (via Final Fight: Double Impact)
124) Magic Sword (ARC) (via Final Fight: Double Impact)
125) Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
126) Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty
127) X-Men (ARC)
128) Vanguard (ARC)
129) Trio the Punch (ARC)
130) Street Fighter 2': Special Champion Edition (GEN)

Finished SF2 on Genny. It's not a bad port, actually. Not the SNES version, but still plays like SF2. Six-button pad took a little to adjust to, though! I've been playing for so long with four-button pads that I'm used to the way I map it there (light-heavy punch on top and medium-heavy kick on bottom) that it was pretty sweet having access to all the buttons close to each other. I mostly used it to mix up my fireball spam when that was necessary.

Also, M. Bison is still a dang punk. Somehow, though, I managed to get one perfect round on him. That's what's called a lucky fluke. I'm not even entirely sure he follows the same rules that human players do with his specials. Either that, or I didn't play enough SF2 against high-level human players.

Xeogred wrote:I went back and got the good ending for RE Revelations 2 and it was so worth it for the RE1 joke references. I like Claire a lot, but this was Barry's game to me.

Best part of Rev 2 is the Jill sandwich reference.