Games Beaten 2018

[MrPopo]

I vote either Castlevania or Contra.

[noiseredux]

Castlevania. /discussion

[prfsnl_gmr]

I may go for it. Figuring out how to play the mobile game may be tough, but I can probably get through a lot of these pretty quickly. I feel like I’ve beaten a TON of games in the series, but there are just so many games!

I won’t start on any new series until 2019, though. I’m batting clean up in December and trying to finish up all of the games I’ve started, but haven’t yet beaten (Affordable Space Adventures, Alto’s Adventure, Detective Pikachu, Love You to Bits, and Rush).

[marurun]

Don’t forget SotN on Game.com!

[Xeogred]

Yo prfsnl_gmr, I think Konami really dodges the sequalitis thing that some people might not enjoy (like the Mega Man formula, even though personally I could play hundreds of those if they existed!). IE, within the last few years I went through some deep Castlevania and Contra binges myself to trek through those franchises and the majority of the installments end up feeling quite different among one another, so it's a fun journey that ends up being more varied than you may expect!

I'm mostly thinking of Classicvania here though, since that's the side of the franchise I didn't get to until later. I can see how some of the Metroidvania's blend in a bit and might get repetitive. But like, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania Bloodlines, and Rondo of Blood? They're all pretty dang different in a lot of subtle ways that got a long way. Same with Contra III vs Hard Corps. I appreciate how Konami made their SNES vs Genesis offerings extremely different and maximized the potential of both platforms. It's really hard for me to choose favorites, because both sides have their own charm.

All that fancy talk aside, it sounds like you've mostly beaten the main titles of these franchises that I'm thinking of here.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Don’t forget SotN on Game.com!

Wild. That was going to be a real thing!

All that fancy talk aside, it sounds like you've mostly beaten the main titles of these franchises that I'm thinking of here.

Agree on all points, xeo. I could also play classic Mega Man games forever and ever. I love that formula.

And, you’re right. I have beaten a lot of Castlevania games, and I really am down to the b-sides with that series. Something I like about it is that there aren’t a lot of ports. (Contra is the same way.) Apparently, if classic Konami was going to make a game for another system, it was just going to make a completely different game. Not all developers...<cough> Sega <cough>...were like that.

[noiseredux]

many Castlevania b-sides are dope deep cuts, my dude. Get to it.

[Markies]

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2018!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*

1. The Granstream Saga (PS1)
2. Perfect Dark (N64)
*3. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (PS1)*
4. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (XBOX)
5. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
*6. Pikmin (GCN)*
*7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)*
8. Shining Force II (GEN)
*9. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (PS1)*
*10. Mafia (XBOX)*
11. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (GCN)
12. ChuChu Rocket! (SDC)
*13. Super Metroid (SNES)*
14. Final Fantasy II (NES)
15. Devil May Cry (PS2)
16. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (GEN)
17. Secret of Evermore (SNES)
18. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction (PS2)
19. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GCN)
*20. Paper Mario (N64)*
21. Grandia II (SDC)
22. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (PS2)
23. Bomberman Hero (N64)
24. OutRun (GEN)
25. Dragon Warrior IV (NES)
26. Super Monkey Ball (GCN)
27. Mischief Makers (N64)
28. Dragon Valor (PS1)
*29. Beyond Good & Evil (XBX)*
30. Tokyo Xtreme Racer (SDC)
31. Black (PS2)
*32. Street Fighter II (SNES)*
33. Koudelka (PS1)
34. Bad News Baseball (NES)
35. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
36. Shattered Union (XBOX)
37. The Simpsons: Road Rage (PS2)
*38. Cruis'n Exotica (N64)*
39. Kid Icarus (NES)
40. The Lost Vikings (SNES)
41. Capcom Vs. SNK 2 (PS2)
42. Destroy All Humans! (XBOX)



I beat Destroy All Humns on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!

I love history and any video game that lets me play during a historical time period always piques my interest. However, when that time period is the 1950's, one of my favorite time periods, then my interest goes through the roof. That is what happened to me when Destroy All Humans came out several years ago. I never got around to it until I started going through that generation again for the Xbox and GameCube. I had completely forgotten about the game and I saw the XBOX version was rated a bit higher, so I decided to jump in.

The best part about Destroy All Humans is the time period. It is absolutely perfect. It's like playing a good Back to the Future game. The cars, the people, the phrases, the look and everything about that time in history is there to be shown. Granted, it is all satirical and taken with a grain of salt, but it is still very well represented. Also, as a fan of old movies, they play up that 1950's Science Fiction very well. The game feels like one of those 'B' movies you would watch in the drive in as some serious care was put into the game. The actual combat is a typical third person shooter while also being able to ride around in a saucer. The physics engine of the game is really fantastic as each object has its own weight. So, when you blast something in your saucer, the cars go flying. When you psycho kinetically throw somebody, they go flying and its amazing. Being able to mess around the world in a GTA style is amazing.

I just wish the game had better GTA style missions. The game relies too heavily on stealth, which is one of its weaker points. The stealth isn't that fun and unlike GTA, once your cover is blown, people go crazy just looking at you. Also, the main character versus the enemy is incredibly unbalanced. I can die in just a few hits while enemies take forever to kill. It gets really annoying later on in the game when the entire Army is after you.

Overall, I enjoyed Destroy All Humans. The stealth and annoying enemies can ware on you rather quickly and can get incredibly frustrating. But, the atmosphere and time period is just perfect. I can never visit the 1950's, but this is the closest experience. Also, blowing up buildings and shooting beams where cars are like ping pong balls never gets old. If you enjoy history or some mindless fun, Destroy All Humans satisfies both.

[Arenegeth]

So I finally sorted out the the list of games I both finished and completed throughout the year (in no particular order).

Finished Games:

1. Octopath Traveler (Switch)

- I was good on my way to 100%’ing this game until I realized I was missing a relatively innocuous piece of gear that drops only from some boss’s adds (160 hours in). Since then I’ve restarted the game and I’m already 20 hours+ in my second playthrough.

2. Little Dragons Café (PS4)

- I played this game on my run up to playing the great, long quest, that was Dragon Quest XI. Though I got almost everything, one Trophy still evades me, and there’s also some smaller not Trophy related stuff left to do.

3. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (PS4)

- I finished the game on 6x Draconian on my first run through the game (and subsequently Platinumed). It was a long, arduous but highly enjoyable process, now I’m stuck at endgame maxing out characters and accolades, I do not anticipate to be done by the end of the year.

4. Chrono Cross (PS1)

- I’ve owned a copy since 2005, but like a fine aged wine I like to keep PS1 era JRPG’s stored for a rainy day, so I finally played it this year. I’m very close to completing this, I’ve done pretty much everything and have 99 of every item (which was a very long process) and I’m in the middle of my final run, all I need to do is get to the end and save, which I will probably do some time next year.

5. Clock Tower (PS1)

- I already 100% completed this game many years ago, but my save was lost in one of the two PS1 Memory Cards (out of 12) I had go dead from the old days. So I decided to do everything all over again. I was almost done when other games distracted me, if I find the time I may complete this one again before the end of the year.

6. Thimbleweed Park (PC)

- The only adventure game I got to play for the whole year (not counting Detective Pikachu), which is a pity, I enjoyed the gameplay but find the story very lacking. I don’t consider the game ‘complete’ not that there’s much to complete in most adventure games anyway, but because GOG didn’t have achievements for it when I played it (still doesn't) and also because I didn’t bother getting the top score in all of the Arcade mini-games.

7. Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)

- I already mentioned finishing this game and though I also 100%’ed this game on the XBLA DX version, I want to do it again with the original. I’m not sure if I’ll be done by the end of the year though, since I want to build a perfect Chao for the races (not that is necessary) and I’m not sure how possible that is without access to the Black Market and Sonic Adventure 2. I’ll try to do everything else by the end of the year though.

8. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (PS4)

- Yet another JRPG for the year. I got the Platinum, but more Trophies were added after that and there’s more DLC to come. Won’t go back to this until all the DLC for it is out, probably next year if I can fit it in.

9. Final Fantasy XV - Comrades (PS4)

- Though technically DLC for another game, Comrades is about to receive a standalone release in a few days and be separated from FFXV forever (at least on console) so I think it deserves its own separate entry. I finished both the original story path and the extra they added in an update while getting all the Trophies, my character is far from being perfect and there's more content coming for the game (maybe even past the 12th now that is separated from the main game).

Completed Games:

1. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)

- This was only recently completed due to the New Hint Arts and costumes Nintendo stagger released all the way until late November. I was done with the main game way early in the year and with the Luigi Balloon stuff sometime in the summer.

2. Detective Pikachu (3DS)

- Not much to say about this game. Is a simple adventure game for kids and ‘completing’ it consisted of getting all the Pika Prompts which was easy enough to do with the Amiibo.

3. Ever Oasis (3DS)

- This was a looong project that started all the way back in 2016, and one of my best uses of a daily scheduled grind. As far as I know, I’m also the only person in the world who bothered to complete this game legitimately. Which gives me some hope for the future of humanity.

4. Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

- This was a long time coming and this last playthrough was started back in 2016. Finally after a ton of grinding and CR2032’s spend on the PocketStation, I can call this one complete. Is the first and only PS1 Final Fantasy that’s complete to my standards, though I started a VII run all the way back in 2013, I still haven’t completed it.

5. Dino Crisis (PS1)

- I finally went back to this game and got every ending and unlockable, plus completed Operation: Wipeout. It was satisfying going back and completing this one and I also doing it on the back of my save file that I made all the way back in 1999.

6. Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (PC)

- This game felt like a lost Tomb Raider game from the series heyday back in the PS1 era, yet unique enough to be its own thing. I’m glad I finally got to play it. In fact I liked it so much I’m aiming to get the N64 version too since it seems to be different enough to make it worth playing again. Completing the game was also extra fun since I love finding secrets in these sorts of games.

7. ZombiU (Wii U)

- Though I finished the game last year, it wasn't until early this year that I completed it. Which mostly entailed killing Zombies for ammo over and over again (so I could max proficiency with all weapons) and be very careful not to die, which wasn't that hard though they were a few moments I came close to wasting 20 hours worth of work.

Finished: 9
Completed: 7

Total: 16

Honorable Mentions:

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)

- Despite finishing the game late last year, I spend most of my time on this game early this year, preparing my character for the, at the time, still upcoming New Game+ mode. I haven't completed it yet and haven't touched Torna at all, so it doesn't normally belong on the list but it deserves a mention given the amount of time I spend on it this year.

Wild Arms 2 (PS1)

- Like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, this is a game I technically finished last year, but I started a second playrthough this year all the way to the middle of Disc 2 in doing a low level Ashley run in my attempt for a perfect playthrough. Though highly unlikely I will complete it this year, it also deserves a mention due to the amount of time I spend on it through this year.

Notes:
Obviously most of my time was spend on JRPG's this year (about half the list is JRPG's), and as much as I like them, I have to take a break for them next year since they take so much time, especially to complete by my rigid standards.

Also other than Chrono Cross and Indiana Jones, every other retro game I played this year was a replay, I have to make up for that next year.

Well this was interesting to go through, gave me a better perspective on how I spend my gaming time.

[Xeogred]

Xenoblade 2 Torna is incredible. I 100%'d it at 40 hours, so it's a bit more doable than the other main installments.