Games Beaten 2013

[Luke]

I had the original Onimusha back in the day and really liked it.

I need to grab a hold of the original PS2 Onimusha. I currently own Menga Onimusha for the oxbox, which is the same game but isn't. According to the receipt (I keep all receipts in the jewel case) I bought it for $5.39 (that's an odd price point) and also pre-ordered Twilight Princess for the GC the same day.

I also own Onimusha II for the PS2, but like Pierrot, didn't have as much enthusiasm for it.

The third installment with "THE PROFESSIONAL" totally lost me.

[ExedExes]

1. Medal of Honor Allied Assault Spearhead - PC (January 2)
2. America's Army - Arcade (January 12) - 1cc!
3. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Gamecube (January 26)
4. Dragon Spirit - NES (February 7) - 1cc!
5. Final Fantasy - (by way of DoS) - GBA (March 15)
6. Wing Commander - PC (March 21)
7. Medal of Honor European Assault - Gamecube (March 30)
8. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - Gamecube (April 6)
9. Half-Life - PC (April 25)
10. Fantastic Dizzy - Genesis (May 16)
11. Fatal Fury Special - NeoGeo (in MAME) (June 10)
12. Gun - Gamecube (June 15)
13. Road Rash Jailbreak - GBA (July 3)
14. Road Rash - Genesis (July 10)
15. Road Rash 2 - Genesis (July 18)
16. Road Rash 3 - Genesis (July 29)
17. TMNT Turtles In Time - Arcade (August 10)
18. TMNT The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis (August 22)
19. *NEW* Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - Gamecube (August 24)

Where do I begin? I know many are following me on my almost year-long SC quest, and I finished the 3rd game today. Compared to the last game in the series (Pandora Tomorrow), I was impressed by the leaps in quality. Graphically, the game looks even more amazing with a fine use of Unreal Engine 2.5. Many new features in this game such as the EEV which combines many uses for long-range scanning/hacking/listening. The SC-20K has different attachments so it can also be used as a shotgun or sniper rifle. Sam has many more ways to dispatch the enemies, and they don't have to be hidden in the dark this time. The OCP disables lights and cameras for a temporary period of time. Sam can interrogate enemies for information (and get many more funny dialogue bits in return) and also has a sound meter to keep his noise level down. Finally, computers, keypads, and other electronics can be hacked by finding and matching the IP address of the device. There are also primary, secondary, opportunity, and hidden bonus objectives to complete. The Mission Rating screen also was expanded to show how stealth you were the entire game (I got 85% overall) Add to it all the voice actors that were missing from the last game back for this installment, more quality storytelling and just a more laid back, easier feel due to all the new moves and weapons at Sam's disposal, makes this my favorite SC entry in the series to date.

EDIT: There was also a Metal Gear Solid reference on the last level; I've never played that series, but for those interested:

An interrogated guard says, when asked by Sam about the ammo in their non-lethal weapon arsenal: "It's not like you can shake me, and make my ammo drop on the floor"

[pierrot]

I need to grab a hold of the original PS2 Onimusha. I currently own Menga Onimusha for the oxbox, which is the same game but isn't.

I was under the impression that the Xbox version was the better version. Didn't it have some bonus features the PS2 version lacked?

[FerretGamer]

I need to grab a hold of the original PS2 Onimusha. I currently own Menga Onimusha for the oxbox, which is the same game but isn't.

I was under the impression that the Xbox version was the better version. Didn't it have some bonus features the PS2 version lacked?

Yes, it is the definitive version.

[Luke]

I need to grab a hold of the original PS2 Onimusha. I currently own Menga Onimusha for the oxbox, which is the same game but isn't.

I was under the impression that the Xbox version was the better version. Didn't it have some bonus features the PS2 version lacked?

Yup, but it seemed that they toned down the difficulty. I need to play the games back to back to be sure.

[FerretGamer]

The Xbox version is the harder one.

[Xeogred]

I had the original Onimusha back in the day and really liked it. Clearing the underworld was about the pinnacle of my gaming achievements at the time. I could never get into the second one (last thing I remember about is was I giant spider, maybe) and I think I had actually bought 3, but never even bothered with it for more than a few minutes. I just finished the original Resident Evil for the first time, and maybe I shouldn't have been, but I was kind of surprised by how much playing RE reminded me of playing the original Onimusha. I don't think the VO in Onimusha is anywhere near as classy as the stuff in Resident Evil, though.

The Dark Realm, haha it was so easy... this game was a cakewalk after all the DMC and Metal Gear Rising I've been through this year.

Not sure why one wouldn't like the second game though if you enjoyed the first, maybe a mood thing?

The third game though, yeah... I thought Dawn of Dreams was a lot better myself.

I'm never a fan of forced character changing in games like these, unless it's like DMC4 where you just stick with someone for half the game. But like in Onimusha 1, those segments with the girl were a pain and felt so forced, random, etc. Then there's Onimusha 3, which is just pure back and forth between the main guy and Jean Reno. On the other hand Dawn of Dreams had several characters and did this, but handled it better somehow. Not sure why but I don't remember it ever bothering me.

Reminds me of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, I felt the entire thing was pretty much ruined by the new Rachel parts. Didn't care to finish it, but I had played the Xbox versions to death so oh well.

[Sload Soap]

Metroid: Other M

(I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about this game, but I need to vent ).

So, the story is the root cause of all the problems with the game. In Team Ninja's efforts to bring a more modern cut-scene focused mentality to Metroid, they have instead warped the structure of what makes Metroid so appealing.

Power-ups no longer come to you organically through progression, they are handed out cheaply by Adam(your captain of sorts) when the plot needs bumping forward. This in turn means there is less of a reliance on back-tracking which makes this a very linear game. Which is kind of a cardinal sin for Metroid.

What is more unholy though is taking one of gaming's few strong female leads and making her meek and subservient, which in turn reduces player agency over the game as you are no longer allowed to simply make mistakes and get lost. You cannot say no to Adam and since he is the one patronisingly "allowing" Samus to use her power-ups you are always just chasing the next save room or boss fight, waiting for him to decide that, yes, it is now OK to use the Ice beam on the fire enemies you've spent the last half hour fighting. Would the Samus of Super Metroid or Prime put up with this?

However it is still a good action game for the Wii. It looks good and the combat is quite well handled. Sort of paradoxically to the theme of the game, in fights Samus is quite the badass dashing out of the way of enemy attacks with ease and finishing off enemies with brutal laser blasts to the face. All accomplished without relying on QTE's as well.

The one slightly off-putting thing about the controls though is when you are made to go from third to first person by pointing the Wii-mote at the screen. This works fine when scanning for clues and what not, but against some of the bosses who have strict windows they can be damaged, it's not responsive enough, especially when considering you can only fire missiles in first person.

/tldr Awful plot which infects the structure of the game, but actually decent gameplay otherwise. Shouldn't have been a Metroid game though.

Outrun

Beat this a few times this week on both Master System and Saturn via Sega Ages.
What more needs to be said about it? One of the best racers ever and truly a timeless classic. They really don't make them like this anymore.

[alienjesus]

So, the story is the root cause of all the problems with the game. In Team Ninja's efforts to bring a more modern cut-scene focused mentality to Metroid, they have instead warped the structure of what makes Metroid so appealing.

Although Team Ninja were the main developers of this game, the plot was written by Nintendo. Team Ninja often get blamed for ruining Metroid with Other M's story, but they weren't the ones responsible for that.

[pierrot]

The Dark Realm, haha it was so easy... this game was a cakewalk after all the DMC and Metal Gear Rising I've been through this year.

It was a really tough game for me at the time. I don't remember a whole lot about my time playing the game other than it was the first of that style of survial(-y) horror(-ish) game I'd played, and it handed me my own ass quite often. I nearly passed out after finishing the Dark Realm; then almost pissed myself after testing out the sword I got from it. It felt worth it.