Games Beaten 2014

[Stark]

That's quite the run of games from the "girls with swords" genre.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I had no idea Blades of Time was related to X-Blades... Interesting...

[J T]

Great combat could still save it. X-Blades does not have great combat.

That's a quote to put on the back of the box.

[isiolia]

Great combat could still save it. X-Blades does not have great combat.

That's a quote to put on the back of the box.

It would probably take away from showing screens highlighting Ayumi's ass, which seemed to be a much greater focus than gameplay. For the typical behind-the-character view, she could pass for naked, given that she's sporting a G-string.

[Blu]

Starting off the year right!

1. Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

This game is absolutely amazing. I haven't enjoyed a Zelda this much since A Link to the Past. It's a top down Zelda with an overworld! There's exploring to be had. I love its nonlinear gameplay, the game doesn't feel like it's holding your hand and has its fair amount of challenges. The puzzles seemed to be fairly intuitive. Link can move diagonally. I didn't even discover the little Maiamai until I was 2/3rds through the game, and I rented my equipment all throughout the game, . I'm curious as to everyone's thoughts for those that have played through. The story was unique and I appreciated all of the many nods and tips of the hat in homage to LttP.

Loved it. 10/10 will play again.

PS: Post #1000.

[TSTR]

2. Magical Drop V (PC) - Puzzle[/b]

great, great game. Feel free to ping me on Steam next time you see me on if you feel like playing.

Was it just me, or was the jump to final boss in story mode just insane?

Will do!

If you're talking about Fortune, then I couldn't tell you. The only character I could beat the game on Hard with so far was DETECTIVE BRUCE: GHOST HUNTER. Of course, his final boss was a little tough because Mushman actually plays the same game as you—unlike all the Magical Drop characters that Bruce just destroys.

[Nintendork666]

1. Super Mario 3D World

Meee-ow.

[Gamerforlife]

Zelda Link Between Worlds

First game beaten for 2014

I wanted to swear off this game after the horrible, infuriating baseball mini-game. In fact, all of this game's mini games suck, but that one is the worst. It's sloppy and feels very random and I almost decided to just not continue playing the game after that.

All in all it's a solid game though. It certainly looks, sounds and feels like A Link to the Past, but it's missing some of the magic from A Link to the Past. There just aren't any memorable moments like the opening 15 minutes of Link to the Past. Even getting the Master Sword somehow didn't feel all that special.

Also, the dungeons are all super easy, except for maybe that annoying ice dungeon. Link Between Worlds doesn't feel like a genuine puzzle game. Even the final dungeon is pretty simplistic. It's like the game goes through all the usual Zelda puzzle conventions so if you've played a Zelda game before, the puzzles won't challenge you at all. It's all so by the numbers. The wall merging mechanic is fun though, and it adds a fun element to the game, particularly in the final boss battle. Still, even with this new gameplay mechanic, the dungeon puzzles are still laughably easy

The bosses are pretty cool though(specially the last one), and they can get fairly challenging. However, having four bottles full of potions and fairies nullifies any chance of you dying. I don't mind though. Difficulty just doesn't factor into how I feel about a game, it's just surprising though that the game is as easy as it is. It's probably the easiest Zelda I've ever played. Hero Mode makes things slightly more interesting, enemies can kill you quickly until you get some extra hearts or a damage reducing mail. And I guess the combat arena can be pretty tough if you don't come with a fully upgraded Link

What I enjoyed the most in this game is exploring and finding stuff. The game has some handy aids to make the process a bit easier. I particularly like that the fast travel system makes getting around the map easy and quick. I don't know if I like or dislike the decision to give players all weapons early on. It makes the game more non-linear, which is cool, but it also greatly reduces that sense of progression and reward from dungeons as there's really nothing to look forward to in dungeons anymore since you won't find additional weapons in them. So beating dungeons just sort of becomes its own reward. Yay, I got another heart container. Whoop dee doo. It was a weird design choice.

Overall though, it's a good game, but I'm not as high on it as everyone else now that I've played it through to completion. I would say though that I have enjoyed more than recent 3D Zelda games I've played. Zelda seems a bit more at home in 2D. I'd probably rate Link Between Worlds a solid 8. The lack of challenging puzzles is probably the biggest negative. Without good puzzles, Zelda isn't Zelda. I was about to make a Tomb Raider analogy but that series doesn't really seem to be about puzzles anymore either. *Shrug*

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Assassin's Creed IV Wii U

Wow. Uh. Well I've never really been real interested in the AC series until this one and I must say it was quite a treat. To keep it short, the game combined a wonderful story nearly on the level of the Uncharted games along with a glimpse into what a modern Sid Meier's Pirates might be like. This game, also, is pretty much the definition of an adventure, and I'd really recommend it to anybody. Sure, the regular Assassin's Creed stuff is all in here but only makes up about 40% of the game (and it's pretty polished and fun at this point), with the other half being the awesome sailing and adventuring.

I have only two major complaints about the game. First off, the open world is not seamless, but, there are parts of it that are. This just detracts from the immersion immensely for me. I could understand if it were that way on the 360/PS3/WiiU versions alone but it's that way on the PC as well which just makes no sense. Also, the whole Animus thing is totally junk. Yeah, haha, it's ironic you're playing a video game where you're basically playing a video game. It's stupid though. They pull you out of the "Animus" to do some stupid background subplot around the company making the game and it's just irritating beyond belief. There's no reason for it and it especially doesn't provide a nice change of pace since those sections are about the most tedious first person segments of any game I have ever played.

Other than that, game was top notch. Beautiful game no matter where you play it. Excellent music. Took me about 25 hours total to beat. I did very little of the side stuff. I could easily see this game lasting a good 50 or so hours for somebody that wants to complete everything.

Anyways, A+ game. A lot of what's great about modern games with very little of what's bad about modern games.

[elricorico]

I've never been one to finish many games, but looking back over the last year or so it seems like I'm finishing more than I used to, so I'm inspired to keep track this year.

First finished game for the year is Pikmin 3.

I really enjoyed this. Got it for Christmas and have been playing a couple of "game days" at a time since. Ramped up over the last week as I had some extra time off work.

Cute game that is always giving you something new to figure out but never makes it too difficult that it breaks the flow of the game. I'll still be trying out the mission mode some more, and I may be tempted to gather the remaining fruit. I didn't love the controls using the gamepad, but I didn't dislike it enough to take out a wiimote and nunchuk.

All in all this is probably my third favourite of my Wii U games so far. SM3DW and NSMBWU are likely still one and two.