Games Beaten 2014

Post by **Flake** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:41 am

1/12: Kirby's Adventure (NES)
1/20: Injustice: Gods Among US (WiiU)
1/25: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
1/29: Metroid Fusion (GBA)
1/30: Metroid II: The Return of Samus (GB)
2/8: Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)
2/23: Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (WiiU)
3/9: Megaman Zero (DS)
3/14: Megaman Battle Network (GBA)
3/19: Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)
3/23: Megaman 6 (NES)
4/9: Project Justice: Rival Schools 2 (DC)
5/12: Capcom vs SNK (DC)
5/17: Megaman: Wily's Revenge (GB)
5/19: Megaman II (GB)
5/23: Megaman III (GB)
5/24: Megaman IV (GB)
5/25: Megaman V (GB)
5/25: Megaman Powered Up! (PSP)
5/27: Megaman X (SNES)
7/5: Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
7/26: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
8/17:New Super Luigi Bros. U (WiiU)
8/31: Dragon Ball Z Budokai (GCN)
9/25: Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes (GCN)
10/10: Mass Effect (PS3)
10/28: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty HD (PS3)
12/07: New Super Mario Bros. (NDS)

Barring a come from behind victory where I step into an alternate universe and magically have more free time, this is probably the end of my list for 2014. Looking at this list, it definitely says a LOT about the year that I had. I began 2014 with no job, struggling to hold back my depression so that it wouldn't strangle my relationship with my then-fiance. Nearly half of my games beaten this year are in the first three months of the year so it's obvious that gaming was a way I was trying to cope.

Then in March/April everything changed: I got a job that is ten fold improved over my previous career and in April I got married. The number of games I finished dropped dramatically and I gravitated strongly towards short retro titles and platformers. A bright spot was Capcom vs SNK which I did as part of Together Retro, the first time I've actually fully participated in a month despite how frequently I contribute articles for the group.

This was probably the least experimental year in gaming for me, in terms of games that I saw all the way through. With the exception of Injustice, Metroid II, and Super Mario 3D World every game was a replay. That's saying something considering the quality titles that have come out this year.

I remain, as always, unhealthily Nintendo platform focused. It's been great gaming with you guys this year and I look forward to 2015 where my goal will be to finally clear the back log.

Post by **Ack** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:40 am

51. Borderlands 2 Headhunter - Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre (PC)(FPS/RPG)
52. Borderlands 2 - Digistruct Peak Challenge (PC)(FPS/RPG)
53. Street Racer (SNES)(Racing)
54. The Combatribes (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
55. Hammerwatch (PC)(Action RPG)
56. Breath of Fire II (SNES)(RPG)

Earlier this year, SNESdrunk released a review in which he stated Breath of Fire II magnifies all of the positives and negatives of the first Breath of Fire game. I agree with this statement. Breath of Fire II has the gorgeous animation, the awesome music, the terrible naming scheme, the variety of characters ranging from awesome to worthless, the awful inventory system, the cryptic dialogue, the ridiculous encounter rate, and the horrendously slow leveling of the first, all turned up to 11. I'm glad I got through it, but the flaws are so glaring at times that I set it down for more than a year and only came back to finish it after doing so with Tecmo Secret of the Stars.

And you know what? While there are things I like about BoFII, there are things that Secret of the Stars did better. Actually it's fairly easy to compare the two: both have poor translations that feel like a lot of the story was left on the wayside. Both have bad inventory systems for items. Neither really explain what a lot of items do. Both have a variety of characters that range from great to worthless. Both have ridiculous encounter rates. Both have a buildable city that turns into a flying machine. Both suffer from the overall power of status effects in these games. Both have a fusion system of some kind, though in BoFII it is for individual characters while in SotS it is for multiple character attacks. And both have similar combat systems, plotted out for all characters in rounds.

Where does BoFII beat SotS? It has gorgeous animation, significantly better music, and a better system for handling character equipment. What does come through of the plot is generally better written, particularly the ending. The town feels more manageable, with a wider variety of people to bring in. Also, the game is generally fairer about status effects.

Where does SotS beat BoFII? The flying town in SotS moves faster, offers a variety of free items, doesn't require so much dialogue to launch, and can be filled by just about everyone you come across who wants to go there, as opposed to BoFII, which forces you to pick and choose with little knowledge of the impact any single individual will have. SotS is generally fairer about instant death attacks than BoFII. The main party in SotS don't have such a mass of useless abilities(the only one I ever really used what Bow's Shot ability), and since it only contains four characters, it cuts a lot of the fat out and makes sure that all four shine in particular areas, as opposed to the more weak and worthless characters who appear in BoFII(*cough*cough*Jean*cough*cough*).

Which one did I like more? Well, BoFII is way easier on the eyes and much, much better to listen to. When the plot does shine through, it's significantly better than SotS. And there is none of that two-party bullshit that you find in SotS. The game also gets more playable over time, as levels start to build and the party becomes capable of grinding on the hunter island. So I will have to give it to BoFII.

Plus, I'm the final boss. There is that.

Post by **BoneSnapDeez** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 12:57 pm

A Breath of Fire II / Secret of the Stars comparison? Never thought I'd see that.

I do enjoy your long write-ups Ack.

Post by **laurenhiya21** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 5:53 pm

1/6: Dear Esther (Steam)
1/11: Hydrophobia: Prophecy (Steam)
1/14: Spirit Camera: Cursed Memoir (3DS)
1/26: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
2/1: 1,000,000 (Steam)
3/14: Thomas Was Alone (Steam)
3/15: Fairy Bloom Freesia (Steam)
3/22: Suikoden (PS1)
3/25: Wizorb (Steam)
3/28: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Steam)
3/29: Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
3/30: Chibi-Robo! (GC)
3/31: Luigi's Mansion (GC)
4/13: Deponia (GOG)
4/13: Shatter (Steam)
4/14: Rusty's Real Deal Baseball: Cage Match (3DS)
4/19: Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
4/23: Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia (PS2)
4/25: Freddi Fish 3: Case of the Stolen Conch Shell (PC)
4/26: Frogatto & Friends (Desura)
5/6: Persona 4 (PS2)
5/9: The Last Us (PS3)
5/24: Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of Dusk (PS3)
5/28: Tobe's Vertical Adventure (Steam)
6/2: Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians (Steam)
6/11: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC)
6/23: Half-Life (Steam)
6/30: Analogue: A Hate Story (Steam)
7/1: Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior (Steam)
7/7: LoZ: Oracle of Ages (3DS VC)
7/7: Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
7/13: Ys I (Steam)
7/15: Ys II (Steam)
7/27: Super Mario 64 (Wii VC)
8/19: LoZ: Ocarina of Time (Wii VC)
8/24: Ico (PS2)
12/1: Scribblenauts Unlimited (Steam)
12/6: VVVVVV (GOG)
12/7: Karateka (Steam)

Not a whole lot to say on these so I'll try and keep it short...

Scribblenauts Unlimited
It was ok I guess? I tend to just use the same few words over and over, but I can see why others would like it. I'm not really one for puzzles anyway... It's a toooon better than the original though, that's for sure.

VVVVVV
Wow I died 988 times but I still quite enjoyed it. I guess cause it's simple enough, has lots of checkpoints, and reaaally good music.

Karateka
I actually really enjoyed this until the game suddenly decided that certain enemies don't get music cues, which was dumb, since the game tells you to rely on them in order to defeat the enemies. So the enemies that didn't have cues were just chance on whether I beat them or not :/ Also I'm kind of mad because I was sooooo close to beating the game w/ the monk gah.

Post by **Damm64** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 6:31 pm

1- Metroid Confrontation
2- Red Dead Redemption (PS3)
3- Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (PS3)
4- Bayonetta (PS3)
5- Doom 1 (Ps3) (BFG Edition)
6- The Last of Us (Ps3)
7- Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3)
8- Resident Evil: Revelations (Ps3)
9- King of Dragons (PSP)
10- Mercs (PSP)
11- Silent Hill: Downpour (PS3)
12- Dead Space (PS3)
13- Thief Gold (PC)
14- Crysis 3 (PS3)
15- Silent Hill Homecoming (Ps3)
16- Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (3DS)
17- Pokemon Y (3DS)
18- Dead or Alive: Dimensions (3DS)
19- Mario & Luigi: Bower's inside story (DS)
20- Siren: New Translation (PS3)
21- Super Princess Peach (Ds)
22- Warhammer 40.000: Space Marine (Ps3)
23- X-men Origins: Wolverine (PS3)
24- The Darkness (Ps3)
25- Bioshock (PS3)*
26- Metal Gear Rising Revengence (PS3)
27- New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
28- The Darkness 2 (PS3)
29- Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)
30- Shadows of the Danmed (PS3)
31- Alice Madness Returns (PS3)

32- FarCry 3 (PS3)
33- God of War Chains of Olympus*(PS3)

*=REPLAY

Well Farcry it's really fun, but there's some things are kind of annoying like the upgrade system you have to unlock 3 abilities that you don't want to get to one that you want and 16 towers to climb in the game is too much... the last 4 were gettin old. The history is lame in how tries to make feel "bad" at the end and on some parts when it should be YOU'RE A BADASS IN A JUNGLE WITH A HEAVY MACHINE GUN the ending should not say otherwise and make you "think" about on all the people you have kill and music sucks... really bad. those nippicks aside the game its great fun, takin out the outpost one by one and gettin the areas easier to travel is great and you can aproach them on the way you want, direct attack, stealthy, snype them, put a bunch of land mines and lure the enemies to them (the stealth system is OK the line of sight of the enemies is really low).

Gow of War of PSP ported to PS3.... Well it's really a port... and a lazy one all the cutscenes are just upscaled and not remastered since you can see they are really poor quality, they didn't change the controls so L2 and R2 are useless and you still need to use R1+ any button to use your magic, YOU CAN STILL DODGE WITH L1 AND R1 (WHY?!). Also on my first playthrough i didn't realize that are some areas at the end of the game the camera angle is awful and leaves to some cheap hits some enemies off screen, this is also present on the final boss. Still the game is enjoyable and i will still recommend this version since it's cheap and the controller it's more comfortable than the PSP.

On a side note i think ill stop playing FPS games on the PS3 since, know that i realize, the limited field of view is kind of annoying i can still stand them but i will only play FPS made for consoles only and the rest just not play them until i get a better PC. Bioshock is a great escepcion since it has a option to increase the field of view and make's a huge diference.

HLTB · Post by **Xeogred** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:34 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:A Breath of Fire II / Secret of the Stars comparison? Never thought I'd see that.

I do enjoy your long write-ups Ack.

Same, I always anticipate what Ack's gonna hit up next.

Damm64 wrote:On a side note i think ill stop playing FPS games on the PS3 since, know that i realize, the limited field of view is kind of annoying i can still stand them but i will only play FPS made for consoles only and the rest just not play them until i get a better PC. Bioshock is a great escepcion since it has a option to increase the field of view and make's a huge diference.

Yeah dude, once I started hitting up some FPS's again on my PC this year (and replaying some I played on the 360), I don't think there's any going back now. The resolutions, the FOV as you said, and although it took me a day or so to adjust, that 60 FPS really makes a huge difference.

I went with Far Cry 4 on the PS4 and it is probably by FAR the best looking game I've played on it so far. GTA5 might be a bigger technical marvel with how insanely detailed the city looks and all, but up close Far Cry 4 looks better to me. Last of Us Remastered, Evil Within, and Dragon Age (especially...) don't even compare to FC4 visually.

As much as I love my PS3 nowadays and could enjoy the Killzone's, there's still no denying I wasn't huge on that controller for FPS's. So oh well, now I have a beefy PC and PS4 for that.

Post by **Ack** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:39 pm

I'm glad you guys like it. One of my favorite things to do during a game is to sit and think about what works, why it works, and what other games does it remind me of. In this case, I had played SotS relatively recently, and BoFII really did strike me as having a lot in common with it. We'll see what other SNES treasures I stumble across as I play through its offerings.

Post by **Damm64** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 10:56 pm

Xeogred wrote: As much as I love my PS3 nowadays and could enjoy the Killzone's, there's still no denying I wasn't huge on that controller for FPS's. So oh well, now I have a beefy PC and PS4 for that.

Well i can't afford neither of them at the moment but i will stop the FPS's on the PS3 for a while

I'm still surprised that bioshock had that fov option i don't know why is turned off by default. After that the game became so much better since i didn't feel that the hits were cheap. I will check if infinite and 2 had them too if consoles are going to be PC like from now on i would like some of these options.

HLTB · Post by **Xeogred** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:01 pm

Thief (2014) has that as well.

Post by **Damm64** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 11:05 pm

Xeogred wrote:Thief (2014) has that as well.

The console versions? I have that on PS3 but i haven't check it out yet, kinda waiting to get Thief 2 and 3 first.

Games Beaten 2014

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