Games Beaten 2014

Post by **dsheinem** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 12:41 pm

Games Beaten 2014

January-June
Spider - iOS
Metal Torrent - NDS
Injustice: Gods Among Us - PC
Thief Gold - PC
Shovel Knight - 3DS
Wolfenstein: The New Order - PC
Spoiler Alert - PC
Battle Arena Toshinden - Game Boy
Dungeons and Dragons - Shadow of Mystara - PC
Diablo III - PC
Dungeons and Dragons - Tower of Doom - PC
Expendabros - PC
Doom III: The Lost Mission - PC
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 1: T.K. Baha's Bloody Harvest - PC
Kangaroo - Atari 2600
Escape Goat - PC *new*
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 2: The Horrible Hunger of the Ravenous Wattle Gobbler - PC *new*
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 3: How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day - PC *new*
Ninja Spirit - PCE
Borderlands 2: Headhunter 4: Wedding Day Massacre - PC
Proteus - Vita
Destiny - PS4
Karnov - NES
Bug Princess - iOS
Contra: Hard Corps - Genesis
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge - PS3
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel - PC
Vib-Ribbon - PS1
Deathsmiles (360 Mode) - 360
Vampire Savior (Darkstalkers 3) - PS3
Forza Horizon 2 - Xbox One
Shadow of Mordor - PS4
The Novelist - PC
Luftrausers - Vita
Monument Valley - iOS
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PS4
Sonic Advance - GBA
Titan Attacks -Vita
Home - PC
Sunset Overdrive - Xbox One
The Sailor's Dream - iOS *new*
Thomas Was Alone -Vita *new*

Total: 92

Games Beaten: 2013 2012 2011 2010

Simogo's latest iOS "game" is probably my GOTY on that platform, though I didn't like it as much as their even better Device 6, which was ultimately more engaging. Still, this is one that anyone interested in the potential of the touch-based platform should check out and comes highly recommended. Make sure to play with your calendar and clock if you want to unlock everything...

I tried playing Thomas Was Alone waaaay back in January of last year on PC and it never really took as I don't think I advanced past the first few stages before I got bored. It was a better experience on the Vita, I think, where the game feels very much at home. I was pleasantly surprised by both the length/depth of the game and its relative straightforwardness (usually puzzle-platformers cause me at least a little consternation along the way). If you haven't played it, give it a look on Vita.

Website · Post by **BogusMeatFactory** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 1:26 pm

1. We Love Katamari (PS2)
2. Major Minor's Majestic Marching Band (Wii)
3. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
4. Petz: Wildlife Rescue (Wii) (Don't Ask)
5. Flow (PS3)
6. Journey (PS3)
7. Shenmue (DC) (5th completion)
8. Ben There, Dan That (PC)
9. Serena (PC)
10. Graffiti Kingdom (PS2)
11. Bushido Blade (PS1)
12. Super Bomberman (SNES)
13. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
14. Way of the Samurai (PS2)
15. Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening DX (GBC)
16. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
17. Dust: An Elysian Tail (PC)
18. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
19. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
20. Sonic Adventure DX (GCN) (3rd Completion)
21. Burning Rangers (Saturn) (4th Completion)(Beaten Twice This Year)
22. Quest For Glory (PC)
23. Guacamelee (PC)
24. Sly Cooper and the Thievious Racoonus (PS2)
25. Sid Meier’s Civilization V (PC)
26. Neverhood (PC) (2nd Completion)
27. Mount and Blade: Warband (PC)
28. Skyrim: Dawnguard DLC (PC)
29. Skyrim: Dragonborn DLC (PC)
30. Skyrim: Hearthfire DLC (PC)
31. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (Wii U)
32. Star Fox 64 (N64)
33. Shadow Blasters (Genesis)
34. Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle (Genesis)
35. Dungeon Village (Mobile)
36. Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
37. 3 Ninjas Kick Back (Sega CD)
38. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (Sega CD)
39. Make My Video – Kris Kross (Sega CD)
40. Rocket Knight Adventure (Genesis)
41. Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)
42. Disney Infinity 2.0: Avengers Playset (PC)
43. Disney Infinity 2.0: Spiderman Playset (PC)
44. Disney Infinity 2.0: Guardians of the Galaxy Playset (PC)
45. Disney Infinity 2.0: Escape from the Kyln (PC)
46. Dreamfall Chapters: Episode 1 (PC)
47. Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)
48. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (PC)
49. Sonic Generations (PC)
50. Gone Home (PC)
51. Space Quest (PC)
52. Space Quest II (PC)
53. Space Quest III (PC)

After beating Space Quest I, I thought I would hammer out the next two in the series...

Space Quest II - The next installment in the series is a huge improvement from the previous game. With parallax scrolling, larger, more detailed images and more unique and diverse puzzles, I feel Space Quest II was a huuuuuge improvement over the first. I feel like the humor is much more prevalent, thanks to the variety in animations and environment. There just seems to be a much more well thought out world that meshes well with the jokes presented.

This was still during a time when American game design was in its infancy, however. The graphical adventure games from Sierra at the time really lacked the writing chops to create a better story. When interacting with the environment and looking around, there is little written detail to the world, but you can still start to see the improvement in that department from the first.

Also... they had a maze... a really really annoying maze, which really brings it down a small notch.

Space Quest III - Many consider Space Quest III to be their favorite and with good reason. The music has vastly improved, the graphics engine has been upgraded to the SCI engine, which had a new and improved parser that allowed for some wonderful conveniences like pausing the game while typing. This was where Space Quest started to truly become the iconic series that everyone knows and loves. The writing has vastly improved, the story has become more coherent and the world they create is even more vivid and imaginative.

The Space Quest games always seemed to have fun and interesting arcade mini-games and this was was definitely one of the finer examples of that. Astro Chicken, and their own weird version of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots is a blast to play. I highly recommend Space Quest III for anyone looking to get into the series. Also, the ending is superb for any fan of the Sierra games.

Post by **MrPopo** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 5:20 pm

Well, I knocked C&C Tiberian Sun: Firestorm off the list. Now the only C&C game I haven't beaten is Generals Zero Hour.

Man, what an overall letdown everything Tiberian Sun is. They had a great game with Tiberian Dawn and expanded on it with Red Alert, but then Tiberian Sun comes along and they mess everything up. I already ranted about the briefing cutscenes already. They got better in Firestorm (they talk to you again) but they don't get good again until Red Alert 2. But the real disappointment is the units.

The disc thrower is a grenadier that sometimes hilariously misses his target. If you're really into micro you can hit stuff from further away, but that really is only worth doing against bases
The rocketeer suffers from the overall cock up on missiles. It takes much longer for their shots to reach target and as a result small packs are no longer good to use against vehicles.
The jump jet infantry is utterly useless. Absurdly slow and they take a while to take off and land and only have a machine gun so you can't even try to do a suicide raid with them. At least these get fixed in Red Alert 2
Tick Tanks are strictly worse than Titans since their shots are ballistic vs. hitscan and can hit the terrain, plus they don't have a turret unless deployed and deploying takes ages. Considering they cost the same it's a real disappointment; if they had been cheaper it wouldn't feel so bad.
Rocket bikes aren't nearly as fast and have the same missile issue, so they're not worth building in the slightest.
The MLRS goes from an area saturation at long range to a decently mobile missile platform like the rocket bike. Until Firestorm this means GDI has no long range capability and they're quite fragile; they're really only good for anti air for a group of Titans/Disrupters
Orca Fighters lose basically all of their damage and fire much slower than before, making them pretty much worthless except for taking out bridges
The Ghoststalker is a very poor replacement for the commando; sure, he can take out vehicles, but he fires incredibly slowly with a fairly short range, walks slowly, and his shot can be blocked by slopes on terrain (all too often)
The flame take is usually good, but it suffers the same blocked by slopes issue as the ghoststalker.
The Mammoth Mk2 is insulting. They took the iconic tank from the first two games, limited it to owning one at a time, then gave it a slow firing weapon and worthless anti air missiles. You pretty much need a carryall just to get it anywhere in the battle (which makes it hilariously vulnerable) and it doesn't do nearly enough damage or have enough survivability to justify the 3k price tag
Cluster missiles, while potent, are a poor substitute for the nuke

There are some good units like the artillery, disrupter (so much damage), banshees/orca bombers, and subterranean APCs (oops I captured your base), but on the whole most of your arsenal feels like step down from what you had in Tiberian Dawn/Red Alert.

HLTB · Post by **Xeogred** » Sat Dec 20, 2014 8:26 pm

1-50

51. Resident Evil 3* (PSX)
52. Bioshock* (PC)
53. Bioshock 2* + Minerva's Den (PC)
54. Bioshock Infinite* + Burial at Sea 1-2 (PC)
55. Wolfenstein The New Order (PC)
56. Half Life 2* (PC)
57. Half Life 2 Episode One* (PC)
58. Alien Isolation (PC)
59. Half Life 2 Episode Two* (PC)
60. The Evil Within (PS4)
61. The Last of Us + Left Behind (PS4)
62. Far Cry 4 (PS4)
63. Grand Theft Auto 5 (PS4)

* = replay

Grand Theft Auto 5 was a perplexing experience for me. Not so much because of the game itself, but the genre it created and where we're at in 2014. A revolution is a stretch, but GTA3 was innovative and a unique experience when it dropped. I loved it and shortly after, Vice City and SA perfected the formula further. I loved them for the crazy missions, the humor, the freedom, the driving, etc. These big sandboxes were fun to take over and mess around with.

But now, what sets GTA apart? What sets GTA apart from Crackdown, Just Cause, Saints Row, Sleeping Dogs, Mafia 2, Batman Arkham, new Red Faction, Infamous, Assassin's Creed 1-785, Watch Dogs, random one shots like Saboteur I haven't played and probably dozens of others. I... am getting very bored of the sandbox and "open world" games. What is truly memorable from these games behind all that flair? Big, pretty, detailed worlds to just... look at, that don't really serve any purpose in the long run.

Anyways I'm just rambling, but am really losing interest in these kind of games.

GTA5 itself was great, but I think if the times were differently for me I would have enjoyed it more. Outside of the cool three characters thing, it's a pretty standard third person shooter with lots of driving that is ultimately pointless, with a few little extra random activities to do on the sidelines. Lots and lots of fluff. I'd still probably give it an 8/10. The characters were cool and things really picked up when the three got together. I still got 30 some hours out of it so I can't say it was a waste or anything. An 8 might sound high when I'd still say it was a weird mixed experience, but my interest in the series from here on and other games similar to it is kind of at an end with this one.

Post by **J T** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:11 pm

I haven't been keeping track of games in this thread, but this should be everything I finished from 2014.

Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Crimzon Clover- World Ignition
Freedom Planet
Gone Home
Hexcells
Hexcells Infinite
Metal Slug 3
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes
Pac Man Championship Edition DX+
Rayman Jungle Run
Rayman Fiesta Run
Shovel Knight
Typing of the Dead: Overkill
Vigilante

Post by **Ack** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 7:43 pm

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)
57. Secret of Evermore (SNES)(RPG)

This will probably be the last game I beat for the year, as I will be traveling around to visit family until after the New Year.

Secret of Evermore is no Secret of Mana, that's for sure, but it's not a bad action RPG. I love its bright, colorful world. I like that it allows me to transfer control between the two characters and gives me influence over the AI partner's behavior. Its item system, equipment, weapons, spell-casting system, and so forth are all stripped-down and simplistic, but there is a charm to it that I enjoy, and there are a few moments that I find really interesting: alternate currencies between nations, having a limited selection and number of casts for alchemy, offering vastly different time periods through which the player can progress. These are the parts where I enjoy Secret of Evermore.

And then there is the downside: problematic hit detection, a heavy amount of glitches(one of which forced me to reset my Super Nintendo), inventory items that I cannot even see if I have without paying a particular NPC money(and she only gives a cryptic description of their effect), and limited inventory space, to the point that I just stopped using items entirely after the first three hours. The ring system also eventually gets really crowded with the numerous weapons you'll find, even though you should really only be using four of them: whatever the latest sword/axe/spear is and the bazooka.

The game is pretty, it has a soundtrack I enjoy, and there is a lot of variety among the numerous bosses(along with a secret boss that I defeated), but Secret of Evermore has a lot of issues too that keep it from greatness. I like that I had to pick and choose what alchemical spells to use, but the truth is that over 75% of the ones I found I never used. There were a few spikes in difficulty for certain bosses, but even then it wasn't much of a challenge, and when I think of what I consider the hardest fight in the game, I actually think of the first boss. No other boss ever posed the threat that he did.

The biggest black mark against SoE is sadly what it isn't: Secret of Mana. It desperately wants to be a Mana game, but it isn't, so a lot of folks look down on it. It's not bad, I hold it in regard along with other SNES action RPG fare like Brain Lord and Lagoon. But the similarity with SoM just serves to remind of what it was following(and having played Seiken Densetsu 3, the comparison is drastically against SoE). Oh well, it was short. It was buggy, it was easy, but it had a small town charm to it that made it an enjoyable experience. I'm happy to add it to the steadily expanding list of SNES RPGs I've beaten.

Post by **BoneSnapDeez** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 7:46 pm

Yeah the difficulty is totally unbalanced. It's certainly one of those games that gets easier as you go along.

Post by **Ack** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 8:02 pm

BoneSnapDeez wrote:Yeah the difficulty is totally unbalanced. It's certainly one of those games that gets easier as you go along.

Yeah, it is highly front loaded. And the final boss battle is only grueling because of how long it goes on through all of its various iterations. I got tired of whittling down the massive amounts of health that each new form had.

HLTB · Post by **Xeogred** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 8:56 pm

The "evil twins" thing really got to me after awhile haha.

Glad you liked it though Ack. I'd probably place it on the same level as Quintet stuff for me. It's got the polish, some ambitious ideas, but is a little buggy and has some quirks. 8/10. Must play for SNES fans, but it's definitely no Mana.

Post by **BoneSnapDeez** » Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:55 pm

............I didn't know Evermore had a secret boss. Either I've found it during every playthrough and figured it was a normal boss, or I've never found it.

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