Games Beaten 2015

[Sarge]

No save state run complete through Bayou Billy. Whee! It was as I thought. Enough continues beyond the driving stages and I was golden.

That last level was rough, you're right. I'd underestimated how tricky it could be to take out the gun-toters effectively without just getting shot to pieces. I lost about four lives there. I finally had to play more defensively by exploiting their up and down movement, kicking the mess out of single ones as they came to the bottom or top of the screen while watching my back for the others. It's all threat management. Once you get a gun away from one, it gets easier. If you can manage to keep about four blocks of health, it helps with the next set of three goons. Similar strategy with these guys, except it's all about getting those bulletproof vests off of them so you can shoot them to end it. The rest is pretty easy as long as you're careful, and the final bosses were a cinch with the whip and vest.

[J T]

Way to go Sarge!

[isiolia]

1.) Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PC)
2.) Transistor (PC)
3.) Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death (PC)
4.) Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC)
5.) The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PC)

Thoughts:

I had tried not to dig too deep into this prior to playing, since exploring and finding things for yourself is kind of the point of the type of game. It fits on the same shelf as stuff like Dear Esther or Gone Home, but had been promoted as having more in the way of puzzles, and effectively, gameplay. Before the game even begins, it makes a point to tell the player that there will be no hand-holding.

Generally speaking though, it's still the same basic premise. The majority of the experience consists of wandering around and finding anything and everything that can possibly be interacted with. Do that, and (being intentionally vague) you'll trigger an event, or be able to activate a cutscene that you need to piece together from several parts. There are a handful of actual puzzles that don't just practically complete themselves, but they're the minority.

What I was anticipating was something that actually tried to evolve adventure gaming by taking advantage of the level of detail possible on modern hardware. Instead, it was mostly another Journal Entries: The Ride kind of experience. All well and good, and it certainly is a worthy entry in that lineup, I was just hoping for something a little different.

[prfsnl_gmr]

No save state run complete through Bayou Billy.

Excellent work!

[Blu]

1. Super Smash Brothers - N64 (January 3)
2. Shovel Knight - Wii U (January 6)
3. NES Remix - Wii U (January 14)
4. NES Remix 2 - Wii U (January 14)

I loved both of thse. I got the credits screen on both games, but I'm not sure I'm going to grind out the rest of the stars. Some of the stages expect absolute perfection and platforming, and I don't think I have the time or patience to work on 3 stars so I can unlock a few other stages. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience though. 7/10.

[J T]

5.) The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (PC)

Thoughts:

I had tried not to dig too deep into this prior to playing, since exploring and finding things for yourself is kind of the point of the type of game. It fits on the same shelf as stuff like Dear Esther or Gone Home, but had been promoted as having more in the way of puzzles, and effectively, gameplay. Before the game even begins, it makes a point to tell the player that there will be no hand-holding.

Generally speaking though, it's still the same basic premise. The majority of the experience consists of wandering around and finding anything and everything that can possibly be interacted with. Do that, and (being intentionally vague) you'll trigger an event, or be able to activate a cutscene that you need to piece together from several parts. There are a handful of actual puzzles that don't just practically complete themselves, but they're the minority.

What I was anticipating was something that actually tried to evolve adventure gaming by taking advantage of the level of detail possible on modern hardware. Instead, it was mostly another Journal Entries: The Ride kind of experience. All well and good, and it certainly is a worthy entry in that lineup, I was just hoping for something a little different.

I also had high hopes for this game to be what you were originally expecting. Looks like I will need to adjust my expectations before picking up this title.

[MrPopo]

1. Painkiller - PC
2. Front Mission 4 - PS2
3. Wasteland 2 - PC

Well, that was quite the ride. Nice old school gameplay with various paths to solving quests and many times it not being clear which one is the "right" way (several faction disputes). I feel like I had a suboptimal build but I don't feel like I was hurt by it, which is a nice bit of balancing. I think the only really bad build you can do in the game would be to go for an entirely melee party and eschewing explosives due to how the combat system works. And even that could work out for you.

Definitely an awesome Kickstarter success. I'm very much looking forward to Torment: Tides of Numenera and I hope we might see another Wasteland game later on. This game definitely felt like a sequel to the original, rather than something unrelated but in the universe.

[J T]

Nice! How long did it take you to complete Wasteland 2? Also, did it take a lot of time to pick up and get into? I think it looks cool, but possibly too time consuming for me to enjoy.

[Exhuminator]

3. Wasteland 2 - PC

Congrats man, you definitely make me want to play the game. I've gone so far as to acquire it. Did you give Divinity: Original Sin a play already?

[MrPopo]

Nice! How long did it take you to complete Wasteland 2? Also, did it take a lot of time to pick up and get into? I think it looks cool, but possibly too time consuming for me to enjoy.

Took me 40 hours and I tried to do all the content I could. The one thing I did do was completely skip all the random encounters on the world map thanks to one of my companion's Outdoorsmanship skill. I'd say the only difficulty in getting into it is at the start you'll probably stress over character creation. Once I had characters I was happy with things went pretty smoothly from there.

Did you give Divinity: Original Sin a play already?

I haven't. I keep thinking about getting it but then when I read about it there's something that keeps me from getting it. I'm not really sure what it is either, just from descriptions and screenshots something in the back of my head is like "no".