Games Beaten 2012

Post by **Ack** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:23 pm

1. Mortal Kombat (PS3)
2. The Ball (PC)
3. Tyrian 2000 (PC)
4. Shogo - Mobile Armor Division (PC)
5. Disney's Goof Troop (SNES)
6. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)
7. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest (SNES)
8. Abobo's Big Adventure (PC)
9. Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye (SNES)
10. Castlevania 64 (N64)
11. Donkey Kong Country 3 (SNES)
12. Dungeons of Dredmor (PC)
13. Torchlight (PC)
14. Wild Arms 3 (PS2)
15. The Darkness (PS3)
16. Black Mesa (PC)
17. Dear Esther (PC)
18. Splatterhouse (PS3)

Hey, it's October, and D2 does not like my Dreamcast, so I switched over to playing this game, which I figure is probably something similar to what would happen if Rob Zombie made a video game. It's possibly the goriest game I've ever played, and it is definitely the bloodiest. Regardless of how one feels about how crude it can be, there is something thrilling about being able to rip an enemy's arm or head off so I can then go beat down its friends. Unfortunately, it also becomes repetitive, as I watch the same death animations over and over again on enemies that are merely slightly tweaked palette swaps.

So, the upside is that it gives me some interesting (and disturbing) ways to kill things, and it makes me kill A LOT of things to get there. I feel like I'm a juggernaut, which is the idea. I enjoyed the influence of HP Lovecraft on the story. I also enjoyed some of the banter between Rick and the Terror Mask. And being able to grab a 2x4 or a meat cleaver and then hack, slash, or maim my way through a mob in a blood-fueled frenzy while limbs, heads, and torsos go flying is REALLY satisfying.

What I don't like is the feeling that after a while, I'm just killing different groups of the same enemies over and over again. Great, it's X mob, which I defeat with X move. Oh, but Y monster is now here...which means I either let them mix and still kill them with X move or separate them and kill them with X and Y move, just as I've done a dozen times already. Also, the final boss fight is very limited and wastes any opportunity for an epic conclusion, and the ending doesn't help much either. And then there's the nudity, which just felt pointless.

Still, something about the game has really caught my interest, as I keep going back. I've actually beaten it twice, on the "Savage" and "Brutal" difficulties (read: Normal and Hard). And I'm now pursuing S-rank in all of the arena maps, which is proving to be much harder than the story mode. I'm also going for all the achievements, because the game really doesn't ask much beyond going for completion anyway, and there is no multiplayer, so no annoying multiplayer achievements.

Oh, at certain levels, the game unlocks all three of the original Splatterhouse Trilogy, so if I don't like the reboot, I can at least go play the originals. It's a nice touch.

Also, the guy that voiced the Terror Mask? He has also been voicing Winnie the Pooh for Disney for the last 20 years. So the next time I see Winnie the Pooh, I'm going to think about tearing someone's torso in half.

Post by **emwearz** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:35 pm

I found Splatterhouse started so strongly, until you (are you pointed out) realize you are doing the same shit over and over and over and over and over again.

Post by **J T** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:36 pm

Ack wrote: Also, the guy that voiced the Terror Mask? He has also been voicing Winnie the Pooh for Disney for the last 20 years. So the next time I see Winnie the Pooh, I'm going to think about tearing someone's torso in half.

Post by **Ack** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:38 pm

emwearz wrote:I found Splatterhouse started so strongly, until you (are you pointed out) realize you are doing the same shit over and over and over and over and over again.

Have you ever watched the trailers for it? They're entirely different. I get the feeling there was a lot they wanted to do with the game that had to be cut at the last minute for some reason, so we ended up with a lot of repetition. But I am glad that the game became so easy to pick up and play.

Post by **emwearz** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:49 pm

Ack wrote:
emwearz wrote:I found Splatterhouse started so strongly, until you (are you pointed out) realize you are doing the same shit over and over and over and over and over again.
Have you ever watched the trailers for it? They're entirely different. I get the feeling there was a lot they wanted to do with the game that had to be cut at the last minute for some reason, so we ended up with a lot of repetition. But I am glad that the game became so easy to pick up and play.

And I got Splatthouse 1-3 for less than $10, yay!

Post by **dsheinem** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 6:47 am

January-June
Bride of Pin*Bot (from Pinball Arcade) - Vita
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX - PS3
Super Stardust Delta - Vita
DoDonPachi Resurrection - 360
Bit.Trip Beat - PC
Dear Esther - PC
Wizorb - PC
Sound Shapes - Vita
Infinity Blade - iOS
Infinity Blade II - iOS
Super Star Shooter - X68000
Mortal Kombat (2012) - Vita
Super Mario 3D Land - 3DS
Centipede: Infestation - 3DS
Commando - 7800
Shadow Gun - iOS
Borderlands 2 - PC
Unfinished Swan - PS3 *new*
Borderlands 2: Captain Scarlett and Her Captain's Booty - PC *new*

TOTAL: 55

2011 Games Beaten
2010 Games Beaten

I wrote about Unfinished Swan here: http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 26&t=40284

Captain Scarlett's DLC was about 8 more hours or so of B2 awesomeness and some of the best DLC I've ever seen for any game.

Post by **ExedExes** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 10:56 am

Shenmue II -- Dreamcast (January 9)
Golden Axe Warrior -- Sega Master System (January 19)
Ys I -- Turbo CD (March 22)
Zanac X Zanac -- PS1 (April 7)
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 -- Dreamcast (April 30)
Warioware Twisted - Game Boy Advance (May 30)
Wolfenstein 3D - Game Boy Advance (May 31)
Warioware Inc. - Game Boy Advance (June 15)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past - Game Boy Advance (June 25)
Super Mario Advance 2: SMW - Game Boy Advance (June 26)
Command & Conquer - PC (June 28)
Gunstar Heroes - Genesis (July 6)
Call of Duty Finest Hour - GameCube (August 13)
Bomberman '94 - PC Engine (August 17)
Salamander 2 - MAME/Arcade (August 19)
Megaman 7 - SNES (by way of Mega Man Anniversary Collection) (August 17)
Medal of Honor Frontline - GameCube (August 24)
Super Star Shooter - Sharp X68000 (August 30)
Mega Man 8 - PS1 (by way of Mega Man Anniversary Collection (August 31)
Mega Man Anniversary Collection - GameCube (August 31)
Medal of Honor Allied Assault - PC (September 5)
Super Mario Advance - Game Boy Advance (September 7)
Call of Duty - PC (September 14)
Maniac Mansion (Deluxe Version) - PC (October 4)
*NEW* Medal of Honor Rising Sun - GameCube (October 23)

Finally sat down and finished this. When the game foreshadowed future events, I found out that there was going to be a sequel but due to unfavorable reviews it was canceled early in development. WHY????? This is almost as bad as those Shenmue games!

On to other MOH & FPS games now!

Post by **alienjesus** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 5:46 pm

Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise Wii
Grim Fandango PC
Tekken Advance GBA
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron N64
Resident Evil 4 GC
Panzer Dragoon Orta XBox
Duck Tales NES
Mega Bomberman Mega Drive
Monster World IV VC
Final Fantasy V PS1 Classics
Maniac Mansion PC
Day of the Tentacle PC
Mega Man: Powered Up PSP
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition PC *NEW*
Dissidia 012[Duodecim] Final Fantasy PSP *NEW*
Pac-Pix DS *NEW*
Total: 66

Monkey Island was an enjoyable enough adventure game, but compared to some of the ones I've played recently (Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Sam and Max) it felt a bit short, a little awkward and quite dated. I left feeling a little disappointed, a shame as I love adventure games and pirates. A lot of puzzles didn't feel like puzzles as such, more like 'find the item, bring it here', rather than requiring much thought. The story was a little lacking compared to DotT too. The new special edition features were a mixed bag. The music was nice, but the graphics didn't do much for me. The graphics looked lovely when stationary, but in motion there was something distinctively 'flash-game' about them. The new graphics sometimes made it difficult to spot items you could interact with to, but ultimately I played in new mode for one reason - The voice acting, which was solid and enjoyable. I look forward to trying the sequel which I hear improves on this in every way. Maybe it'll be a better match for DotT, which I love.

Dissidia Duodecim was a reasonably enjoyable fighting game. I feel like I could write an essay about what I liked and disliked about this game, so I'll try and be reasonably brief. First off, I will say that although I found this game enjoyable enough, I feel there are definitely more flaws than pros with this one. The fighting system is odd - it's incredibly confusing when you first play, becomes fun for a while once you get the hang of it, but by the time it's mastered you can't stand it any more - each character only gets a small handful of attacks, which makes the combat fast and flashy, but strips it of much depth. They try and combat this by throwing in lots of other mechanics such as wall rushes, summons, assists, ex modes and all sorts else, but it doesnt help much, and just makes it more incomprehensible for newcomers. The games story is laughable, and reads like a terribly written fanfic. The characters are boiled to basic stereotypes of their original appearance, which in some cases is funny because they had little character to begin with. The story is overly complicated, and after 50+ hours of play I still dont really get what was going on. Speaking of which, therein is my main flaw with the game. It is a fighting game. You have very few moves. You level up slowly like in an RPG. It is 50 hours long. I was bored of the game by about 12 hours in. I really had to push through the rest, and take several long breaks before I finally got around to finishing it. The game is too long for its own good. The AI could feel cheap too, perfectly blocking attacks and predicting your next move with amazing accuracy on harder opponents.
It wasn't all bad though. When it was at its best, the battles did feel exhilarating, and the music was amazing. There certainly is no lack of content, and I don't think I've done even half of what is available even after 50+ hours of play. How much you want to play is an area where your mileage may vary though. Overall, this is an average game made worse by the sheer length of it's campaign.

Pac-Pix on the other hand, is not a very long game at all, and can be beaten in around 2 hours, maybe less. It is pretty fun though. You draw pacmen on the DS touchscreen which come to life and eat ghosts. Small pacmen move faster but are harder to control whereas large ones move slower and eat ghostd easier, but are more likely to run into hazards The game mixes up the challenge by throwing different types of ghostd at you - fast ones, ones who need eaten in order, ones who need eating twice, ones who leave paint on the touchscreen ruining your drawings and ones who need eating from behind. After awhile it teaches you some new gestures too - arrows fire in the direction drawn and stun ghosts, hit switches and pop bubbles - useful for hitting things on the top screen. Bombs blow up shields and walls. The game is just the right length to introduce and make full use of all of these mechanics so it always feels you're learning something new. The game is however a little repetitive. The short length relieves this somewhat, but I'm glad it's a game I got for £3 and not £30 as it would've been at launch. Nothing exceptional, but a fun and unique game for a quick play every so often.

3 decent but slightly flawed games this time to follow on from the 4 awesome games last time. Hopefully this decline isn't going to be a trend!

Next up: Something out of Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.

Post by **J T** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:42 pm

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (1/12) PC
Mirror's Edge (1/18) PC
Medal of Honor [2010] (1/23) PC
Puzzle Agent 2 (2/2) PC
Dinner Date (2/15) PC
NyxQuest (2/19) PC
Dear Esther (2/20) PC
The Stanley Parable (2/21) PC
To The Moon (2/26) PC
Escape Goat (6/16) PC
Rayman Origins (6/17) PC
Robot Pinball Escape (6/18) PC
Offspring Fling (7/16) PC
The Darkness II (7/30) PC
Thomas Was Alone (8/22) PC
Thirteen Flights of Loving (8/23) PC
Corril Slayer (8/27) PC
Sleeping Dogs (10/02) PC
Alice: Madness Returns (10/16) PC
Duke Nukem Forever (10/19) PC
Hotline Miami (10/24) PC

My mind is slipping. I am following murderous orders on my telephone answering machine. I think... maybe it's in my head. Did I really kill all those people? Did I really survive? I feel uneasy. Nauseated. The room won't hold still. There's static in my brain. Colors seem to crawl around in my head. Hideous hues of Pepto-bismal pink, convenient store neon orange, and baby poop green. I sniff hard through my nostrils and fight back the urge to vomit. The only way to stop thinking about the killing is to kill more. In the killing there's no time for remorse, no time for pondering long term consequences, there is only action. My eyes dart around every corner, door, and exit. My muscles twinge in reflex. My brain plans its moves: Shoot. Sprint. Pounce. Stab. Hide. Fire. Run. As I take life, mine is reaffirmed. I am alive. I'm bound tight like a rubber band pulled on both ends, about to snap. But I can only think a few steps ahead. I don't know what lies ahead other than danger. I must be vigilant. I must be aggressive. And when it is all over, I will think I must be sick. Horribly, horribly sick. But there's not time to think about what's wrong with me now. I'm already through the door. The trigger has already been pulled. I'm already in the chase. Guns are blazing. I'm in it. There's no turning back.
Hotline Miami is that. It's not just a game, it's a psychological experience that emerges out of the ugliness of the graphics, the head-bending visual effects, the trippiness of the music, the andrenaline fueled gameplay, the tension before opening a door, the horror and quiet of walking out of a room where you have murdered every living soul and their bloodied bodies are in piles. To break it down into gameplay, graphics, sound, control doesn't seem to do it justice. It is killer's instinct, confusion, evil, guilt. It is terror. Surprising calm. It is a disoriented nightmare. It is succumbing to that urge at night to just swerve into the headlights. It is waking up in someone else's blood. It is all your fault

Post by **pierrot** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:32 am

alienjesus wrote:Dissidia Duodecim was a reasonably enjoyable fighting game. I feel like I could write an essay about what I liked and disliked about this game, so I'll try and be reasonably brief. First off, I will say that although I found this game enjoyable enough, I feel there are definitely more flaws than pros with this one. The fighting system is odd - it's incredibly confusing when you first play, becomes fun for a while once you get the hang of it, but by the time it's mastered you can't stand it any more - each character only gets a small handful of attacks, which makes the combat fast and flashy, but strips it of much depth. They try and combat this by throwing in lots of other mechanics such as wall rushes, summons, assists, ex modes and all sorts else, but it doesnt help much, and just makes it more incomprehensible for newcomers. The games story is laughable, and reads like a terribly written fanfic. The characters are boiled to basic stereotypes of their original appearance, which in some cases is funny because they had little character to begin with. The story is overly complicated, and after 50+ hours of play I still dont really get what was going on. Speaking of which, therein is my main flaw with the game. It is a fighting game. You have very few moves. You level up slowly like in an RPG. It is 50 hours long. I was bored of the game by about 12 hours in. I really had to push through the rest, and take several long breaks before I finally got around to finishing it. The game is too long for its own good. The AI could feel cheap too, perfectly blocking attacks and predicting your next move with amazing accuracy on harder opponents.
It wasn't all bad though. When it was at its best, the battles did feel exhilarating, and the music was amazing. There certainly is no lack of content, and I don't think I've done even half of what is available even after 50+ hours of play. How much you want to play is an area where your mileage may vary though. Overall, this is an average game made worse by the sheer length of it's campaign.

You pretty much summed up my feelings on the first Dissidia here. By the time I got to chaos, I just couldn't stomach the game anymore. I never even finished Duodecim Prologue, either, let alone the full game.

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