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Post by Duke Cameron on Sept 15, 2022 0:46:55 GMT -5
Saints Row (2022)
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Sept 16, 2022 23:42:36 GMT -5
54. New Super Mario Bros. U
kind of was still in the mood for a platformer to casually play on the side after finishing up Tropical Freeze and hey, it scratches a similar itch. Not as good but it is a very fun game, though it really goes to show the importance of aesthetics I think. It's probably the best NSMB game but it also probably has the least individual identity of them and especially at the time it just felt very tired. It's more fresh now with distance from the series but it was kind of too much, too soon on the NSMB games and it doesn't really have much of anything that makes it stand out outside of just having very quality level design.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Sept 19, 2022 8:47:05 GMT -5
55. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
I'd had a replay kind of stalled out after chapter 2 for a few months, but past few days I decided I wanted to get back to it and wrap it up. Was pretty turned off by how laggy the Switch version's overworld navigation can be, to the point I strongly considered just bailing on it and resuming from where I left off in the PS4 version, but it's a problem that seems to get less bad as the game goes along so wasn't a huge deal.
Either way still really love this game on a revisit. Probably be a long time before I find myself wanting to do a run-through again, last time I played it entirely of my own accord instead of doing it with my brother was when I first went through it like five years ago, but was a lot of fun giving it another run. I think 2 might be pound for pound the best in the series? It's really hard to say but it does probably have the best cast and, while mechanically not as good as V3 it does very much outclass the first game on that front. Even if the game does try some things I don't think work very well that it's for the better that V3 ditched, like the side-scrolling parts of the overworld and how much the Tamagotchi can break tension in a scene. And I do think 2 has the weakest executions, with V3 probably having the best of them.
Definitely wanting to do V3 soonish but also not, like, right away because that sounds like a serious recipe for burnout. Kind of undecided if I want to play it on the Switch or Xbox but we'll see I guess. Probably going to do some shorter games for awhile in-between in either case.
Though f*** Improved Hangman's Gambit. It's still awful playing it again.
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Gecko
Grimlock
FAN Pyrite Member. Muahahaha
Posts: 13,331
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Post by Gecko on Sept 19, 2022 9:27:14 GMT -5
Can I be cheeky and throw Out Run in here? I managed to get to the finish in Yakuza 0, which is the first time I've seen the end of it.
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The Ichi
Patti Mayonnaise
AGGRESSIVE Executive Janitor of the Third Floor Manager's Bathroom
Posts: 37,321
Member is Online
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Post by The Ichi on Sept 27, 2022 7:59:26 GMT -5
Beat Yakuza 6. I'm really not sure what the hate is about; I found it to be one of the best in the series. This now concludes my playthrough of all mainline Yakuza games. Now for Judgement.
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Post by Rise on Oct 2, 2022 11:34:42 GMT -5
6. Assassin's Creed Origins, loved playing this and the DLC was better than the main game imo. The PS5 patch was decent as well and the story and characters where filled out nicely. Thankfully they've really reigned in the out of the animus sections of the game
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Oct 3, 2022 6:20:16 GMT -5
56. Destroy All Humans (Remake)
Well, I really, really disliked that. I really only even bothered to finish it because I was near the end anyway but the end of the game is just an endless rotation of shootouts that go on way too long and awful stealth missions that are way too finicky. Mechanically the game is mostly fine, other than some really shit controls (especially in the flying saucer), but it just feels like such a chore to play toward the end as the game pretty much runs out of new stuff for you to do so you just do the same things over and over and over but for more and more drawn out periods of time. And both stages of the final boss are unbelievably cheap with WAY too much checkpoint starvation for how much health she has and how easily she can effectively one-shot you. Very glad to be done with this and have no intention of ever playing the remake of the sequel.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Oct 5, 2022 14:50:57 GMT -5
57. Fatal Twelve
I bought this a few months ago, knowing almost nothing about it, pretty much entirely because I wanted to find stuff kind of in the vein of Danganronpa and after looking around into the subject it stood out to me from having an interesting premise and good word of mouth, and over the past few days I decided to finally really invest the time into playing it. I... don't really think I at all actually got that, if anything I think it's a lot more comparable to if Future Diary was particularly concerned about actions having consequences, and it definitely is way more of a traditional visual novel than that is as there really isn't anything to it beyond reading and making occasional choices, but I still had a lot of fun with it. Plus side I picked up Raging Loop at the same time so hey, maybe that'll do a better job of scratching that particular itch.
Either way, very much enjoyed it, but it's not perfect. Funny enough I kind of have the same central problem with it that I do Future Diary, the romance at the center of it seems incredibly toxic and it feels like the people writing it just don't realize it. The two main characters, Rinka - the actual lead - and Miharu - the secondary one - kind of have a dynamic where you're clearly supposed to be really into them as a couple but Miharu really just comes off as incredibly clingy and jealous and spiteful most of the time, and while the narrative does kind of do things to explain why and make her somewhat sympathetic some of her actions, especially on some of the bad endings, really just render her very unlikable and the relationship itself extremely offputting. It really doesn't help that a lot of the narrative heavily involves another potential romance, Naomi, who Miharu spends most of the game needlessly being very hard on and who comes off as significantly more likable and interesting than she does, and even on the bad endings there's no route where the romance angle with her is actually achievable despite it being pretty heavily teased getting there.
I dunno. It certainly doesn't ruin the experience, on the whole very much enjoyed it, but do think it casts a pretty big shadow over the whole thing and it feels like a really big wasted opportunity that they didn't really explore alternative options when they put work into setting them up. Another problem with the game kind of along that same line is I feel like it has a bad tendency to only really start laying the groundwork for crucial plot relevant information just before it really factors into things without a lot of longterm set up for things that could've easily justified it.
Still, while it's an easy game to critique if you're into visual novels I'd very much recommend giving it a look. Liked it a lot despite my complaints.
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Gecko
Grimlock
FAN Pyrite Member. Muahahaha
Posts: 13,331
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Post by Gecko on Oct 8, 2022 7:46:57 GMT -5
{Spoiler}01 - Death's Door 02 - Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan 03 - Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope 04 - Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes 05 - Days Gone 06 - Batman - The Telltale Series 07 - Batman - The Enemy Within 08 - Lego DC Super Villains 09 - Lego Marvel Superheroes (replay) 10 - Lego Marvel's Avengers 12 - Watchdogs: Legion 13 - Assassins Creed: Valhalla 14 - Judgment
---------------- 15 - Yakuza 0
I finally finished messing about with all the little extra bits and got round to finishing the story. This was the first main Yakuza game for me. Why did nobody tell me years ago they were so good? It almost feels like this is what Shenmue should have been (and maybe would have been if it had come along a few years later), but with added humour and it not taking itself so seriously all the time. One down, many more to go.
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Post by castletonsnob on Oct 15, 2022 15:02:09 GMT -5
Just 100%ed a childhood favorite, Ape Escape on the PS1.
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Oct 17, 2022 1:02:47 GMT -5
58. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes - Crimson Blaze Route
I really meant to wrap this one up months ago but partially due to coming out the same day as Nirvana Initiative and then a month later Xenoblade 3 coming out, partially due to just often not really being in the mood for it I let it sit for a long while. It's kind of just a hard game to really seek your teeth into because of just how talky it is between the actual Musuo gameplay, it really screws with the game's pacing and it's not really a problem that ever gets better.
Still, I did definitely manage to eventually dig my teeth into it and did rather enjoy it, even if I do think the overall plot is a lot weaker and more fanficky than Three Houses. Would kind of like to see Shez and Monica get more play in any kind of future projects with the cast, think both are fun additions to the existing dynamics. Was definitely fun getting to see more of this crew in either case.
Do intend to do the other routes at some point, but that's definitely a, "Later, not for the time being," thing. Was pretty ready to wrap it up by the time I wrapped it up.
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agent817
Fry's dog Seymour
Doesn't Know Whose Ring It Is
Posts: 21,308
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Post by agent817 on Oct 23, 2022 21:15:29 GMT -5
15. Shadow of the Tomb Raider
I started playing this back in June right after I finished Rise of the Tomb Raider. I got to a certain point, but then I just didn't touch the game for four months. So I just told myself to finish it.
I had read that this game received some criticism in regards to the story and how much darker it was compared to the first game (the 2013 game; the first of this series) and Rise, but maybe I should read some of the comics as I had heard that they were canon to this series. Anyway, I still enjoyed the game. I got more into doing some of the DLC tombs and stuff. I also wanted to check out the other tombs and crypts (the same applied for the predecessors). I may do that in subsequent playthroughs. I will try not to take too long to play them again.
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67 more
King Koopa
He's just a Sexy Kurt
Posts: 11,530
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Post by 67 more on Oct 29, 2022 11:34:22 GMT -5
16. Yakuza 5 (PS3, digital)
f*** me, that was a lot of content. This has been my main game since July and 110 hours later, I've just finally beaten it and the Amon fight. I really enjoyed the mechanic of having both side stories and substories. Taxi driver missions were very relaxing (feel like ages ago), really enjoyed Saejima's hunting missions and enjoyed Shinada's baseball missions way more than I was expecting as I know nothing of the sport. Haruka's missions were a nice distraction but far too repetitive.
The final stretch I found a bit underwhelming, especially the final boss. He wasn't even a challenging boss, he just had a big health bar. Final scene made me tear up a bit, however. Very much a game for the diehard Yakuza fan, but I'd probably recommend 3 and 4 over it.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Oct 29, 2022 23:54:26 GMT -5
been a productive couple of weeks here >_> Spider-man Uncharted 4 Uncharted Lost Legacy. Uncharted 4 really felt like a contractually obligated game... and the ending especially felt like a screw you Sony we're done with this. Lost Legacy did make fun of a few of the timeline weirdness introduced in Uncharted 4 (like Chloe mentioning Sam appearing from literally nowhere all of a sudden) and while REALLY short...I probably enjoyed more... especially since they seemed to finally realize that the gun play is like... the worst aspect of the Uncharted Series... and stuck mostly to puzzles. Haven't updated this in forever... Miles Morales. Jedi Fallen Order Saints Row Monster Prom 3 I guess technically? I made it to the end of a run I guess it counts >_> Megaman 7... and 8 I think. and I'm sure a few I missed...
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Nov 3, 2022 1:07:52 GMT -5
59. Corpse Factory
I'd been kind of curious about it and caught it on sale on Switch last night, and wound up pretty much one-daying it. Liked it quite a bit, though does definitely feel like it's not for everyone; it's pretty much entirely reading even by visual novel standards, and the branching is virtually nonexistent beyond determining what ending scene you get. I do appreciate that the game seems to be aware of that and just lets you pick the other endings from the main menu after you get one at least, even if that does kind of make it a bit underwhelming just diving in to watch the wrap-up scenes after the initial run.
Pretty good production values for a fairly cheap game though. Lot of it's voice-acted in English, it has a wide variety of sprites and some good variability among the locales, lot of CGs, and it just generally looks nice. If it's the kind of thing someone would be into I'd recommend it.
That being said it's pretty far from perfect. In particular the Hell ending raises an absolute ton of questions about this game that really make it kind of utterly baffling, it feels like a lot of character arcs just sort of peter out without much real impact on things, and the whole thing kind of has this feeling like they didn't know if they wanted to commit to actually being a supernatural horror story or not so they just kind of shrugged and tried to have it both ways, while also trying to keep the door open for a sequel that doesn't really feel necessary. Either way, it's quite messy but I enjoyed it.
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67 more
King Koopa
He's just a Sexy Kurt
Posts: 11,530
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Post by 67 more on Nov 5, 2022 3:16:27 GMT -5
Haven't beaten it yet, but playing Shadows of the Damned and am stuck on the Big Boner level. There's only so many times I can hear a cock joke.
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Post by Duke Cameron on Nov 5, 2022 15:10:44 GMT -5
New Tales from the Borderlands (2022)
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Post by Lizuka #BLM on Nov 5, 2022 17:02:49 GMT -5
60. Mario Party - Mini-Game Island
Figured with the game up on the Switch might as well do this, had never done a full run of it before. ... I hate Slot Car Derby, like, a lot.
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67 more
King Koopa
He's just a Sexy Kurt
Posts: 11,530
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Post by 67 more on Nov 6, 2022 7:20:28 GMT -5
17. Shadows of the Damned (X360, physical, played on XB1)
Fun but flawed. Humour hits if you're in a juvenile mood, but the fact you can't skip cutscenes after you've already seen them once is grating. Controls take some getting used to in terms of movement and hit detection is spotty at best, which make boss battles go on far, far too long (especially the Fleming boss battle). Pop-in can be particularly egregious. As a eleven-hour pallette cleanser after Yakuza 5 though, exactly what I needed.
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Post by Gerard Gerard on Nov 6, 2022 7:31:38 GMT -5
17. Shadows of the Damned (X360, physical, played on XB1) Fun but flawed. Humour hits if you're in a juvenile mood, but the fact you can't skip cutscenes after you've already seen them once is grating. Controls take some getting used to in terms of movement and hit detection is spotty at best, which make boss battles go on far, far too long (especially the Fleming boss battle). Pop-in can be particularly egregious. As a eleven-hour pallette cleanser after Yakuza 5 though, exactly what I needed. Does Yakuza 5 pick up? I've been kinda of stuck on it the last year or so and tapped out half through Haruka's story as it just wouldn't stop. Funny enough, also Shadow of the Damned in my backlog.
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