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Post by dsparil on Aug 3, 2020 5:20:17 GMT -5
One correction from last month got missed: I don't think I should get double-credit for War of the Chosen since I just played it as a mashed-together experience. Or, to rephrase: please just remove XCOM 2 the base game from my listing. You're just listed for the expansion now.
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Post by JoeQ on Aug 3, 2020 7:22:29 GMT -5
dsparil You got my Rogue Galaxy time wrong. I recorded it correctly, but you spent so much on it didn't get ingested correctly into the database! Thanks for pointing that out. Edit: That's been fixed now.
I don't know how anyone could beat it in 37h. Even if you don't do any extra stuff it's a pretty damn long game.
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Post by dsparil on Aug 3, 2020 7:47:43 GMT -5
I recorded it correctly, but you spent so much on it didn't get ingested correctly into the database! Thanks for pointing that out. Edit: That's been fixed now.
I don't know how anyone could beat it in 37h. Even if you don't do any extra stuff it's a pretty damn long game.
I'd have to dig up my PS2 to find my time, but that seem fairly reasonable to me. Many HLTB times do seem to be based on someone using a walkthrough though.
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Aug 3, 2020 12:04:01 GMT -5
Nuclear Throne (Win10, 1st time, 14h)Very fun game. Used a character that gets a little more health and can shield, so pretty much the easiest character to beat the game with. There's some other fun ones, but I can't imagine doing the game without shielding honestly. I was looking forward to seeing the second loop, but apparentely you don't immediately go into that by just beating the game normally. Well, I still have tons of stuff to unlock and see so I'm not done with the game yet anyway. It's a very intimidating game at first (and even once I started getting better, it's very, very easy to die suddenly), but once I had some experience with it, it wasn't that hard to beat. I guess it helps that the final boss isn't that difficult. I beat him on only my second try, which I find pretty forgiving for a roguelike. Getting there is the hard part. But the weapons that worked well in the final world also worked well against the final boss. Rating: 9/10
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Post by JoeQ on Aug 7, 2020 7:26:52 GMT -5
Scanner Sombre (Windows) - First playthrough, Time: 5h 08min (GOG timer for two playthroughs) A walking sim type game with light horror elements, about exploring a pitch black cave armed only with an upgradeable LADAR scanner and imaging helmet. It has a very cool and unique visual style, but beyond that is a pretty slight offering. Still an enjoyable enough experience. For good measure I also played through the game again in NG+ mode, but it didn't really add much. Rating: 3/5Alphabet Challenge: ABCD-F-H-J-LM----RSTUV---Z Number Challenge: --2-------
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Post by zerker on Aug 8, 2020 13:29:46 GMT -5
Finished Halo Reach (Windows via Steam Proton on Linux; First Time) as part of Halo: the Master Chief Collection.
It was fine? Never really grabbed me, and was ready for it to end when I finished. Probably won't rush out to play the rest of the series. 7/10, 7.4 hours
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Post by Digitalnametag on Aug 8, 2020 19:08:08 GMT -5
Dusk Diver PS4 FTP 12 hours
This is a low budget button masher that I picked up on the cheap because the cover appealed to me. Reminds me a bit of Azure Nights and Akiba's Beat. Not a whole lot of depth here and the story is pretty forgettable. The fact that it takes place in Taipei is neat but the game doesn't do much to leverage this. The setting feels indistinguishable from modern Japan outside of some Taiwanese lore. Localization is a bit sloppy too with misspellings and random bits of code in some text boxes. I kinda had fun with it though. My expectations are low with budget games so when I garner some enjoyment out of them I'm satisfied.
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Post by dsparil on Aug 9, 2020 7:06:56 GMT -5
112th Seed (Switch, First Time)
A fairly simple puzzle platformer where you play as the last experimental seed out of a series of 112 that can repopulate the plant life on Earth. It's kinda weird to give a game like this a post-apocalyptic backstory, but it isn't anywhere close to overbearing. Gameplay is simple at first with just block pushing and getting water onto soil to create plants in order to get to the exit. Later on extra elements get added like different plant transformations. The main issue is that this is simply too short and too easy. There's only 70 levels total with a sizable number being tutorials interspersed throughout the game. Many of the added elements don't get used to their full potential either. A $5 game like this doesn't need 300 levels or anything, but what's effectively 60 or less is on the skimpy side. Around 100 levels (maybe 112 to tie into the title too) with the last set being actually difficult would have been nice. As it is, there's one about an hour or two of content.
Rating: 6
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Post by 🧀Son of Suzy Creamcheese🧀 on Aug 9, 2020 10:21:13 GMT -5
Spelunky (Win10, replay) Time: Don't know if you want to count all time spent on it this year (like last year), or just the playthrough itself. It's respectively 1h or 35m.
Played it a bit in anticipation of Spelunky 2, which now finally has a release date (not for PC yet, though).
Rating: 10/10
Gun Godz (Win10, 1st play, 1h)
A short retro-styled FPS by Vlambeer. A character (Y.V.) and secret area (plus enemies in said area) in Nuclear Throne are from this game so I thought I'd give it a try to see what it's all about. I'm actually more confused now, since I'm pretty sure you play as Y.V. in Gun Godz, but you also seem to fight him in the end. Or you're just one of a species or something. But you're also a god, so...?
I don't know, but it was pretty fun for a short, free shooter.
Rating: 7.5/10
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Post by dsparil on Aug 11, 2020 11:27:33 GMT -5
Sonic 3D Blast (Saturn, Replay)
For the first Saturn game I ever emulate, I decided of course to go with the main Sonic game for it even though it is a port. I've played the PC version a ton, and like I said when I played the Genesis version a year and a half ago, the CD music and improved graphics do add a whole lot to the experience. The controls also do seem to be better in general too. The big difference between the PC and Saturn version is the bonus stages. I knew that they were different despite both being based on Sonic 2's, but their fundamental character is totally different. The PC ones are focused much more on gathering huge quantities of rings and feels quite different than these which feel more like a advanced successor to 2's. This wasn't the Sonic game people wanted for the Saturn, but I still think it's fun enough.
Rating: 7
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Post by dsparil on Aug 12, 2020 9:24:34 GMT -5
Our World Is Ended. (Switch, First Time)
This VN has some potential, but the wildly varying tone and padding in the story detracts quite a bit. The story centers on Reiji, the part-time assistant director at third-rate mobile game developer Judgement 7. While testing a new AR game they're working on and its accompanying helmet, they get sucked into a VR world which is oddly their local neighborhood. However, elements from their previous games start bleeding into it. They're also not actually stuck there and go in and out of it for various reasons.
This is at its best when it's playing around with isekai concepts and parodying them. The story can be fun and even emotional at times with a core that's actually solid, but there's just so much padding probably to justify the full $50 price. There's also some textual perviness that crops up fairly frequently that seems to only exist to bump up the age rating.
In an odd move, you actually don't get to the actual ending the first time around and it basically just ends before the last chapter instead. It feels like a waste of time to have to skip from choice to choice for around 20 minutes just to get to the real ending and a character specific epilogue. At least the last chapter is one of the better ones.
I finished in 19:50:08.
Rating: 6
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Post by dsparil on Aug 13, 2020 6:25:43 GMT -5
Panzer Dragoon: Remake (Switch, Replay(?))
I had previously borrowed and I think finished the PC version way back when, and while I do have mixed feelings about the game itself, the remake is solid after a few patches. There were some issues with performance, the camera and an embarrassing issue with the reticle, but everything has been sorted out at this point. Gyro aiming got added, but it doesn't function properly and should never have even gotten past QA in its current state. The graphics are great though, and the atmosphere is top notch and greatly enhanced by the total lack of pop-in which could be pretty extreme in the original version.
The gameplay is where I think the original falters. It reminds me the most of Galaxy Force II in its attack system and in the cavern sections, but there's a lot less variety in the environment and the level specific quirks that come with that. GFII didn't have a good home version until the Saturn port a few years after this, so maybe that isn't the fairest comparison. The uniqueness of the atmosphere does make up for lack of variety, but it really could have used more acrobatic sections instead of focusing on pure combat to better differentiate itself from other rail shooters.
Rating: 7 (probably a 6 for the original game)
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Post by JoeQ on Aug 13, 2020 9:56:45 GMT -5
Tenchu Z (X360) - First playthrough, Time: 55h 04min (Timer for three playthroughs) A big improvement gameplaywise on Tenchu 3 which I played earlier this year. Everything is much more fluid and feels like a natural evolution for the series. You get a ton of skills, abilities items and the combat is actually pretty okay now. Too bad you never ever need to use any of that because the game is so easy and gives you penalties for engaging in combat or using any of that stuff. Just sneak behind the braindead enemies and stealth kill them, then repeat for every enemy for fifty missions. Tenchu 3 might've been a much jankier and simpler game, but it had tons more variety, pacing, flavor and story, all of which were almost completely absent in Z. I unlocked all the achievements and beat the game 100%, which required three full playthrough. That was about 2.5 playthroughs too many. Yet the sameyness and tediousness also made it a game I could pick whenever and beat a couple of missions when I had time to kill, so in the end I still kinda enjoyed it. Rating: 3/5Alphabet Challenge: ABCD-F-H-J-LM----RSTUV---Z Number Challenge: --2-------
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Post by dsparil on Aug 14, 2020 10:59:33 GMT -5
Panzer Dragoon Zwei* (Saturn, First Time)
I have zero previous experience with Zwei, and while I do think it is mostly an improvement over the original, it does regress a little too. The last few episodes are fairly tedious and occasionally cheap. That's counterbalanced by the lack of credits, but I almost think it was made that way specifically because of their removal. The better story and better handling of the Saturn's technical limitations do make up for that somewhat at least. You also have a good reason to replay the game as some episodes have multiple routes and your dragon changes and gains lock-ons based on performance. I'm hoping that Saga really is the standout game everyone says it is because I am feeling a little iffy on the series after the first two.
Rating: 7
* This always seems to get listed as II Zwei, but there's enough evidence that the II isn't meant to be taken as part of the title.
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Post by ResidentTsundere on Aug 16, 2020 0:36:08 GMT -5
I beat Sid Meier's Civilization V (or is it Civilization V?) on PC. First time playthrough; it took 12 hours.
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