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No new games in 2021, unfinished backlog only

Do you sign the No New Games Pact of 2021?

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  • No


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Phase

Member
52games-Shenmue.png

26. Shenmue (PC) - 17hrs

Do you even forklift, bro? Seriously, that harbor segment went on for a few more hours than I'd like but that was my only real grievance with the game. What a wonderfully simple yet impactful story, fraught with relaxing piano scores and corny (in a good way) memorable characters. It's not hard to see why this game has a cult following. I was pleasantly surprised, and the saga will continue when I start Shenmue 2 very soon.
 
Lol, I'm choosing one of your shorter comments to reply to (I know @ exists, I just have a habit of replying) so I can let you know I haven't forgotten about beating Contra 3, I've just been dividing my time between Fortnite and Monster Hunter Rise, the latter being a big reason why I could never sign the pact to begin with.

And speaking of Contra (I've been meaning to post this for weeks now), here's one of my favourite tracks!

Personally love this rendition of it with the frantic tempo and thick, gnarly tones.

Holy shit, this is an assault on the ears (in a good way).

Today I also learned that there's a Contra game for Gameboy. (In the Konami Collection I've only ever played Contra 1, Contra 3, and Hard Corps. I guess there are other games there I should check out 😂).

(For anybody that's reading) For Contra 3, if it proves too hard, remember that the Contra Collection gives you access to the Japanese version ("Contra Spirits"). It has a 30 lives code as well as stage select code.
 
Do you even forklift, bro?

dead2.gif


that harbor segment went on for a few more hours than I'd like but that was my only real grievance with the game. What a wonderfully simple yet impactful story, fraught with relaxing piano scores and corny (in a good way) memorable characters. It's not hard to see why this game has a cult following. I was pleasantly surprised, and the saga will continue when I start Shenmue 2 very soon.
Awesome take. I've never played the Shenmue games myself, but have been a little skeptical because of its reputation in the gameplay department. Maybe some day I can check it out.
 
Holy shit, this is an assault on the ears (in a good way).

Today I also learned that there's a Contra game for Gameboy. (In the Konami Collection I've only ever played Contra 1, Contra 3, and Hard Corps. I guess there are other games there I should check out 😂).

(For anybody that's reading) For Contra 3, if it proves too hard, remember that the Contra Collection gives you access to the Japanese version ("Contra Spirits"). It has a 30 lives code as well as stage select code.
Glad you enjoyed it!

Do you happen to own the Castlevania Collection as well? Cause Belmont's Revenge (GB game) is very worth playing as well and has just as much of a badass OST. (GB OSTs are super rockin' when done right, the chip tones are just killer).

Ugh, I might have to resort to your tip when the time comes, loool.
 
Glad you enjoyed it!

Do you happen to own the Castlevania Collection as well? Cause Belmont's Revenge (GB game) is very worth playing as well and has just as much of a badass OST. (GB OSTs are super rockin' when done right, the chip tones are just killer).

Ugh, I might have to resort to your tip when the time comes, loool.
I do indeed have the Castlevania Collection. I'm a huge fan of 16-bit era Konami.

Both collections are in my backlog, so I guess I'll be talking about these game boy games soon enough.

Cheers!

(PS: I hadn't seen you around in a couple of weeks, hope all is well 😊)
 
I do indeed have the Castlevania Collection. I'm a huge fan of 16-bit era Konami.

Both collections are in my backlog, so I guess I'll be talking about these game boy games soon enough.

Cheers!

(PS: I hadn't seen you around in a couple of weeks, hope all is well 😊)
Awesome! I have both collections as well, which is why I opted for Contra 3 in that post from weeks ago.

Yeah I've been around though majority of my posts are in the Fortnite and MHR OTs, thanks for the thoughts :D
 
I'm.... uhhhh.... trying to figure out what's going on in that cover :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Actually, I looked up a YouTube video and... holy shit. The game is intense. Looks like a lot of fun, though.
It's about a mysterious group, 50 Blessings, that sends its unsuspecting members (including you) instructions by phone forcing them to hit target locations, and their assassins wear animal masks while carrying out hits (a game feature is that the masks have different powers, like extending your combo window, making door swings deadly, making dogs friendly, etc.). As it turns out, all the locations they order you to hit seem to be Russian mafia hideouts... so you want to figure out who is at the head of this mafia op, AND who is sending you these orders by phone. Oh, and he's saving that girl, not eating her lol.




f7f8zTw.jpg

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (3DS)​


I 100%'d Shantae a number of days back but I've been torn with how to write it up here. It reminds me so much of the games I played as a kid, especially when you're jumping rope to rope. Oh man it's so old school! But let's just say the artstyle is quite different from the original, not just the games of that time. I didn't expect it to be quite so, I don't know, coomer-y. It's jarring because there really isn't any innuendo and in fact there are sweet, touching moments about friendship, trust, and believing the best in others, and it's delivered whilst a bunch of tits are waggling in your face and protruding from your screen, which does tend to undermine the moment. It's like if they used brony's 'fanart' in My Little Pony lol. It's a shame because other than that it'd be a great game for kids (makes me nostalgic for the old games I played as a kid) - it's so bright and cheery, lighthearted, with upbeat incredibly catchy tunes - its quality really deserves to be experienced by more people. It's just always going to be a caveat to recommendations.

The game has a big difficulty spike in the gauntlet leading up to the final boss, which is as appropriate a spot for a difficulty spike as there'll ever be. A difficulty spike made of spikes. That cause instant death. Luckily, if you die you only restart the room you're in until you're out of hearts, at which point you revert back to your last save point. However, you can use healing items to stave off the save point. So it's already more forgiving than many platformers even though that last gauntlet is some challenging platforming. I read this review after I beat it:
the last level in particular contains some of the most brutal platforming you’ll find in any game, falling somewhere between Super Meat Boy and Flappy-Bird on the spectrum of high-flying instadeath acrobatics. Even before the finale, though, the game serves up a meaty challenge that curves almost perfectly to match your growing skills.

I would say it's not as hard as Guacamelee's bonus challenges and comes nowhere close the Henry Hatsworth. I'm terrible at platformers and made it through with respect for the game design. The levels don't feel cheap. They're creative and demanding of the player. Well, except for that forced-stealth insta-fail section. The less said about that the better.

My one major criticism would be the metroidvania aspect to the game. I'm really not big on metroidvania. I don't relish having to remember where to come back to later on when I'm already there right now. But what really riles me up is when I remember the spot, come back to it when I finally have the power to access that new area, go through some challenging platforming to get to the next screen and then....find out I also needed another new power that I don't have yet to finish off the area. That's bs.

Here's the thing I fucking love about this game: the powers you get mesh so well with one another. It makes traversal an absolute joy. For example, combining your hat-glide ability with your cannon triple-jump to fly through levels now completely airborne is pure joy. Your scimitar-first dash ability allows you to experience and navigate levels completely differently too. The ways they ask you to use your abilities are just so creative, playful, and imaginative. I generally dislike platformers and I couldn't help but have fun. You should know that I do have a thing for glide abilities in games though. Glide makes games instantly 50% better. That's a fact.



Next up is Final Fantasy XV (PS4). This will be my first-ish FF game! I've already started FF15 now and love it. I can tell that I'm going to be sinking 100 hours into this one.
 
It's about a mysterious group, 50 Blessings, that sends its unsuspecting members (including you) instructions by phone forcing them to hit target locations, and their assassins wear animal masks while carrying out hits (a game feature is that the masks have different powers, like extending your combo window, making door swings deadly, making dogs friendly, etc.). As it turns out, all the locations they order you to hit seem to be Russian mafia hideouts... so you want to figure out who is at the head of this mafia op, AND who is sending you these orders by phone. Oh, and he's saving that girl, not eating her lol.




f7f8zTw.jpg

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse (3DS)​


I 100%'d Shantae a number of days back but I've been torn with how to write it up here. It reminds me so much of the games I played as a kid, especially when you're jumping rope to rope. Oh man it's so old school! But let's just say the artstyle is quite different from the original, not just the games of that time. I didn't expect it to be quite so, I don't know, coomer-y. It's jarring because there really isn't any innuendo and in fact there are sweet, touching moments about friendship, trust, and believing the best in others, and it's delivered whilst a bunch of tits are waggling in your face and protruding from your screen, which does tend to undermine the moment. It's like if they used brony's 'fanart' in My Little Pony lol. It's a shame because other than that it'd be a great game for kids (makes me nostalgic for the old games I played as a kid) - it's so bright and cheery, lighthearted, with upbeat incredibly catchy tunes - its quality really deserves to be experienced by more people. It's just always going to be a caveat to recommendations.

The game has a big difficulty spike in the gauntlet leading up to the final boss, which is as appropriate a spot for a difficulty spike as there'll ever be. A difficulty spike made of spikes. That cause instant death. Luckily, if you die you only restart the room you're in until you're out of hearts, at which point you revert back to your last save point. However, you can use healing items to stave off the save point. So it's already more forgiving than many platformers even though that last gauntlet is some challenging platforming. I read this review after I beat it:


I would say it's not as hard as Guacamelee's bonus challenges and comes nowhere close the Henry Hatsworth. I'm terrible at platformers and made it through with respect for the game design. The levels don't feel cheap. They're creative and demanding of the player. Well, except for that forced-stealth insta-fail section. The less said about that the better.

My one major criticism would be the metroidvania aspect to the game. I'm really not big on metroidvania. I don't relish having to remember where to come back to later on when I'm already there right now. But what really riles me up is when I remember the spot, come back to it when I finally have the power to access that new area, go through some challenging platforming to get to the next screen and then....find out I also needed another new power that I don't have yet to finish off the area. That's bs.

Here's the thing I fucking love about this game: the powers you get mesh so well with one another. It makes traversal an absolute joy. For example, combining your hat-glide ability with your cannon triple-jump to fly through levels now completely airborne is pure joy. Your scimitar-first dash ability allows you to experience and navigate levels completely differently too. The ways they ask you to use your abilities are just so creative, playful, and imaginative. I generally dislike platformers and I couldn't help but have fun. You should know that I do have a thing for glide abilities in games though. Glide makes games instantly 50% better. That's a fact.



Next up is Final Fantasy XV (PS4). This will be my first-ish FF game! I've already started FF15 now and love it. I can tell that I'm going to be sinking 100 hours into this one.
FANTASTIC write up. Glad you enjoyed the game. (Never played it myself and don't even own a 3DS anymore...)
 
Still working on Arkham Knight. The game has a total completion percentage of 240%, which includes the main campaign, ALL side missions (including the ones they call "extension missions" which originally came as DLC), and a replay of the campaign and side missions in New Game+ mode. So doing it all once gets you 120%, and doing it all over again, in Ghouls n' Ghosts fashion, gets you 240%.

I'm going through my last side mission (Riddler) in my 120% goal, which involves getting the Riddler trophies all around the city. The only reason I'm doing this at all is because Riddler trophies are, by and large, NOT just "go there and pick that up", they're mini puzzles onto themselves.

And you need the 120% for the "true" ending. There's no way I'm going for 240%, which would make this the only Arkham game that I don't complete to its fullest extent. (Compared to Asylum, City, and Origins, which I've fully completed multiple times each.)

So my write-up of the main game will come after that 120%. After that I'll move on to not get burned out on Batman, but there are 6 episodic expansions that all look very interesting, so I'll come back to them down the line, and count each expansion as a separate game (towards my backlog total) since they look beefy. The six are where you play as: one as Harley, one as Batgirl, one as Robin, one as Nightwing, one as Catwoman, and one as Red Hood.
 
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stn

Member
What is the combat system like? I'm currently going through Lost Odyssey and while good, I'm starting to find it very tedious.
I don't play many JRPG's so I don't know what to compare it to, but it seems pretty standard (i.e. turn-based, physical and magic attacks, defensive buffs, etc...). Its quite a long game, though - I'm 33 hours in and I believe I'm about 2/3 done with the main quest. If I was in your shoes I would probably beat Lost Odyssey first, just to avoid JRPG fatigue.
 
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Phase

Member
I don't play many JRPG's so I don't know what to compare it to, but it seems pretty standard (i.e. turn-based, physical and magic attacks, defensive buffs, etc...). Its quite a long game, though - I'm 33 hours in and I believe I'm about 2/3 done with the main quest. If I was in your shoes I would probably beat Lost Odyssey first, just to avoid JRPG fatigue.
Good idea. I'm basically fatigued by Lost Odyssey already and I'm only 25hrs in. :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 
Original Post

+1. Current backlog completed count: 15.

Batman: Arkham Knight; on PC (Steam). I was initially excited to try this game. I don't do the "superhero" thing much (don't read comics, don't follow things closely) but Batman is not only my favorite superhero, he may actually be my favorite character in ANY work of fiction. By far.

gA9DYUQ.jpg


Summary: A huge love letter to Batman fans, and a game with lots of good ideas that can quite often be fun. And you can tell there was a lot of love put into it by the developers. But ultimately, the experience is handicapped by an overall mediocre story, poor encounter/battle design, over-reliance on the Batmobile in favor of previous mechanics, and a significant amount of open-world "bloat."

Pros:
+ The best-looking Batman game yet, with rich amounts of detail, fantastic art direction, great facial models, and a sprawling Gotham City that has some of the most ridiculous draw-distance I've seen in a game. Lots of pictures after the jump.
+ As I said above, a big love letter to Batman fans. LOTS of costumes for many characters (not just Batman), lots of Batman allies, an insane amount of villains from his rogues gallery, etc.
+ A continuation of the point above, they even reference several comics (and, I think, even the Batman Animated Series).
+ Free-flow combat (which is what you're going to be doing the majority of the time you're on foot) still feels great.
+ Traversal (whether on foot or the Batmobile) is the best in the series yet, and just moving across Gotham feels great. Smooth as hell, and the handling on both Batman and the Batmobile are great.
+ Voice acting is absolutely top-notch, great job by all the voice actors. Of course a couple of key ones (Batman himself, of course) from the original Animated Series return here, but the rest of them all do a fantastic job.
+ Alfred is awesome, as always.
+ PC version, in 2021, runs great (exceptions noted in "Cons" below). On a GTX 1070 Ti GPU, I was able to get semi-locked 90fps (it's the highest framerate the game allows) at 1440p with a lot of detail and high settings.
+ If open-world/"gaming minute to dollar ratio" is your thing, this game provides FANTASTIC value. Based on that metric alone, this has got to be one of the best values in gaming for this type of game.

Cons:
(As a joke, if I have to distill a lot of the negatives of this game to one picture, it's the picture below):

8vshzAU.jpg


- Generally mediocre story. A lot of story beats are thoroughly predictable (even the identity of the titular Arkham Knight is telegraphed from a freaking mile away). Key moments that are supposed to deliver an emotional punch to the player are delivered poorly, and subsequently completely undone by later parts of the story. I have to say that, coming from Origins, the story here is a bit of a disappointment. Not only that, but the story keeps going in a nonsensical way (to pad out playtime). In the first 3 games, I wanted there to be more and was a bit sad when the main campaign was over. In this one, I couldn't wait for the campaign to be over.
- Too much of an emphasis on the Batmobile, to the point where the Batmobile feels like a co-protagonist alongside Batman. I'll be coming back to this.
- Hand to hand combat encounters have taken a HUGE nosedive (they probably peaked in Arkham City). Whereas the first 3 games in the series had balanced and fun encounters, here you may get (as an example): 10 dudes, out of which 5 have riot shields, 3 have electrocuting batons, and 2 "giant" dudes who can just punch you at any time. This is a nightmare and your free-flow will be broken so often, the thing becomes not fun. It seems that the player has less tools to deal with groups of thugs than previous games.
- Probably the biggest loser, BY FAR, is the stealth (or "Predator" as it was known in previous games) portion of the gameplay. The encounters are terrible -- there are some predator rooms with up to 16 (!!!!) armed thugs. And, just like hand to hand combat, you have LESS tools to deal with them. The map design for the predator encounters has also gone downhill from previous entries. Maybe they're better in the non-campaign challenges? I don't know.
- The Batmobile. The heavy emphasis on the Batmobile is probably why Combat and Predator took a hit. And the Batmobile is used for practically EVERYTHING. Riddler challenges. Extra tasks. Navigation. (Minor non-story spoiler) Even Deathstroke, who was an absolutely AMAZING boss in Arkham Origins (probably the best combat boss of any in the whole series) is a goddamn Batmobile battle in this game. Yes, you fight Deathstroke.... in the Batmobile. Think about that.
- Batmobile combat encounters have the double sin of being repetitive and poorly designed. And there are so many of them, too.
- Some of the main campaign boss encounters, especially towards the end, are beyond annoying (and several of them involve the Batmobile).
- There's a lot of open world bloat that can lead to real fatigue real fast (what happened with me in the end). The story just keeps going and going and going.... for no good reason. There are side missions, and then side missions on top of that. Then there are the Riddler trophies/riddles from past games, except that here, there are two hunded and forty-three (that's right, 243) of them. And not only that, but in the past, the main story was separate from the side missions. But in this game, they had the fucking audacity to tie the ending to the main campaign on completion of the side stories (yes, even the Riddler one).
- As I mentioned above, the game runs great at high/max settings. However, there are a few extra settings at the bottom, which they call "NVIDIA Works" or something like that. Those are awful, and there were moments where my FPS tanked as low as low-20's when I had that setting on. Stay away from that at all costs.

Anyway I really wanted to love this, I did. Asylum, City, and Origins are all great games. And this one is good, too... at times. But for me, the cons were simply just a bit more than the Pros. Unlike the other games in the series, I likely won't play the main story of this game ever again.

But instead of leaving on a negative note, let's leave on a positive one and have lots of... pictures! Putting them behind spoiler tags so 56k people don't get wrecked (bad joke, I know :messenger_tears_of_joy: )

James Gordon:

g4IERZd.jpg


Barbara Gordon/Oracle:

aTXCV2n.jpg


Barbara in a former life (playable in her own separate DLC campaign):

3AGcPrh.jpg



Nightwing:

elVS2QD.jpg


Robin (Tim Drake):

pQnB8YP.jpg



Lucius Fox:

s7GU4zR.jpg



And I realized that, out of sheer silliness on my end, I never took a screenshots of any scenes with Batman's #1 best friend, biggest forever ally, father figure, and "Batman's Batman": Alfred Pennyworth. But Alfred is amazing in this game. His dry quips are pretty entertaining, and he is fairly present throughout practically all of the main campaign.

Selina Kyle / Catwoman... always trying to get some of that Batman action, LOL:

9Do9HMn.jpg



Dr. Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy:

rdqOpXK.jpg


Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, who is the main antagonist of the game:

W5dwXCK.jpg


Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter:

qTGnLUg.jpg


Garfield Lynns/Firefly:

R7Pg5fd.jpg


Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn:

vstWCXS.jpg


From left to right:
- Oswald Cobblepott / Penguin
- Harvey Dent / Two-Face
- Edward Nigma / Riddler

jEm9Acr.jpg


Nyssa Raatko (daughter of Ra's al Ghul; I absolutely love her in-game model):

W7DYBeI.jpg


Victor Fries / Mister Freeze:

p2TuZUx.jpg


Not a villain, but you even get a small segment with Nora Fries, Victor Fries's wife, this is not a great picture but her in-game model is very well done. Also, for some reason the UI didn't fully toggle OFF when I took the screenshot:

ip9Kkmw.jpg

This is what I was referring to in the main post; here is a Batman dream sequence that plays out part of a key scene from The Killing Joke comic:

OLiNXVm.jpg


Michael Keaton, is that you!? (Batman '89 costume)....

2PqXGAw.jpg


.... Ben Affleck, is that you!? (Batman v Superman costume):

fcpVBLR.jpg


Beating punks, all night long

Shoryuken!

iGZW1GV.jpg


Batman would do well in the UFC:

mIBmaxd.jpg


Bad news for this guy, he's about to be kicked in the face

YYWGnmX.jpg


Patrolling the city from the night skies:

nmYZcO3.jpg
 
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That was a long ass post; in fact, there may be enough material there to spawn it off into its own LTTP. I'll think about that.

As for backlog, I'm playing Nemesis (which is actually the arcade version of the first "Gradius" game; playing it as I continue down my march of games on the Konami Arcade Classics), and finishing up Resident Evil 4 on Switch, which I bought on sale sometime last year I think. I've played RE4 a trillion times but given it's a new platform, I'm gonna count it towards my backlog.

I'm not done with Batman: Arkham Knight though. Even though I finished the main story, I'll be coming back and playing the DLC expansions (there are 6 of them), which I'll count as individual entries.

Happy gaming!
 

Ryuji Goda

Member
Just finished RE2 (PS1) with Claire. Really cool how they changed things up; different paths, puzzles and the vaccine stuff. It's obviously the same game but different enough to keep it fresh.

I just started with RE3 (PS1). Feels quite different, more "openworldy".

On the PS4 I stopped playing Killzone: Shadow Fall. It's just too boring and unfun. Maybe I'll get back to it later.

I started playing Days Gone. Really cool so far, looks amazing.
 
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Just finished RE2 (PS1) with Claire. Really cool how they changed things up; different paths, puzzles and the vaccine stuff. It's obviously the same game but different enough to keep it fresh.

I just started with RE3 (PS1). Feels quite different, more "openworldy".

On the PS4 I stopped playing Killzone: Shadow Fall. It's just too boring and unfun. Maybe I'll get back to it later.

I started playing Days Gone. Really cool so far, looks amazing.
Awesome! Glad you're enjoying these games!

What did you think of the secondary characters (Chief Irons, Sherry, etc)? Did you like Claire's weapons (grenade launcher, crossbow, etc) better than Leon's weapons (Shotgun, Magnum, etc) or the other way around?

I remember being impressed with Killzone Shadow Fall when it first came out. I played it at a buddy's place on the night of the PS4 launch.
"Those graphics!"
"That draw distance!"

LOL...
 

Ryuji Goda

Member
Awesome! Glad you're enjoying these games!

What did you think of the secondary characters (Chief Irons, Sherry, etc)? Did you like Claire's weapons (grenade launcher, crossbow, etc) better than Leon's weapons (Shotgun, Magnum, etc) or the other way around?

I remember being impressed with Killzone Shadow Fall when it first came out. I played it at a buddy's place on the night of the PS4 launch.
"Those graphics!"
"That draw distance!"

LOL...
I liked Claire's chapter with the Chief but I prefer Ada over Sherry and Leon's weapons.
 
I liked Claire's chapter with the Chief but I prefer Ada over Sherry and Leon's weapons.
Yeah the Sherry sections blow. (And escorting her is a nuisance, if you run too fast she'll just squat there and not move until you come back to get her).

The Sherry section was massively improved in RE2 Remake.
 
Original Post

+1. Current backlog completed count: 16.

Resident Evil 4 on Nintendo Switch.

Pros:
  1. The greatest video game of all time
  2. See point #1
  3. See point #1

Cons:
  1. [Switch specific] The Switch can't hold a steady 60 fps. It's largely stable, with drops, through the village and the castle. But man, once you get to the island, the framerate straight up tanks sometimes.
  2. [Switch specific] So, as much as the portability is touted for this console, playing action-heavy games in portable mode is not a great experience. The joycons SUCK. So I got to about the halfway point of the Castle, and had to just go out and buy a Pro Controller. I couldn't take it anymore. So for the rest of the game, I played docked with the Pro Controller. Which goes to say, though... the Switch Pro Controller is S-tier, it's amazing.
Uhhh... no pictures, since I don't yet know how to transfer pictures from the Switch to the computer. I'll be playing the Mario 3D collection at some point in the near future, so between now and then, I'll figure out how to transfer the screenshots.
 

Phase

Member
Original Post

+1. Current backlog completed count: 16.

Resident Evil 4 on Nintendo Switch.

Pros:
  1. The greatest video game of all time
  2. See point #1
  3. See point #1

Cons:
  1. [Switch specific] The Switch can't hold a steady 60 fps. It's largely stable, with drops, through the village and the castle. But man, once you get to the island, the framerate straight up tanks sometimes.
  2. [Switch specific] So, as much as the portability is touted for this console, playing action-heavy games in portable mode is not a great experience. The joycons SUCK. So I got to about the halfway point of the Castle, and had to just go out and buy a Pro Controller. I couldn't take it anymore. So for the rest of the game, I played docked with the Pro Controller. Which goes to say, though... the Switch Pro Controller is S-tier, it's amazing.
Uhhh... no pictures, since I don't yet know how to transfer pictures from the Switch to the computer. I'll be playing the Mario 3D collection at some point in the near future, so between now and then, I'll figure out how to transfer the screenshots.
I remember first trying out RE4 on Gamecube on the floor of an Electronics' Boutique way back. I was blown away by how good it looked and played. Bought it on the spot. Great game.
 

VidKid369

Member
100% completed Suikoden. (PS) Got all 108 Stars of Destiny, and did everything for a smooth save transfer to part 2.

Decided to work on my PS2 batch, trying to decide between:

Shadow Hearts
Digital Devil Saga
Persona 3
Star Ocean Till the End of Time

Any suggestions, from anybody?
 

Unk Adams

Banned
Just finished RE2 (PS1) with Claire. Really cool how they changed things up; different paths, puzzles and the vaccine stuff. It's obviously the same game but different enough to keep it fresh.

I just started with RE3 (PS1). Feels quite different, more "openworldy".

On the PS4 I stopped playing Killzone: Shadow Fall. It's just too boring and unfun. Maybe I'll get back to it later.

I started playing Days Gone. Really cool so far, looks amazing.
I enjoyed Killzone 2 and 3 back on the PS3 so Shadow Fall was the first game I bought with my PS4 (along with Knack). I was extremely disappointed with the direction they took with it. Like you said, it was extremely boring and I had to force myself to actually finish it. Ironically, the game everyone was making fun of (Knack) ended up being great and I loved that and the sequel.
 

Aurelius

Member
After clearing (or giving up) on 12 games, I added a new one: Persona 5 Strikers. Couldn’t resist an Amazon sale.
Also planning on playing some PS+ games (Subnautica and Shadow of the Tomb Raider), but these don't count as backlog, right?
 
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stn

Member
I've been grinding in Dragon Quest 11 S (PS4), I'm at the last act and preparing for what is supposed to be the final boss fight. I think I'll probably play Hitman 2 (XBO) next, as I bought Hitman 3 and would like to complete the trilogy. I may also finish Pokemon Shield (Switch) since I'm on the final gym. Then again, I've also been thinking about finally beating DMC 3 HD (X360).

Having a backlog is annoying but sometimes its also a good "problem" to have, lol.
 
I've been grinding in Dragon Quest 11 S (PS4), I'm at the last act and preparing for what is supposed to be the final boss fight. I think I'll probably play Hitman 2 (XBO) next, as I bought Hitman 3 and would like to complete the trilogy. I may also finish Pokemon Shield (Switch) since I'm on the final gym. Then again, I've also been thinking about finally beating DMC 3 HD (X360).

Having a backlog is annoying but sometimes its also a good "problem" to have, lol.
I feel like it's a good problem to have. It's good to have choices.

It's important to see a backlog as an opportunity to explore games, as opposed to a stressor. If one sees it as a stressor, that's where things go downhill.
 

stn

Member
Yeah, its only crap if it stresses one out. I don't mind having a lot of games to play, but since I became a lawyer the last few years have been so damn busy, and I'm trying to figure out the other "adult" things in my life, so its really hard to find time to game. I wish I had this issue when I was in my early twenty's.
 
You and me both, brother...

(I have an exceptionally demanding job and a very busy social life and other responsibilities. Wish I had more time to game...)
 
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NewYork214

Member
I get trying to get through your backlog but doesn't skipping all new games during the year technically just cause your backlog to grow bigger
 

Unk Adams

Banned
I don't mind having a physical backlog because I collect games and even if I never end up playing all of them I can still keep the games on a shelf for decorative use and admire the cover art, manuals, etc. My digital backlog, on the other hand, feels like a waste of cash if I don't actually play those games. Plus I'm more likely to actually play a game if I see it physically versus it sitting forgotten on a hard drive.
 

DelireMan7

Member
Small update on my progress in Assassin's Creed : Black Flag.

I am now 20+ hours into it. I spent most of this time doing side content and exploration. It feels really great to sail the sea on our ship. Boarding ships whenever you want, visit nearby location, looking for treasure with treasure maps...
I have now uncovered the whole map and visited all (but one) location.
I will now focus on advancing the main mission as I start to be a bit burned out of sea content.
So far it's pure Assassin's creed for me : no masterpiece but enjoyable and relaxing game. It's probably the second best behind the first Assassin's Creed for me.

Also I have recently put together my whole game collection and it's now proudly standing in my living room. It made me quiet nostalgic and I wanted to replay some of my games.
I want to redo the Metal Gear Solid games (1-4 and why not giving a second try to Phantom pain that I dropped once in the open world section) and Final Fantasy X and X-2.
So the idea is once I am done with Black Flag is to play Metal Gear Solid 1 on PC (the version that I have) and then replug my beloved PS2 (and praying it's still work) to go full nostalgia with MGS2/3 and FFX/X-2.

I get trying to get through your backlog but doesn't skipping all new games during the year technically just cause your backlog to grow bigger
I consider backlog only game that I owned and I am not buying games at the moment. Plenty of recent games (from the last 2-3 years) are on my list but I can wait. I am so into old games at the moment that I don't mind at all missing all the big games.

I don't mind having a physical backlog because I collect games and even if I never end up playing all of them I can still keep the games on a shelf for decorative use and admire the cover art, manuals, etc. My digital backlog, on the other hand, feels like a waste of cash if I don't actually play those games. Plus I'm more likely to actually play a game if I see it physically versus it sitting forgotten on a hard drive.
I Love You Heart GIF by Originals
 

Kazza

Member
Plus I'm more likely to actually play a game if I see it physically versus it sitting forgotten on a hard drive.

This is very true. I recently set up some shelves next to my older TV and retro consoles, and physical games are much harder to forget about. I find I'm much more likely to just pick one up and play, instead of thinking about new purchases.

I'm nuts deep into Yakuza 0's world right now (that's gonna be a long one), but I'm still trying squeeze in some smaller games here and there. My latest porcelain throne game has been GG Shinobi 2:

iu


It was one of my favourite Game Gear games as a kid, and I'm pleased to say that it still holds up great today. It's an interesting mix of Megaman style design (you get to choose the level order and save ninjas with different abilities in each) combined with some metroidvania elements (you have to play each level twice, using the abilities of each unlocked ninja to access previously inaccessible areas). Unfortunately, this one never got ported to the 3DS like the first game did, but it plays great emulated on the Vita.
 

SpiceRacz

Member
iu


It was one of my favourite Game Gear games as a kid, and I'm pleased to say that it still holds up great today. It's an interesting mix of Megaman style design (you get to choose the level order and save ninjas with different abilities in each) combined with some metroidvania elements (you have to play each level twice, using the abilities of each unlocked ninja to access previously inaccessible areas). Unfortunately, this one never got ported to the 3DS like the first game did, but it plays great emulated on the Vita.

That game rules. We need more ninja games, god damnit. Speaking of, have you ever played this? It's one of the best on GB.

220px-Ninja_Gaiden_Shadow_Coverart.png
 

Kazza

Member
That game rules. We need more ninja games, god damnit. Speaking of, have you ever played this? It's one of the best on GB.

220px-Ninja_Gaiden_Shadow_Coverart.png

I might make that one my next bathroom break game :messenger_tears_of_joy: . Those old Game Gear and Gameboy games tend to be good for small 5 minute bursts of gameplay.
 
According to Howlongtobeat it's close to six hours. Sounds about right.


The last level was brutal. Took me over 400 tries to get it. :D
Amazing perseverance! I'm sure it was really satisfying to beat that last level...

Stayed up all night to finish Final Fantasy VI. I have a lot of opinions I'm too tired to express atm. Maybe I'll make an LTTP thread later.
I'm gonna be paying close attention to this. I'm slated to do my first ever Final Fantasy VI playthrough in the near future.
 

TheUsual

Gold Member
My only backlog for 2021 so far:

Finally decided to start and finish RE7 (Steam) this past month.
The move to first person was great. Game definitely was at its best in the beginning when you felt under powered and being hunted.

Since its been out for a while I knew it was eventually connected to the overall RE universe and all the events from RE1 to it. Kind of a shame really on that. Most of the game it felt like a complete reimagining/reboot of the series.
 
So I bought the FFXV dlc 50% off during this sale. Couldn't resist. I'll be stuck on this game for a while ha. I'm loving it. I have no idea why people hate this game. It makes me want to go on a road trip
 

DelireMan7

Member
So I bought the FFXV dlc 50% off during this sale. Couldn't resist. I'll be stuck on this game for a while ha. I'm loving it. I have no idea why people hate this game. It makes me want to go on a road trip
I played the game on release and despite being a bit disappointed, I still enjoyed the game a lot. I love the bound between Noctis and his friends. Combat is satisfying even if too simple (it's almost impossible to have a Game Over).
It's one of this game I never use fast travel (even so I usually avoid it in most of the games) to my surprise. I am not a fan of car in general but I like it in FFXV especially with the small interaction between our party during the travels.

I did another playthrough last year, with DLCs this time, and again I loved it. Gladiolus and Ignis DLC are really good. Ardyn's one is filled with lore information and some important point for the story. Prompto's one was a pain to do for me (except for one point).

Concerning the hate toward it I think it's mainly to 2 words : "Final Fantasy". Many people don't see it as a "true FF" and the long development (and transformation from Versus XIII) probably didn't help.
I admit the story is a bit messy (but it's often over exaggerated by the haters), the world filled with basic fetch quests and the over abundance of healing items is highly detrimental to the combat (on this regard, I highly recommend the "Special combat" you can unlock in the DLC. They are showing how great the combat is with very few healing items). But in the end I loved the atmosphere, story and the relation between our 4 protagonists. Will come back to it in future for sure.
 

stn

Member
It was really humid the other day, so I randomly played some PSP in the shade for the first time in almost 10 years (my oldest save files date back to 2012). Played some Dissidia 012 Duodecim, and Kenka Bancho. Both are among my favorite PSP titles.
 

Ryuji Goda

Member
Finished Condemned: Criminal Origins. Cool game but quite repetitive; halfway through you've seen it all. It can be really scary in spots though!

Just installed The Orange Box on the 360. I've played it before but just love HL2, the expansions and ofcourse Portal.
 
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Ryuji Goda

Member
It was really humid the other day, so I randomly played some PSP in the shade for the first time in almost 10 years (my oldest save files date back to 2012). Played some Dissidia 012 Duodecim, and Kenka Bancho. Both are among my favorite PSP titles.
I was thinking about playing some PSP games too recently. I've always had a soft spot for that system.
 
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